Hajja Salesjana - Oct-Dec 2021

15 H AJJA S ALESJANA 3. In which way are you part of the Salesian Family? I have been a Salesian of Don Bosco for the last 50 years and a priest Salesian for the last 40 years. I served as Head of Care, Administrator and Rector both in Sliema and Dingli. For the last 16 years since 2005, I have been blessed with accompanying young people who reside at Dar Osanna Pia and Dar Mamma Margherita. What message would you like to pass on to the readers of Óajja Salesjana? Don Bosco’s way for the young, and the young at heart, is through joy and happiness in the knowledge that God loves us! 6. 4. Is there a phrase or a sentence from Don Bosco that inspires you in your life? “It is enough for me that you are young for me to love you. For you I study, for you I work and for you I dedicate all my life”. Don Bosco’s love for young people, especially those at the peripheries of society, has always been a great inspiration and main motivator in my Salesian life. 5. Who is Don Bosco for you and what strikes you most about him? For me Don Bosco is a “man for all seasons”. One can live Don Bosco’s spirituality in whatever choices one makes in life, whether in one’s family, at the place of work and in one’s civil career, as a cleric or consecrated person and in any Religious Charism of one’s choice. Don Bosco’s simple and yet so profound reading of the Gospels can reach the hearts of all. His filial love towards Our Lady is the guarantee that following in his steps one will surely find his way to Jesus. always present, right up to this day. All my siblings, nine in all, nephews and nieces, have their home names somehow for Don Bosco, whether it’s “Don Bosco”, “Al Bosco” and any other variant of the same name. We inherited this fascination with Don Bosco not just from our parents, but also from the Salesians whom we admired so much for their great dedication to the young people with whom they shared their lives. Don Bosco’s so called Preventive System has inspired our families to build our relationships on the joy coming from the love of God for everyone.