austraLasia #3360
Nashik, India/Apia, Samoa: 31 January 2013 -- With the Australia-Pacific Province sitting right 'this side' of the IDL, that gives us the right, I think, to wish the rest of the Salesian world a very happy Feast Day of St John Bosco! Don't believe any old maps you have, by the way - Samoa (but not American Samoa) saw the way the wind was blowing, so to speak, and jumped West in 2011. Their 'American' neighbour stayed put. Great if you want to celebrate a Feast Day twice and stay in the same island chain! But we're not in American Samoa. Anyway - Happy Feast Day from the centre of the world where you calendar day begins (or ends, depending where you are!).
For the Feast Day, here is a little gift (attached) from the young Salesians at Divyadaan house of philosophy, Nashik in Mumbai Province. They prepared it before the novena, but it only arrived in our hands at the end. Still and all, it will be a useful resource to use especially with GC27 about to start and the 10 Diamond Dream taking centre stage.
As they explain in the set of reflections on the attached PDF the sources are the dream text itself and the well-known AGC 300 commentary (1981) by Fr Viganò, but the fact that they have put this together as a very usable set of brief reflections makes the dream much more accessible and treats it as an appropriate resource for personal and community meditation.
So you can get a feel of what's on offer here, and sense its simplicity and relevance, here is a brief extract on WORK.
Work
What is work? The Catechism of the Catholic Church indicates that by work man participates in the Divine work of creation. When united to Christ, work is redemptive. (CCC, 2427)
As we noted earlier Art 18 reminds us that our work is a participation in God’s creative work in the universe and is a cooperation with Christ in building the kingdom.
Art 78 tells us that “Unremitting and self-sacrificing work is a characteristic left us by Don Bosco, and is a concrete expression of our poverty. In our daily labours we are at one with the poor who live by the sweat of their brow, and we bear witness to the human and christian value of work.
In Art 95 we are reminded that our work is made holy by prayer and union with God.
Reflection questions:
1. Do I experience joy in my work?
2. Can I say that I am a hardworking person?
Nashik, India/Apia, Samoa: 31 January 2013 -- With the Australia-Pacific Province sitting right 'this side' of the IDL, that gives us the right, I think, to wish the rest of the Salesian world a very happy Feast Day of St John Bosco! Don't believe any old maps you have, by the way - Samoa (but not American Samoa) saw the way the wind was blowing, so to speak, and jumped West in 2011. Their 'American' neighbour stayed put. Great if you want to celebrate a Feast Day twice and stay in the same island chain! But we're not in American Samoa. Anyway - Happy Feast Day from the centre of the world where you calendar day begins (or ends, depending where you are!).
For the Feast Day, here is a little gift (attached) from the young Salesians at Divyadaan house of philosophy, Nashik in Mumbai Province. They prepared it before the novena, but it only arrived in our hands at the end. Still and all, it will be a useful resource to use especially with GC27 about to start and the 10 Diamond Dream taking centre stage.
As they explain in the set of reflections on the attached PDF the sources are the dream text itself and the well-known AGC 300 commentary (1981) by Fr Viganò, but the fact that they have put this together as a very usable set of brief reflections makes the dream much more accessible and treats it as an appropriate resource for personal and community meditation.
So you can get a feel of what's on offer here, and sense its simplicity and relevance, here is a brief extract on WORK.
Work
What is work? The Catechism of the Catholic Church indicates that by work man participates in the Divine work of creation. When united to Christ, work is redemptive. (CCC, 2427)
As we noted earlier Art 18 reminds us that our work is a participation in God’s creative work in the universe and is a cooperation with Christ in building the kingdom.
Art 78 tells us that “Unremitting and self-sacrificing work is a characteristic left us by Don Bosco, and is a concrete expression of our poverty. In our daily labours we are at one with the poor who live by the sweat of their brow, and we bear witness to the human and christian value of work.
In Art 95 we are reminded that our work is made holy by prayer and union with God.
Reflection questions:
1. Do I experience joy in my work?
2. Can I say that I am a hardworking person?
