THE SALESIAN BROTHER Magisterium of the Rectors Major

Rinaldi (Acts 40)  In older religious orders: the lay brother was a second class religious, required for secondary services  When the required number was met, no more were taken; ‘God’s call was suspended’  Not so for the SB  God’s call is open

Rinaldi  Gospel: not all of Jesus’ disciples sent to preach were called to the priesthood  DB: SP and SB called to the same perfection  With equal rights and privileges  With the same means, resources, supports

Rinaldi  SB is second to no one; he is not simply a helper; he is not just the right hand of the priest  DB made religious perfection accessible to all kinds of people  Those with lesser formal education  Those with greater education  Workshops, agriculture, whatever  God’s call is open (not restricted as in the older orders)

Vigano ̀  Crisis not of SB but of Salesian self-understanding: whole congregation is in crisis because its lay dimension is in crisis  Each SDB must understand both SP and SB  Distinctive of our Society: common clerical and lay mission + ‘splendid modernity’ inherited from DB

Vigano ̀  Distinguish ‘lay religious’ from simple ‘lay’ state  SB “testifies in a splendid and singular way that the world cannot be transfigured and offered to God without the spirit of the Beatitudes”

Vigano ̀  SB is not a ‘consecrated secular’  He lives in community  His identity impacts the community, leading it to merge gospel and culture, to renew the earthly city  The community both evangelizes and helps human development (see SGC)  All SDBs must experience ‘lay sensitivity’ and ‘priestly sensitivity’  Avoid referring to ourselves as ‘Salesian Fathers’

Vigano ̀  If we do not understand the lay dimension, we do not understand the SB, the Cooperators, the Congregation, the SF

Vigano ̀ The lay dimension of the SDB 1. Affirms the goodness of creation, knowledge, science, technology. Laicism denies it is created; clericalism denies it is good 2. Feels the need of grace, in its call to make history. Lives a liturgy of life. Creation becomes a dialogue of love. 3. Is realized in community

Vigano ̀ The secular style  The secular style shows up in flexible structures, individual ownership of goods, simple or no religious habit, family spirit, non-monastic terminology  Above all, in our ‘common’ spirituality

Vigano ̀ ‘Common’ spirituality  Explicitly interested in temporal values  Translates the wealth of the contemplative dimension and religious vows into an education aimed at building a society of love  Our evangelizing efforts are directed along channels of secular culture and social education

Vigano ̀ ‘Common spirituality’  The lay mentality involves a vision of the world as a place for spiritual experience  Creation is good and capable of teaching spiritual values  We dream the world as KG, work to realize the KG, celebrate the KG in the liturgy of life  The lay spiritual vision is the ‘eyes of the community’ with which it knows the world and looks with love on the world

Vecchi  The SB combines in himself the gifts of consecration with those of the lay state  To his consecrated brethren, he recalls the values of creation and of secular realities  To the laity, he recalls the values of total dedication to God for the KG  To all: a particular sensitivity to the world of work, attention to the local area, demands of the professional approach

Vecchi  Particularly where the priest is seen only as a sacred or cultic figure, the SB proclaims  the presence and communication of God in daily life,  the importance of becoming disciples before being teachers,  the duty of witnessing to a personal experience of faith over and above functional or ministerial commitments

Vecchi  In the community, clerics and laymen bear witness to a model of brotherhood, eliminating separation based on role and ministries  In such a relationship  the priesthood does not eclipse the religious identity  the lay characteristic does not conceal the radical nature of the consecration

Vecchi  GC21, Vigano’, C45 explain how the lay dimension infuses the whole of Salesian community life, and the SF  We are educators  Working in many fields of secular activity  Where management, administration and pastoral guidance are shared  We collaborate with a large number of lay people

Vecchi  The lay characteristic of the Salesian mission finds a particular accord with the vocation of the SB  In traditional roles  In new forms and expressions  “One should never think … that humble tasks, that seem from a human point of view of little consequence, are without their importance.”

