Messaggio della Consigliera per le Missioni_14 june 2021 eng

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Rome, 14 June 2021.
Dearest Sisters,
I hope to find you well after having celebrated the
Feast of Mary Help of Christians with filial joy. With
the message of the month of May, we concluded the
reflection on the passage from the Wedding at Cana (Jn 2:
1-12) and, while we wait to celebrate the XXIV General
Chapter, we decided to dedicate some of our time and
much of our affection to get closer to the figure of St.
Joseph.
On 8 December 2020, Pope Francis indicted the
Year of St. Joseph to mark the 150 years since the Decree
Quemadmodum Deus with which Blessed Pius IX
declared St. Joseph Patron of the Church.
“In order to perpetuate the entrustment of the
whole Church to the powerful patronage of the Guardian
of Jesus, Pope Francis has established that, from today’s
date, the anniversary of the proclamation decree as well as
a day sacred to the Blessed Immaculate Virgin and Bride
of the most chaste Joseph, up to 8 December 2021, a
special Year of Saint Joseph is to be celebrated, in which
each of the faithful by following his example can daily
strengthen their life of faith in the total fulfillment of God’s will” (Card. Mauro Piacenza - Major
Penitentiary).
Our Institute as well, lives its mission and makes the Salesian charism grow over time and in the
five continents under the protection of Saint Joseph. Our Constitutions in article 45, refer precisely to
the fact that Don Bosco gave Saint Joseph as Patron of our Institute, together with Saint Francis de Sales
and Saint Teresa. The same article emphasizes that God manifests His presence and His image to us
through the lives of the Saints. He himself “speaks through them.”
Thus, even though Saint Joseph is the man of ‘perfect’ silence, because Sacred Scripture has not
handed down any word or expression from him ..., his life is eloquent. He still speaks to us today, and
he speaks to us with his life, with his being close to Mary and Jesus, with his work, with his intuitions,
with his acting according to God’s will.
For us, and for every believer, it is evident that the figure of St. Joseph is inseparable from that
of Mary, not only due to the well-chosen date of Pope Francis to celebrate the Year of St. Joseph (8
December 2020 – 8 December 2021), but also because when the Gospel speaks of Joseph, it also speaks of
Mary.
And then, this event of the Year of St. Joseph is filled with charismatic significance because 8
December is the date on which Don Bosco began the Oratory, and as we all know, it all started with a
Hail Mary. Furthermore, Don Bosco wanted Saint Joseph among the Patrons of the Oratory, and he
gave him to us as Patron of the Institute because he had a strong and constant devotion to him and, filial,
unshakable trust in him. Don Bosco used to say: “It never happens that I ask Saint Joseph for a grace,
that I don’t obtain it!”
In the Apostolic Letter Patris Corde, Pope Francis describes the identity of St. Joseph in a clear
and simple way. Among the things he writes, he emphasizes that Joseph “Was a humble carpenter (cf. Mt
13:55), the promised spouse of Mary (cf. Mt 1:18; Lk 1:27). He was a ‘just man’ (Mt 1:19), always ready to
follow God’s will manifested in His Law (cf. Lk 2:22.27.39) and in four dreams (cr. Mt 1:20; 2:13.19.22)”.

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In his dreams, Joseph receives from God the gift of the paternity of Jesus, putative father, and
the necessary guidance to know how to fulfill the mission received. In fact, the Son of God and His
Mother are entrusted to him! It is always through a dream that Joseph understands the right moment to
leave and go to Egypt to escape from danger, and also the right moment to return to his land.
Joseph, the just man, is the model of those who live in an attitude of listening and discernment,
of those who trust in God and His promises, of those who correspond to the grace received in humility
and profound silence, of those who know how to act with discretion and without personal interests.
Joseph is the model of those who know how to love with a free heart. He “knew how to love in an
extraordinarily free way. He never put himself at the center. He knew how to decentralize himself, to
put Mary and Jesus at the center of his life” (Patris Corde).
Dearest Sisters, Don Bosco too dreamed of his mission. In his dreams, he too was able to hear
God’s voice who spoke and indicated the right way to be the “father of a multitude of young people,” to
give hope to many boys and guard the life of the poorest and neediest. With a strong missionary gaze, I
invite you to take up again the missionary dreams of Don Bosco.
In 1872, Don Bosco dreamed of Patagonia (MB X, p. 54). In 1883, the second missionary dream
shows itself as an allegorical representation, rich with prophetic elements, of the future of the Salesian
Missions in South America (MB XVI, p. 385-394). In 1885, the Lord consoled Don Bosco with a third
missionary dream, which we can define as a fantastic ‘air flight’ when airplanes were not yet spoken
about (MB XVII, 299-305). A fourth missionary dream also came in 1885. On that occasion, Don Bosco
was able to see all the countries in which the Salesians would be called to work for young people. It was
“a fleeting vision, taking a rapid voyage, in which, leaving one point, it returned there.” In a moment,
Don Bosco was able to distinguish “regions, cities, inhabitants, seas, rivers, islands, costumes, and
thousands of facts that intertwined and simultaneous changes of performances impossible to describe”
(MB XVII, p. 643-645). Lastly, the fifth missionary dream took place in 1886. It is the dream of the
Shepherdess… (MB XVIII, p. 71-74). This is the famous dream in which the boys say to Don Bosco: “We
have waited a long time for you, but finally you are here and you will not escape from us.” And the
Shepherdess comforts him by saying: “Do not be upset. Your children and your children’s children,
and their children will continue do this…”
Let us entrust to St. Joseph our mission and the dreams of the young, especially in these difficult
times so full of challenges. Let us dream with Don Bosco, Mother Mazzarello, and with all who are
entrusted to us, of days with more life and with great trust in the future, in a special way for the children
and the young people and for their families.
I close with the words of Pope Francis during the Family Encounter in Manila, on 16 January
2015, “I would also like to tell you something very personal. I love St. Joseph very much because he is a
strong and silent man. On my table I have an image of Saint Joseph sleeping. And while he sleeps, he
takes care of the Church! Yes! He can do it, we know. And when I have a problem, a difficulty, I write a
piece of paper and put it under St. Joseph, so that he will dream of it! This gesture means: pray for this
problem!”
Dearest Sisters, let us entrust to Jesus, Mary, and Joseph GC XXIV as well, which is coming
close in the certainty that what the Lord has thought of for us will happen. Let us remain in
communion, in reciprocal prayer, entrusting ourselves to him who was the guardian of Mary and of
Jesus.
With warm sisterly affection and a strong embrace,
Sr. Alaide Deretti
Councilor for the Missions