austraLasia #3122
Making history in the Indonesian Delegation
BOGOR 23 August 2012 -- After 26 years in Indonesia, the Salesians of Don Bosco in the Indonesia Delegation are making history. Forty-two Confreres (both perpetually and temporarily professed) from all the Salesian centres gather together in a retreat house in Gadok, Bogor, West Java, not to make a retreat but to hold their First General Assembly, which is running from 20 to 25 August 2012.
After experiencing the growth of the Congregation and the progress of Don Bosco’s mission in the largest Muslim country in the world, as the Provincial, Fr. João Paulino Guterres said in his good-night talk on the first night, “At this historical moment, the Lord wants us to have a clear vision and mission statement, and make our strategic planning. This will surely benefit all of us in the Delegation. The results of this Assembly, of course, will have to be approved first by the coming Provincial Chapter (10-13 April 2013), and the Superiors in Rome. This will also be the foundation and preparation for the future, when perhaps the Delegation of Indonesia will become a Vice-Province, (God-willing). In three or six years time, Indonesia will then perhaps be one of the main projects of the Congregation in Asia, a doorstep to enter other countries like Singapore and Malaysia.”
The General Assembly of Confreres officially started on the 21st of August. The day began with a recollection preached by Fr. Noel Villafuerte, Parish Priest of St. Michael Parish in Surabaya. The questions asked by Fr. Noel for the confreres’ reflection were: Where are we right now? And where are we going to? Are we ready to leave our COMFORT ZONE (where we are now, where perhaps we cannot grow) and proceed to our COURAGE ZONE (where we can grow in spite of the challenges and difficulties? When we stop growing, we die!). But we must always remain in our CORE ZONE (Our Salesian identity; the Dream of the Ten Diamonds, the authoritative identikit of the true Salesian).
The Provincial opened officially the General Assembly of the Confreres, on the 21st of August. During the Mass, besides preaching on the gospel reading of the day, he read some parts of the Rector Majors’ letter to him and the confreres after Fr. Wong’s extra-ordinary visitation. “Our service in the world is not exhausted by the service we do, unless it also becomes a sign of the presence of God and His Kingdom. For this we need to be visible witnesses to the centrality of God and become mystics, prophets and servants. This involves personal holiness, prophetic communities and humble service. It calls for a radical way of life according to the Gospel!”
It is also very encouraging for the participants of the General Assembly of Confreres that precisely in this month of August the Salesian Missionary Intention is to pray for Salesians working in Islamic Contexts, especially in the Delegation of Indonesia, that “they may discern the possibilities of the mission of witness and patient educational commitment.” (Cagliero 11, August 2012)
Making history in the Indonesian Delegation
After experiencing the growth of the Congregation and the progress of Don Bosco’s mission in the largest Muslim country in the world, as the Provincial, Fr. João Paulino Guterres said in his good-night talk on the first night, “At this historical moment, the Lord wants us to have a clear vision and mission statement, and make our strategic planning. This will surely benefit all of us in the Delegation. The results of this Assembly, of course, will have to be approved first by the coming Provincial Chapter (10-13 April 2013), and the Superiors in Rome. This will also be the foundation and preparation for the future, when perhaps the Delegation of Indonesia will become a Vice-Province, (God-willing). In three or six years time, Indonesia will then perhaps be one of the main projects of the Congregation in Asia, a doorstep to enter other countries like Singapore and Malaysia.”
The General Assembly of Confreres officially started on the 21st of August. The day began with a recollection preached by Fr. Noel Villafuerte, Parish Priest of St. Michael Parish in Surabaya. The questions asked by Fr. Noel for the confreres’ reflection were: Where are we right now? And where are we going to? Are we ready to leave our COMFORT ZONE (where we are now, where perhaps we cannot grow) and proceed to our COURAGE ZONE (where we can grow in spite of the challenges and difficulties? When we stop growing, we die!). But we must always remain in our CORE ZONE (Our Salesian identity; the Dream of the Ten Diamonds, the authoritative identikit of the true Salesian).
The Provincial opened officially the General Assembly of the Confreres, on the 21st of August. During the Mass, besides preaching on the gospel reading of the day, he read some parts of the Rector Majors’ letter to him and the confreres after Fr. Wong’s extra-ordinary visitation. “Our service in the world is not exhausted by the service we do, unless it also becomes a sign of the presence of God and His Kingdom. For this we need to be visible witnesses to the centrality of God and become mystics, prophets and servants. This involves personal holiness, prophetic communities and humble service. It calls for a radical way of life according to the Gospel!”
It is also very encouraging for the participants of the General Assembly of Confreres that precisely in this month of August the Salesian Missionary Intention is to pray for Salesians working in Islamic Contexts, especially in the Delegation of Indonesia, that “they may discern the possibilities of the mission of witness and patient educational commitment.” (Cagliero 11, August 2012)
