By Falefa Elia SDB

Rome, 31 October 2024 -- Coming to the end of our Respiro Course, my heart is overwhelmed with the endless love that continued to guide and enrich us. I am so grateful to God for allowing me to be here, to experience and to be formed and enriched by the life journey of our founder Don Bosco and St Francis De Sales and Mary Domenica Mazarello. It was also meaningful to walk in the steps of St Paul and St Peter as well as St Francis of Assisi.

I want to thank especially to the Missions Sector, Fr Alfred, Fr Reginaldo, Fr Pavel, Fr Eric and Mr Marco Fulgaro. They have worked hard and selflessly offered their time to make our journey meaningful and fruitful. The input and the spiritual guidance that you’ve prepared for us help us dive deep into the spirituality of our founder. It really impacted us and made us aware of our mission to the world. This makes us aware of how to do missionary work in the context in which we live the Gospel of Joy and are witnesses of God’s love for the young.

To my brothers and sisters of the Respiro Course, at our last meal, we shared the tears and the pain of missing each other. This shows that we really are true Salesians from the heart, for we really lived the Spirit of our Founder during our seven weeks together. I am sure we will continue to spread that light to our own communities and to the people whom we are called to serve. Let us continue to keep this Missionary Spirit alive and live a life according to what we experienced when we journeyed together as friends in Italy.

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