Don Bosco India

Religious and Priestly Formation and Emotional Health - Part 1

This is an unedited version of an article on religious and priestly formation co-authored by Jose Parappully and Joe Mannath that was published in the Vidyajyoti Journal of Theological Reflection.

Fr. Joe, a Son of Don Bosco - a Dreamer too!

Fr. Joe Arimpoor,sdb has been involved in the evaluation of the Sisters of St. Joseph of Tarbes for the past ten months. He has been studying in depth their charism and mission in order to evaluate their LIFE, MISSION AND MINISTRIES. Their charism is to contemplate the Trinitarian communion, live this communion in their communities, and build communion in their ministries. Towards the end of the study he had a dream which he narrated to us: ``I was rewarded with a dream by God. The Holy Trinity invited me for a walk. The Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit accompanied me to a big garden of fruit trees. There were more than a thousand trees. I asked why this special favour. They said that it was a reward and at the same time an additional responsibility. Why a reward? I asked. They said: for all the trouble you took in studying their charism and clarifying it to them as well as accompanying them in this journey and challenging them with timely and relevant prophetic inspirations. The trees in the garden had labels on them. When I looked at them closely I found they were names of the various religious congregations. Some of the trees were laden with plenty of fruits. Others had few fruits. Still others, hardly any fruits at all. Some of them were marked with a red sign. I also noticed that there were vacant places where apparently there were trees in the past. Some others remained with the stump with the tree already cut down. I asked the Father for an explanation of all these. He said that the trees with abundant fruits are those who are ever faithful to their founders and charism. They update themselves and become ever relevant. They respond to prophetic interventions with courage and generosity. They are ever mindful of the Missionary ideal and launch out to difficult terrain to spread the Word of God. Those who are bearing few fruits are those who experience the gap between the origin and initial enthusiasm and the present distance chronologically and geographically; deviation from their charism and lack of initiatives and creativity to incarnate their original charism ``here and now``. Those with the red signs are those which are marked to be cut down because they do not bear fruits for long time now. Those stumps are the trees cut down recently because they did not improve even after the warnings. The empty spaces are the places where there were trees in the past. They became a burden to the ground and bore no fruits. They were cut down and removed quite some time back. Now my curiosity was aroused. I asked the Father to show me the SJT tree. I found that there were not many fruits. I asked them why there was no sign on it for being cut down. They answered - The SJTs have taken a bold and courageous step of getting their province evaluated by a prophetic person. They are now in earnest to renew, revitalize and re-launch their charism in the modern context. They have asked for a lease of six years and promised to bear fruits. Hence they have been spared. Then I asked Them if they had any particular message for these sisters. The Father took the lead to mention four sure guidelines to make the congregation flourish in the new millennium: 1. Return to your founders; capture their original spirit and live it in the present context. 2. Live the charism to the full, especially focus on the communion in the communities. 3. Make a radical shift to the poor and the marginalized. 4. Nurture and promote prophetic interventions. 5. Develop missionary zeal among the members.`` I said my memory is short. Can I get a paper and pen to write these down? In my hurry to search for the pen and the paper I woke up. We are so grateful to the Holy Trinity who has spoken to us and given us the timely warning through Fr. Joe`s dream. Thanks to you too, Fr. Joe. SJT Sister,Bangalore DB ARK Reporter

Snippets from Salesian History - India

This is a collectin of interesting and inspiring anecdotes from the history of the Salesians of Don Bosco in India. They are taken from the Centenary Souvenir, ``Don Bosco India Centenary 1906-2006``.

Heroes of a Salesian Epic

This article is a grateful tribute to the 460 Salesian Missionaries who came to India from other countries during the past 100 years. It highlights several aspects of the history of the Salesians in India, as well as the complete list of the missionaries, with brief biographical data on each of them. It was published in the Centenary Souvenir ``Don Bosco India Centenary 1906-2006``.

Salesian Centenary Celebrations - India

This article speaks of the various events and celebrations in connection with the first centenary of the Salesians of Don Bosco in India.

SDB INDIA - The First Hundred Years

Ths is a very brief history of the Salesians of Don Bosco in India. It speaks of the arrival of the first Salesian missionaries to to India in 1906 and the development of the Salesian works in India in the past 100 year.

The``WAY``

The 14 stations of the Cross

PY-YAR A LOVE MOVENMENT TO CHANGE THE WORLD

DB ARK, NEW DELHI, launches its scheme for the Young to start a NEW SOCIETY and build a `Culture of Solidarity` through initiatives of the Privileged Youth (PY) reaching out in love and concern and equality to the Young at Risk (YaR).

SPIRITUALITY OF THE DIOCESAN PRIEST

In this article Jose Parappully SDB, PhD offers ten significant points to develop an authentic spirituality of the diocesan priest. This article was published in Vidyajyoti Journal of Theological Reflection, 2009, vol 73, no 1, pp. 19-30

HUMAN FORMATION OF PRIESTS

This article is based on a paper presented at Consultation on ``HUMAN FORMATION OF PRIESTS``--Challenges in Asian Context at the Salesian Retreat House, Hua Hin, Thailand, 15-19 May 2006, organized by Federation of Asian Bishops` Conference`s Office of Clergy. Abstract: There is greater acknowledgment today of the sexual difficulties and problems priests face and the need to have formation programmes that assist candidates to integrate their sexuality and their celibate calling. This paper outlines some of these difficulties and problems and specific helping interventions that can be used to facilitate this integration. It emphasises the importance of the quality of the helper`s presence, his attitudes toward sexuality and the sex offender, capacity to listen sensitively, and relate empathically, as well as his competence in the helping skills.