(ANS – New Delhi) – The 53rd SPCSA Council, bringing together 55 current and former Provincials, former members of the General Council, and the Rector Major, began on September 7, 2026, at the Provincial House in Okhla, New Delhi. The meeting, which concludes on September 10, represents a significant moment of fraternity, reflection, and shared discernment regarding the Salesian mission in South Asia. It is the first gathering of its kind in the Salesian Congregation.

The meeting opened with the Eucharistic Celebration presided over by Fr. Fabio Attard, the 11th Successor of Don Bosco. Concelebrating with him were Fr. Biju Michael, Regional Superior for South Asia, and Fr. Davis Maniparamben, Provincial of the Delhi Province.

Participants were invited to approach these days with gratitude, joy, and hope, remaining attentive to what God is saying through others and, in a particular way, through the young people of the South Asia Region. The Rector Major urged everyone to listen first and foremost to God’s voice in a personal and intimate way, invoking the guidance of the Holy Spirit for discernment.

“Where Am I Standing?”

In his homily, the Rector Major reflected on the Gospel of the day, in which Jesus heals the man with the withered hand. Fr. Fabio described the scene as a moment marked by tension: Jesus, the synagogue, the Sabbath, the suffering man, and the watchful eyes of the scribes and Pharisees. He then invited participants to enter into the Gospel scene and ask themselves a personal and profound question: “Where am I standing?” Are we the teacher, the one who watches, or the man with the withered hand?

Fr. Fabio emphasized that Jesus’ teaching is never separated from reality. In Him, teaching and healing constitute “a single movement of the heart.” The wounded man is not an interruption to Jesus’ lesson; he is the lesson itself. This image, he explained, offers an important examination of conscience for all those called to the service of teaching, formation, and governance.

A formation rich in doctrine but silent in the face of suffering, or a teaching that becomes cold before the concrete wounds of people, risks betraying the spirit of the Master. In the Salesian context, this message takes on an even deeper meaning: “The young person before us is never a distraction from the mission; he/she is the mission.”

The Risk of a Withered Heart

The homily also drew attention to the “withering of the heart” that can occur when vigilance turns into suspicion, discernment becomes fault-finding, and institutional concerns ultimately overshadow compassion. Reflecting on Jesus’ healing of the suffering man, the Rector Major urged Salesian leaders to place the poor, migrants, abandoned children, and vulnerable young people at the center of their decisions and mission.

He also invited them to choose between being “judging spectators” and “healing teachers,” allowing themselves to be guided not by efficiency or the preservation of what already exists, but by the Gospel’s call to save, heal, and give life.