Annual Retreat in Timor Leste

By Br. Lourenco das Neves Soares, SDB

Fuiloro, Timor Leste, 10 December 2016 -- Annual retreat is an opportunity given by the congregation to each member,to deepen one’s spiritual life according to God’s loving design. According to Salesian tradition, every year each Salesian has a whole week of prayers, conference and quiet time to reflect the divine intervention in all their activities and missions accompanied by a preacher, who is an expert either in Salesian spirituality, Theologian or Bible Scholar. This year, we (ITM Vice-Province) are blessed to have with us Fr. Frank Moloney the world known Bible Scholar. He guided us to reflect on the Biblical foundation of the Evangelical Counsels of Obedience, Poverty, and Chastity. The Lectio divina was based on the readings from the second and third Sunday of Advent. Furthermore, this retreat is delivered to two different groups: first group was attended by 29 confreres (27 November – 3 December) and 31 confreres were in the second group (4 – 10 December).

Father Moloney challenged us in his Lectio about each of our three vows: It is crucially important to notice that the order of the Evangelical Counsels changed radically after Vatican II; obedience comes first. Parables “re-form” us, having effect and impact on our lives; we become involved. Jesus did not only tell the parables, but he lived them. Moreover, Jesus established a new condition where everything is done according to God’s will. He turned an accepted way of life upside down.It is the quality of Jesus’ relationship with his Father, a relationship that is based on his loving obedience and openness to do the Father’s will. Hence, Jesus understood himself as having an unconditional obedience of the Son to the Father; an unconditional yes to God, which costs his own life.

In a similar way we explored in our Lectio divina also the Biblical foundation of our vows of poverty and chastity. Our religious call to follow Christ who is obedient, poor, and chaste Salesians, has been beautifully stated in the Constitutions art. 60, which may sum up the whole retreat: “by religious profession we mean to live the grace of our baptism radically and more fully. We follow Jesus Christ, who virginal and poor, redeemed and sanctified mankind by obedience, and share more closely in his paschal mystery, in his self-emptying and in his life in the spirit. Surrendering ourselves totally to God whom we love above all else, we commit ourselves to a form of life based entirely on Gospel values.”

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