The wine served later is indeed better!

By Fr Joseph Nguyen Thinh Phuoc SDB

Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam, 28-29 October 2019-- The feast day of Blessed Michael Rua was celebrated in a significant way at the New Provincial House with the meeting of the Elderly Salesian Confreres (65 years old or older): the oldest was 87. 20 of the confreres are in their early or late 70ss.

This meeting took place for the first time in the history of this Province. The participants belong to the first generation of Salesians who were inspired and formed by the Salesian missionaries from 1952-1975. In 1975, many of them were very young, just in their late twenties, and had not yet finished theology when the foreign missionaries were expelled from the country. Each in his own role and function carried out the responsibility of passing on the Salesian spirituality and charism to the later generation. In spite of being cut off from relationships with the Congregation at large for a number of years, they passed on the love for Mary, Don Bosco and the preferential love for the poor young.

Even a great number of them are still active and happy in various responsibilities [rectors, pastors, formators, confessors, assistants and teachers . . .] yet, seeing that their days are counted down by weeks and months, and for some, by days, the meeting of “older friends” was indeed an encouragement for them to be better examples for the candidates and young Salesians. Through the inputs given by a doctor and the narrative telling speech of an elderly on the early days of Salesian works in Vietnam, the participants were inspired to live happily and meaningfully in this later part of the Salesian life. They prayed to Blessed Michael Rua to be the faithful disciples of Don Bosco, and to be in communion with those who were still being active in ministries with their prayers and examples.

The young members in the Provincial House were indeed impressed by the joyful family atmosphere created by their “former superiors” who treasured very much this precious moment of meeting. A proposal was indeed taken to make this kind of meeting a regular one in the Provincial Agenda.

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