(Late post…)
2 March 2020
Today was a wet and cold day.
Lauds, meditation and Holy Mass were held in the respective language groups, with the English speaking group praying at the Succursale, the parish church of the Basilica of Mary Help of Christians. Fr. Januarius Sangma, provincial of Guwahati Province (ING) presided over the mass and Fr. Biju Michael, one of the two ING delegates, delivered the homily that developed the theme of choosing and our way to holiness.
After breakfast the capitulars moved to their respective commissions to work on the final proposals for the “choosing” part (the third of three steps of discernment–recognizing, interpreting, and choosing) of “Priority of the Salesian mission among today’s young people,” the first nucleus of the theme of GC 28. The four commissions working on the theme would submit their proposal before lunch.
After lunch, the young people who have been invited for the Chapter went to Colle Don Bosco for their pilgrimage.
In the afternoon, the Capitulars gathered in the Aula Magna for the general assembly. Fr. Manuel Jiménez Castro (ACC) moderated the meeting. After the minutes were read and approved, Fr. Ivo Coelho, Councilor for Formation, presented the work “Young Salesians and Accompaniment: Orientations and Guidelines.” Then, the Juridical Commission presented some proposals to the body. After the break, before the assembly broke into commissions, there were some questions and interventions on the report of the Juridical Commission. The Editorial Group also began to examine the work done by the four commissions working on the theme in preparation for the commissions’ presentation of their proposals to the assembly the following day.
The evening prayers were animated by confreres from the Region of Africa-Madagascar. This was followed by the Good Night Talk of Fr. Nirmol Gomes, Provincial of the India-Calcutta Province (INC). Fr. Gomes introduced his confreres who were the Province delegates to GC 28: Fr. Jose Chunkapura and Fr. Joseph Pauria, who would be the next Provincial. Fr. Gomes presented a video on the work of the Province that covers not only the circumscription that is in India, but also the work in Nepal and Bangladesh. He then mentioned in his Good Night Talk that Calcutta figured in the dream of Don Bosco–read in the streak of light that ran from Santiago, Chile to Peking. He also mentioned the importance of Calcutta as home to two Nobel Laureates–St. Mother Teresa (Peace) and Rabrindranath Tagore (Literature).
