By Fr Marco Begato, SDB
The event was the last of the Bologna phase of his Animation Visit to the Lombardy-Emilia-Romagna Province. On Friday evening, in fact, the Rector Major arrived in Milan where, on the morning of Saturday, June 3, he met with representatives of the Salesian student body in the Milan area.
The informal conversation touched upon: the specific tasks of the Rector Major in the Congregation, the relationship between the Institute and students in the Salesian school, the importance of cultivating dreams toward which to orient the future, and the discovery of one's own vocation.
Then, in the afternoon, the Rector Major devoted two hours of intense talks to his confreres of the ILE Province. He presented them with the great challenge of preserving the charisma even in the prospect of delivering wide sections of the works to lay people; the dimension of fraternity and service as winning elements in the path of renewal of the Congregation; the dialectics between the high percentage of vocations and the difficulty in vocational perseverance, to which all are called to answer, but especially those in the educational communities.
On Sunday, June 4, the last day of his visit, the X Successor of Don Bosco met members of the Salesian Family of Lombardy and Canton Ticino (Switzerland). After presenting the size and the ongoing expansion of the Salesian Family across the globe, he thanked each of the main groups from across all continents for their specific contributions. Finally, on the day of Pentecost, he emphasized the importance of the action of the Holy Spirit in order to continue to spread the Salesian charism.
Thanks to the singing and festive mood created by the young people present, the Rector Major's last and most joyful encounter of his journey was with the youths of the Salesian Youth Movement and those who are preparing for important summer activities, such as the Pilgrimage to the Holy Land or the missionary expeditions, led by the Delegate of Youth Ministry, don Elio Cesari.
