UPS, Rome, 14 September 2023 -- The theme for Strenna 2024 “The Dream that makes you dream”: A heart that transforms ‘wolves’ into ‘lambs’, has been announced, and it has already provoked wide interest. Don Bosco’s childhood dream (at nine or ten years of age, as he himself reminds us in the MO) is so fundamental to who he was and what he achieved through the inspiration of the Holy Spirit, and therefore to his charism, that its choice as next year's Strenna theme has been bound to excite members of the Salesian Family and beyond, and stir the creative juices of thinkers, artists, musicians, storytellers...
So it should be no surprise that a study of the dream by a theologian such as the current Rector Magnificus of the Pontifical Salesian University (UPS) in Rome, Fr Andrea Bozzolo, should gain prominence at this early stage of preparation for the Strenna.
This particular study of ‘The Dream’ is part of a much more extensive study of Don Bosco's dreams published by LAS in 2017, but at this stage only this single extract has been translated into English. It is available at Boscolink in English and French translation
Fr Bozzolo effectively divides his study into two parts, as he attempts to critically interpret the famous dream. If the reader finds the first part dealing with hermeneutics of interpreting dreams a little heavy, then there should be no problem quickly moving to p. 39 of the text where he attempts a ‘theological reading’ by considering the characters involved, the dream’s structure, the biblical resonances, its spiritual themes. But the early part (Sources and Hermeneutics) should perhaps not be lightly skipped over, as it is crucial to the later work of interpretation that the author attempts.
Because this is a LAS product, do not be surprised to find the Table of Contents at the end, rather than at the beginning!
Enjoy!
