EAO Good Night Talk (10)

Yangon - Myanmar

January 1, 2015

What makes you truly joyful and happy?

Happy New Year to all of you, dear confreres and friends!

This personal question about our sources of joy is a fruit of past five month animation visits around our Region. I was often asking everybody – Salesians, Lay mission partners and young people - ‘What makes you truly and deeply joyful?’

There are many occasions during this Don Bosco Bicentenary Year how to make more visible our Father as the model of consecrated life. Many EAO pilgrims entering in Valdocco the rooms of Don Bosco watched the short 7 minutes video ‘Workshop of the Holy Spirit’(https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0wF6xPw_95s). The script starts with a concise presentation of Don Bosco’s charismatic profile: “On the evening of 24^th January 1854 Rochietti, Otiglia, Cagliero, Rua and I met in the Don Boscos’ room. From that evening on the name ‘Salesians’ was given to those who took part and follow this code. “Go out into the whole world and proclaim the Good News to everyone!” - “I have always done, what I could, how much more remains to be done. My sons will see to the rest!” - “Give me souls, take away the rest.” - “Give your soul completely to God; give your soul completely to God, with your thoughts, bones, physical energies.” In this way He can make use of you as He deems best for the salvation of the world.

The joy of our radical life-witness to the Gospel is the best gift we can offer to the young and the Christian community as religious people

Ongoing invitations of Don Bosco ‘Give your heart and soul completely to God’ and the recent insisting invitation of the Rector Major ‘Belong more fully to God, belong more to your brothers and belong more to the young people’ (Letter of Fr. Ángel F. Artime in the Acts n.419) are a good starter for this Year of the Consecrated Life.

This invitation makes me think about our sick or senior confreres who are witnessing that there is no retirement from consecrated life. It’s a reminder about joyful life witness of in extreme situations of frontier mission of Mongolia, Pakistan, Laos, Cambodia, Solomon Islands. Yes, only the joyful life witness can help us to wake up the world!

Let’s accept this question at the beginning of 2015: What makes me truly happy?

In Don Bosco

Fr. Václav Klement, SDB

EAO Regional councillor