Dear confreres and friends,

As we start the month of September, I would like to present to you Pope Benedict’s prayer intentions. Let us be one with him in prayer as Don Bosco wanted his sons to be so at all times. Remembering the Pope’s intentions often in our personal and communitarian prayer will certainly bring us closer to our Lord Jesus.

Pope Benedict's general prayer intention for September is: "That in less developed parts of the world the proclamation of the Word of God may renew people's hearts, encouraging them to work actively toward authentic social progress".

His mission intention is: "That by opening our hearts to love we may put an end to the numerous wars and conflicts which continue to bloody our world".

In Don Bosco,
Fr. Andrew Wong

Country full of bridges - SRI LANKA

Very short but intense visit in a beatiful island country of sri lanka. Main impression and prayer is about bridge building.
Long war just finished, one country three languages at every signboard
sinhala, tamil and english. Travelling from Colombo to the far north, there is strong feeling of deep war wounds still very deep.

Visiting some community of the SDB and FMA, joyfully shining eyes of young people, some of them ex child soldiers, orphans - BUT now happy to grow in the houses of Don Bosco, are the best indicator our our commitment.

Asking every group of Salesians, teachers and youth: Are you happy? What makes you really happy? - many deep and straightforth answers:
Don Bosco makes me happy, gives me future! Boarding houses, simple workshop hours in our training centers, morning prayer and Eucharist,
dance and songs are healing slowly the wounds.

Visiting at least one budhist temple, talking to one very friendly and deep senior buddhist monk, i have again thanked for the all people and out reaching gift of our salesian spirit.
Happeniss for our hour, for one day, for one week, for one month, for one year, happeniness for ever.... life giving, self giving attitude,
those were the lines of sharing with our Budhist friends.

Beautiful country that needs to growth in harmony, bridge building,
in need of many peacebuilders.
One Oblate of Mary Immaculate shared some times ago, If you Salesians arrived earlier, the young people may be not at war, but busy with building this country! Never late!

I pray, our 45 aspirants in Dankotuwa, and other future aspirants in the North in the future, might be formed well, to grow as Don Bosco's of Sri Lanka! I pray for all Salesians to grow in depth and apostolic courage to serve their country.

During these two days i was travelling around many holy places of 600 Sri Lankan martyrs, from 5 AM to 9 PM daily. Many new roads are catching the eye! In the same time the need to construct many more bridges among different religions, bridges that heal the past wounds and help to build the future are badly needed.

Entrusting the whole country to Our Lady, who is daily prayed in the national Shrine of Madhu! Mary, our Mother, Mother of bridge builders pray for us!

Siempre en camino hacia los hombres, sin casa propia en la que descansar, Jesús solía acudir donde quiera le invitasen; era huésped de personas influyentes lo mismo que de notorios pecadores; a nadie negaba su compañía, ni el evangelio de Dios. Hoy el evangelio nos ha recordado una de esas ocasiones; un importante fariseo le había convidado a comer un sábado; su presencia despertó cierto revuelo entre los asistentes, que no dejaban de observarlo. No tardó él en advertir cómo los invitados buscaban los mejores puestos disponibles: todos se creían dignos de mayor distinción; una actitud tan desconsiderada le movió a darles una lección. En realidad, Jesús no pretendía enseñarles buena educación; no era su papel hacer de maestro de buenas costumbres; quiso, más bien, descubrirles la malicia de un comportamiento que busca el honor propio antes que la honra de Dios y el respeto al prójimo. Y añadió que no debemos hacer favores con la secreta ilusión de ser recompensados.

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Sunday, August 22

Already starting third week in India animation visit.
It's really a great gift of God to meet in many formation houses
a lot of young aspirants, prenovices, novices, postnovices and students of theology, exceptionally also a group of lay brothers.

From Shillong to Kerala i have discovered a lot of rich missionary animation heritage of our formation houses. One of them is the missionary group. How does it look?

Very simple,
1. the brothers who taking part of it, they prepare some special prayer form for the 11th of each month, day of prayers for the missionaries.
2. in one postnovitiate the group prepared a specific prayer form for the missionaries working abroad as well prayer for new missionary vocation.
3. eventually they keep in touch by email with many home province origin missionaries who are at the moment in Africa, Oceania, other countries of Asia or even in Europe.
4. in one novitiate they prepare even annual missionary congress, which is simply a sharing (after personal study) of the outstanding model of some of 450 SDB who helped to implant the Salesian charism in the Indian context during past 105 years.
5. they print and distribute the leafleft of Cagliero11 month by month, helping the basic awareness about needs of salesian missions.
6. if some missionary is passing on his holiday through the province, they try to get his sharing, also get it verbalize and so multiply in the digital form the possibility of listening to first hand experience from Sudan, PNG, Hungary of other spot.
7. In one prenovitiate every Sunday is watched one DVD produced by Missioni Don Bosco Torino, with very professional, interesting Salesian experience mainly from frontier missions around the world.

May good Lord give us the wisdom and commitment
to re-established in all our formation houses around the world.
Yesterday morning after the Eucharist in the KJC community in Bangalore the first meeting of some eight founding members of the missionary groups.

Da mihi animas, cetera tolle!

Dans l'Afrique traditionnelle, pour communiquer avec les habitants éloignés, on utilisait plusieurs moyens dont le tam-tam et la trompette. Il fallait se rendre sur un lieu élevé, sur une colline. Cette communication était bien répandue dans toutes les parties de l’Afrique et surtout dans les zones montagneuses. Le pays qui peut se vanter d'avoir user au maximum de ce moyen de communication est bien le Rwanda, pays de milles collines. De part sa géographie, le Rwanda est un petit riche en belles petites et grandes montagnes. Ce relief, jouant un rôle important pour l'économie du pays, offrait également un avantage dans la communication. Parlait sur une montagne, est un signe de vouloir être écouté par tous. Ainsi pour communiquer certains événements, les habitants se rendaient sur une des collines et utilisaient les différents moyens de communication précités. Cette même méthode, qu'on croyait désormais délaissée et dépassée par les nouveaux moyens de communication, a été utilisée de nos jours par Dieu pour s'adresser à son peuple.

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