Rome (Italy). On 27 December 2022, in Rome, in the Generalate of the Institute of the Daughters of Mary Help of Christians, the Rector Major of the Salesians of Don Bosco, Fr. Ángel Fernández Artime, presented Strenna 2023 – “AS THE YEAST IN TODAY’S HUMAN FAMILY. The lay dimension of Don Bosco’s Family” – to the Daughters of Mary Help of Christians and to the whole Salesian Family.
The event, broadcast worldwide in live streaming by IME Communication on the InfoANS Facebook e Youtube linguistic channels, was attended by the Mother General of the FMA Institute, Sr. Chiara Cazzuola, and her Council; the Emerita Mother General, Sr. Yvonne Reungoat; the Provincial of St. John Bosco Province (IRO); the Superior of Mary Mother of the Church Preprovince (RMC); the Novices of the International Novitiates Mary Help of Christians of Castel Gandolfo (Rome) and Sr. Teresa Valsè Pantellini of Rome – Via Appia; various FMA; and representatives of the Salesian Family: two General Councilors and other Salesians of Don Bosco, Salesian Oblate Sisters of the Sacred Heart of Jesus, Daughters of the Sacred Hearts of Jesus and Mary, Salesian Cooperators, Past Pupils, representatives of ADMA.
After an initial hymn to Mary, animated by the Novices with a juggling number, Sr. Leslye Sándigo, General Councilor for the Salesian Family, introduced the Video of Strenna 2023, in which, starting from the parable of the yeast, “which a woman took and mixed in three measures of flour, until it was all leavened” (Lk 13:20-21), the Rector Major speaks of the Salesian Family as a “community of people of different social backgrounds, life status, professional profiles,” whose work “is here and today the Kingdom of God that requires our collaboration” and “whose weak work, apparently small in the face of the complexity of the world’s problems, if inserted into that of God, becomes very strong and is not afraid of difficulty”.
Images of contemporary reality flow through the video, with the achievements and great challenges of humanity, “the human family is a family with many needs: for justice, dignity for the least, truth, peace, fraternity, care for the common home, needy above all of God and we are called, as Don Bosco’s Family, to be yeast in this human family.” Some testimonies concretely recount action “like yeast” of the Salesian charism in the life of young people, such as that of Eric, a young rapper from one of the most conflictual and violent areas of Mexico, who on meeting a Salesian rediscovers a religiosity that involves the excluded and a God who lifts up the young.
“The ultimate goal of Don Bosco’s mission is the salvation of his boys, the transformation of society. Without the laity, how are we going to get there? The Church needs lay people and a lay vision, to speak the language of humanity, to live humanity.” Giovanna, Mayor of Andria in Puglia, in the Salesian courtyards learned to be salt for the earth, leaven for others. In the first courtyard of Valdocco, Domenic Savio and other young people grow up with the desire to become saints, a high goal later reached by many lay people of the Salesian Family, including St. Artemide Zatti.
“Each of us must ask ourselves: what is my place in this reality of the Kingdom of God?” This is the question left by the Rector Major at the end of the video, taken up by Sr. Leslye to begin the moment of the interview with Fr. Ángel on the part of Marta Rossi, Salesian Cooperator, and of Sr. Maria Ausilia De Siena, FMA, General Councilor for Communication. There are several questions they pose: the reasons for choosing the theme of the lay dimension, on being yeast, an element “that belongs to the DNA of all Christians,” with the “color” proper to the Salesian charism. And again: how to offer young people a lifestyle that grows in silence, like yeast? As a Salesian Family, how can we be yeast for these young people who experience conditions of hardship amplified by the pandemic?
Being yeast through the presence and personal encounter with young people, through small daily gestures, done with love; these are some of the methods suggested by Fr. Ángel, who underlined the great opportunity for the Salesian Family to find themselves every day with a notable number of boys and girls and their families, a reason for life and hope in today’s difficult reality.
Answering other questions about the community, Salesian identity, politics, he also highlighted the challenges of an authentically Christian witness, of walking together, of commitment in the world with courageous choices, to which members of the SF are called. At the end of the interview, the Rector Major thanked the Daughters of Mary Help of Christians for this family moment organized to present the Strenna to the world.
The word was then passed to Mother Chiara Cazzuola, who in turn expressed her gratitude to Fr. Ángel for the “live” presentation of the Strenna and for the opportunity through this theme, to deepen the lay dimension of the Salesian Family, a very strong intuition of Don Bosco, reviving in each one the awareness of being able to be, as a family, “multipliers of the good”.
“We are all over the world and with many different expressions, because each of us has a particular role that integrates with the others. This is a precious treasure and I think the Strenna will help us focus even more on who we are, deepening our Salesian spirituality, the dimension of fruitfulness in daily life, as well as the educational dimension that characterizes our Charism”.
Photo: Flickr FMA
