By Cl. Alan D’Silva for BISMumbai

The General Councilor for South-Asia, Fr Biju Michael, visited the community of Don Bosco, Kawant, for the Extraordinary Visitation from 3 to 5 October 2022. The visit was an opportunity to help the community to reflect upon the effectiveness of their mission, the witness of their consecrated identity and their life as a community.

The visitation began with an opening conference during which Fr Biju Michael shared his reflection on the experience of St Paul and Silas who were imprisoned for bearing witness to the word of God in Philippi. With the ‘Constitutions of the Society of St. Francis De Sales’ as a reference, he shared his thoughts on the theme ‘Salesian Vocation and its quintessential elements: Consecration, Community life and Mission’.

During his stay, he met each confrere, and addressed various other groups associated with the institute; the Educative Pastoral Council, school teachers and students. The students and boarders expressed their gratitude and love through various cultural presentations. In his message to the students, he said: “We must try to be filled with inspiration and motivation so as to be able to fly.” In the evening of the second day, he celebrated at the Holy Eucharist with the entire parish community and in his homily he stressed upon the need to be attentive to the God’s will and not be overly worried with unnecessary details.

Fr Biju Michael began each session by extending the greetings, prayers and blessings of the Rector Major. While addressing the groups, he made them aware of the fact they were part of a much larger group – the Salesian Family - that reaches far beyond Don Bosco, Kawant. In his meeting with the teachers, he highlighted key points such as the awareness that one is teaching students and not just subjects, and that the task of a teacher was to create a curiosity in a student to explore.

The visit culminated on 5 October with the concluding conference during which Fr Biju Michael shared his observations with respect to the community and the various works carried out by the confreres. He presented a set of recommendations for the better functioning of the community and effective outreach in the neighbourhood.