"Remaining in the heart of the world with the Heart of God"
Rector Major's letter for VDB Centenary (English translation)
By Fr. Angel F. Artime, SDB
Rector Major
Generalate, 20 May 2017 -- Thanks to one Filipina VDB we have in our hands in record time the English version of the Centenary Letter of the Successor of Don Bosco for the VDB, entitled '100 Years for God and for the World'. Following the tradition of his predecessors - Fr. Vigano (1979), Fr. Vecchi (1997) and Fr. Chavez (2007) also Fr. Angel shares with the whole Salesian Family his VDB Centenary letter.
In the second part the Rector Major indicates "some starting points that can inspire concrete way of living the VDB identity in the context of the Church and of the world of today. In harmony with the Church and the pastoral orientations that we receive in the Church, I propose to you:
- Continue to be with your particular secular consecration true yeast that acts as leaven (Mt 13,33)... with your life style, capable many times in silent and hidden way, but also containing a proposal and stimulating, generating hope.
- Sisters, you are close to the life and to the story of joy and of sorrow of every person who encounters you in your existence.
- You don't fall in the very frequent and very human temptation of individualism.
- You live a beautiful experience of fraternity as constant experience of communion and of unity in the Spirit.
- Do not remain indifferent in front of the life of every man and woman whom you encounter.... Your vocation of consecrated in the world demands from you of standing in the hear of the human vicissitudes.
- You live your vocation with radicality, with the courage of knowing and feeling that the faith give form, content, strength and light to your whole existence."
The whole 10 page-long Letter of the Rector Major is divided in three parts:
- A look at the origins
- Aroused by the Holy Spirit in the novelty of the consecrated secularity (some signs of living the VDB identity)
- As part of a beautiful charismatic family (VDB salesianity, As living part of the Salesian family)
Full text of the VDB 100 Letter of the Rector Major (10 pages A4)
