SPREADING THE EASTER JOY

SPREAD THE EASTER JOY! (This article was published in the Daily News- Faith Section of the Philippine Daily Inquirer last April 27, 2003)

Easter Fascination
Last Easter Sunday, I took a little respite from a very busy priestly ministry of confessions and religious celebrations in the seminary where I was assigned. I went to a department store to procure some office materials. At the counter, I noticed the gloomy face of the sales lady. When my turn came to pay, I decided to greet her “Happy Easter”. But to my surprise, she just looked at me, bewildered with my greeting. Good enough, the other sales girl saved me from an embarrassing situation. In a loud voice, she reciprocated my Easter greeting with a beautiful smile and a loud reply of “rebounds”. My intention was simply to spread joy – to spread the Easter fascination!
For us Christians, Easter should be the most important feast. It is the feast of all feasts because it is on this day when Christ, our Lord, triumph over sin and death. Thus, it is the central event of our Christian faith. In fact, Easter is even more significant than Christmas. For if Christ had not risen from the dead everything would haven been futile and devoid of meaning.
An evident characteristic of the New Testament writings is the early Christians’ irrepressible joy and fascination after Christ had risen from the dead. In fact, the first Easter Sunday was truly an extraordinary heavenly experience in the lives of the apostles that they could not hide. The joy and fascination which they experienced was so contagious it made them share the Good News to others. The risen Christ who had lived among them brought them a new found hope and life. The Christ Jesus whom they had seen placed in a tomb is now alive! On this basis Christianity is a religion of joy, hope and victory. According to St. Augustine, we Christians are “an Easter people and our song is Alleluia!” Are we fascinated with the risen Christ? Let us learn from an experience of a saint who has always made the risen Christ present in his everyday life.

An experience on Fascination
One time, St. John Bosco was on a trip and was busy working on some matters. In the afternoon, as he walked across the courtyard, he happened to meet a young boy. In his usual way, he smiled at the boy and whispered a few words. In an instant he sparked an explosion! The young boy started running around and shouting joyfully: “He is a saint, he is a saint.” The news spread like wildfire. The other boys came out of their classrooms. The school was turned upside down. They came flocking around St. John Bosco, wanting to see him and hear him. Finally, the school administrator had to request Don Bosco to leave; with him around they could not go back to their normal schedule. But the impact remained; months after that incident, several of the boys continued communicating with Don Bosco through letters. It was always so for this priest, who was raised up by the Spirit to be the joyful, cheerful and optimistic father and teacher of youth. Call it attraction, charisma, PR.; we can better call it fascination borne out of his personal relationship with the risen Christ!
Even adults became interested; many wanted to stay with him. St. John Bosco died in January 31, 1888 but his spirit could not be tied down, neither by boundaries of space nor time. Today, St. John Bosco remains alive! He continues to reach out to the young. The joy and fascination he experienced with the risen Christ continues to spread even up to this day!
“Fascination” is a powerful word; it attracts, transforms, unites and empowers people. In time, it gives birth to a movement of people. Meanwhile, a movement is defined as a group of people, united around the figure of a great man, the founder or leader, and around the key ideas of his spirit and spirituality. In a special way, this fascination of Don Bosco is catching the attention of more young people. In fact in 1988, one hundred years after the death of St. John Bosco, the youth who had come to know and love St. John Bosco themselves expressed the desire to be more significantly present in the Church as a movement of young people. These early stirrings account for the birth and growth of Salesian Youth Movement or SYM. It is Salesian: a way of life lived by St. John Bosco under the inspiration of St. Francis of Sales, and shared with the Salesians and young people alike. This spirituality is for the young and is St. John Bosco’s precious heritage for the Church and the world. It is the spirit that St. John Bosco lived and which is anchored on a relationship with the risen Christ.
This spirituality is the unifying force of the vast Salesian movement that now extends to over more than 130 countries in the world. It produces in young a common set of values, beliefs and attitudes, a similar style of living and acting.

Called to share this joy and fascination…
In the National level, the Salesian Youth Movement is organizing a Summer Leadership Camp for over 200 young people of the different Don Bosco presences in the Visayas and Mindanao regions during the last week of April in St. Louis- DB Dumaguete. Last year, the young delegates had a beautiful experience of visiting the old and sick priests residing in the Bishop’s residence. They were welcomed warmly by the bishop himself, Most. Rev. John Du, who had been gracious enough to give shelter to the sick priests of his Diocese. Aside from sharing the spirituality of St. John Bosco, the Camp also aims to form the young into Servant- leaders for their homes, schools and parishes. It is hoped that the Leadership Camp can be a good venue for the young participants to be able to share their personal experiences of the Easter joy and fascination that would eventually form into true servant- leaders of our society

Key elements of this Youthful Spirituality
St. John Bosco passed on to us a youthful spirituality with five key elements. First and foremost is the Spirituality of the Daily Life. Young people have a disposition which is both joyful and fundamental: "there is no need to detach yourselves from normal life in order to seek the Lord.' A basic place to meet God is in human reality: our own and that for others, daily and throughout our life. To accept the challenges, questions and tensions, to bear the heat of the sun, to do our ordinary duties, all these are part of the process necessary for discovering how to meet God and loving daily life. Second is the Spirituality of Joy and Optimism. We are an Easter people. Young people should learn this lesson so well to be able to say that "holiness consists in being very happy." Music, theatre, outings, sport, the joyful daily rough and tumble of the playground have always been important to young people. Of course all at their proper times. These activities give rise to a lot of energy for doing good, which will be channeled in due course into a commitment of service and charity. And the source of this joy is a life of grace. The third element in this youthful spirituality is “Friendship with the Lord Jesus and Mary”. We have many young saints whose personal stories can make other youngsters also follow a dynamic friendship with Christ without sounding "corny" or appearing to be a public "turn off." The personal touch of the relationship -- "Jesus & Mary are my best friends" said St. Dominic Savio -- is an encouragement for us to seek spiritual experiences with the Lord. The truth is, we can if we want to. The fourth element is “The Spirituality of Communion in the Church”. Sustained by a spirituality born of the relationship between persons who find in Christ a common friend, young people should feel a great need to be together. As friends we share and celebrate the joy of living, so as to help each other. A bond develops among us drawing its inspiration from the spiritual riches of our Church who asks us to hold an explicit love for our pastors, especially to the Pope and a convinced adherence to his teachings. The last element of this youthful spirituality is “The Spirituality of Responsible Service”. Service is a yardstick for the journey of spirituality. St. John Bosco exhorts young people to become "upright citizens and good Christians." This implies expressions of service to one’s country and church. Perhaps as young people, there is a felt need to be more aware of our social and political duties. Some situations are just too disturbing to let go. We must be sensitive to occasions that call us together with others to look for ways and means to bring about the necessary cultural and structural transformation in order to help those who are violently deprived of abundant life. Service prepares the young to become “maka- Bayan at maka- Diyos”. In modern parlance, this means becoming Servant- leaders. Key ideas to develop here are the following: generosity, solidarity, honesty, justice, peace, availability, life-commitment. Just like Christ who came not to be served but to serve us and to offer his life so we might live, we christians are asked to emulate him as we live. And as we live, we are called to truly share this Easter joy and fascination to our fellow Christians.