Vecchi The Salesian Brother and lay collaborators  ‘What place has the SB in the new operative model made up of Salesians and laity? Does not the presence of so many lay people render the presence of the SB less meaningful?’  Yes – only if you put religious consecration into parentheses  The first great difference: the SB is a consecrated person with a lay component  Many participate in DB’s charism, “but the latter is concentrated in the SDB community in a special way by virtue of the force of the consecration, the community experience, the plan of life (profession), and total dedication to the mission.”

Vecchi Promoting the vocation of the SB  First challenge: diminution of numbers, few vocations  Others: lack of models, clerical mentality, lack of distinctive signs for lay religious, history of looking at brothers as secondary  Society, and often the Christian community itself, does not have an adequate knowledge of the religious life

Vecchi Promoting the vocation of the SB  VC recommends serenity: what is asked of us is not success, but fidelity  Trust in God and recourse to him  It is always a source of wonder that even today there are young men who choose to become consecrated laymen in the congregation. What are the reasons? Ultimately, the mystery of grace and freedom

Vecchi Promoting the vocation of the SB  “It is helpful if our centres of spirituality and ongoing formation organize meetings and courses of study on the different vocations – lay and priestly – which make up our community and are the driving force behind our mission, both in their own way. Such studies are not only useful for a deeper and updated knowledge of our own vocation, but are also a stimulus to effective pastoral work for vocations. I have asked in particular the Province of the Middle East and the centre at Cremisan to promote initiatives of this kind: the biblical aspect – in the land which has known the experience of the Word of God made flesh – can open up significant perspectives.”

Chavez  Talk given at San Benigno Canavese, 19 March 2005  Fr Chavez meditates abundantly on the ‘lay dimension’ and the ‘consecration’ that characterize the SB

Chavez The lay dimension of the SB  Today: a more positive view of the lay dimension in the church  Implicitly, a recognition of the importance of the temporal order: world of culture and finance, arts and professions, sciences, social institutions, and esp. the world of work  This calls for: study, professionalism, dialogue, realism, patience, collaboration

Chavez The lay dimension of the SB  Involvement with the secular also brings us face to face with evil – the idols of eros, riches, power  The danger of becoming enslaved  Situations of corruption, injustice, exploitation, violence, hatred, oppression, ignorance, poverty

Chavez The lay dimension of the SB  So: the lay dimension calls for involvement  But also for the struggle to purify the temporal order, to enliven it with the spirit of the Gospel  So: an immense and beautiful field of work

Chavez The lay dimension of the SB  The lay dimension of the SB constitutes the greatest and most meaningful contribution to everyone: community, SP, Christian laity, young people  It permeates not only his apostolic work but every aspect of his life: his relationships, his attitude (optimism)  The liturgy of life: life as an offering to God

Chavez The consecration  Consecration: a life centred on God as Jesus lived it and as given to us as an example by Don Bosco  Of Ven. Simon Srugi it was said: “To see Simon and to be reminded of the Lord were one and the same thing.”  Consecration is an ongoing reality, a continual gift, a journey, a relationship  We do not become religious for something, but because of someone: Jesus Christ

Chavez The consecration  The SB does many things which lay people do, but he does them as a consecrated person  He is a reference to the Jesus event, a living memory of Jesus’ way of existing and acting (VC)  He is prophetic: he does not simply respond to human needs, but becomes a sign that speaks to people, touches their lives, challenges their values, offers an alternative  Jesus healed many, but above all revealed a new dimension of life

Chavez The consecration  No value can survive for long in society unless there is a group dedicated to promoting it  The consecrated person keeps the sense of God alive in people  The SB keeps this sense alive especially in young people, reminds them of the spiritual dimension, anticipates future realities

Chavez The consecration  Artemide Zatti as a good example of this marvellous fusion of the lay dimension and the consecrated life