I had a dream...
R ROME (or is it Paradise?): 17th March 2008 -- "We were all in Paradise. How happy I was to see everyone there enjoying the eternal beatitudes. Taking advantage of the moment, we got down to talking about the situation in the Congregation. Suddenly, a 'simple confrère' came up to us. But as he got closer I saw that... it was Don Bosco. He was laughing:
“Bravo, my dear confrères. You've just succeeded in doing to your confreres what some priests in Turin never succeeded in doing to me”.
“Really? What are you trying to say?”, the Moderator asked him.
“My dear friend, with all your GC26 guidelines, you've succeeded in sending half the confrères to the looney bin”.
“But Don Bosco, some needed to be challenged!”
Our father smiled. “All that was needed was a drawing of the Good Shepherd with seven guidelines”.
“How do you mean, Don Bosco?”
“Sure, I mean one guidelines for each member of the body:
One for the heart: a fervent return to loving-kindness.
A second one for the eyes: opening them to the reality of young people and the world.
A third one for the ears: getting them onto the same wavelength as the little ones, the least, in order to hear their cry.
A fourth one for the hands: opening them up to give, and especally to receive help from all the young people, all the lay people who are ready to give a hand.
The fifth for the mouth: to proclaim your joy and to decry every human injustice without compromise!
The sixth for the feet: in order to wander around the areas where young people and others entrusted to us are.
We were astounded by the audacity and simplicity of it all. Don Bosco continued:
The seventh... never forget it, yes, the backside..... so confrères will learn to sit down and share amongst themselves.
“But.... Don Bosco.... this can't be a serious plan!”
“But that's just the point. It's because you are all trying to be so serious that you are losing both credibility and effectiveness! Seven guidelines and the Good Shepherd, that's what I'm trying to tell you! That's enough for you to be convinced and enthusiastic about going back home!” Then he added, jokingly: “and for those of you who still enjoy a full head of hair, comb it ... don't look like me in my photos”.
I was enchanted by all this and asked him, “And prayer, Don Dosco?” He looked at me, amazed:
“But Daniel, I couldn't have done anything I did without nourishing my body with the Christ's body and his word”.
Then he said, “You should have gone back to this Chapter with these seven guidelines ... and a hankerchief as a reminder!”
“A handkerchief?”
“Yes, a handkerchief! Remember what I did with one in my hands, speaking about obedience?... Obedience to the constitutions! The handkerchief would have been useful for consoling confrères crying about their lot and for stuffing into the mouth of those who speak badly about their other confrères”.
At this point we heard a voice crying out from a distance: “Don Bosco!”
“Ooh, it's Mary Help of Christians. She and I are still working together. Excuse me!”
This is my dream. I'm not interested in whether you believe me or not. I just wanted to tell you about it".
The above is an intervention in the Aula Magna by Fr Daniel Federspiel (FRA). Brilliant, is it not? And they're wondering if the Chapter document might have some sort of 'narrative' feel about it? One couldn't do much better than include this one!
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Title: australasia 2097
Subject and key words: SDB General GC26
Date (year): 2008
ID: 2000-2099|2097
