THE MESSAGE OF THE MAJOR RECTOR – Don Fabio Attard, SDB <\/p>\n\n\n\n
A confrere said to me, “Father, we just need your closeness, your listening, and your prayer. This consoles us, encourages us, and gives us strength and hope so that we may continue to serve the young, who are poor and wounded, <\/em> afraid and terrorized!”<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n On March 25, 2025, the Church celebrated the Solemnity of the Annunciation of the Angel Gabriel to Mary. This is one of the most significant solemnities of our Christian Faith. On this solemnity, we commemorate God’s initiative to become part of the human history that He Himself created. On that day, during Holy Mass, we recite the Creed, and when we profess that the Son of God became Man, we believers kneel as a sign of awe at God\u2019s marvelous initiative, before which we have no choice but to fall to our knees.<\/p>\n\n\n\n In the annunciation experience, Mary is afraid: \u201cDo not fear Mary,\u201d the Angel tells her. After she expresses her question and is assured that this is God’s plan for her, Mary responds with a simple phrase that remains for us today a reminder and an invitation. Mary, the Blessed among women, simply says, \u201cLet it be done unto me according to your word.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n This past March 25, the Lord knocked on the door of my heart through the call that my brothers at General Chapter XXIX addressed to me. They asked me to make myself available to take on the mission of being Rector Major of the Salesians of Don Bosco, the Congregation of St. Francis de Sales. I confess that then and there, I felt the weight of the invitation and had some disconcerting moments because what the Lord was asking of me was no small thing. The point is that when the call comes, we as believers enter that sacred space where we feel strongly that it is He who takes the initiative. The road ahead of us is just simply to abandon ourselves into God’s hands, with no \u201cifs\u201d or \u201cbuts\u201d. Of course, none of this is easy.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cYou will see how the Lord works.\u201d<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n During these initial weeks, I have still been asking myself, like Mary, what does all this mean? Then, slowly, the consoling words that one of my Provincials once told me began to come: “When the Lord calls, it is He who takes the initiative; what is done depends on Him. You just keep yourself ready and available. You will see how the Lord works.”<\/p>\n\n\n\n In the light of this personal but very wide-ranging experience, because it concerns the Salesian Congregation and the Salesian Family, I immediately turned to my dear Salesian Confreres. From the very first moment, I asked them to accompany me with their prayers, their closeness, and their support.<\/p>\n\n\n\n I must confess that in these first weeks I already feel that this mission must be inspired by Mary. She, after the Angel’s annunciation, set out to help her cousin Elizabeth. And so, I set out to serve my confreres, to listen to them, and to share with them and reassure them of the support of the whole congregation, especially for those living in situations of war, conflict, and extreme poverty.<\/p>\n\n\n\n I was struck by the comment of a provincial who is experiencing an extremely difficult situation with his confreres. After a very fraternal conversation, he told me, “Father, we just need your closeness, your listening, and your prayer. This consoles us, encourages us, and gives us strength and hope so that we may continue to serve the young, who are poor and wounded, afraid and terrorized!” After this comment, we remained in silence, he and I, with a few tears falling from his eyes and, I must say, from mine as well.<\/p>\n\n\n\n When the meeting was over, I remained alone in my office. I asked myself if this mission that the Lord is asking me to accept is but to be a brother alongside my brothers who suffer but who hope, and who struggle to do good for the poor and who have no intention of quitting? I could hear a voice inside of me telling me that it is worth saying \u2018yes\u2019 when the Lord knocks, whatever it may cost!<\/p>\n\n\n\n _______________<\/p>\n\n\n\n EL MENSAJE DEL RECTOR MAYOR – Don Fabio Attard, SDB<\/p>\n\n\n\n Un hermano me dijo: \u00abPadre, s\u00f3lo necesitamos tu cercan\u00eda, tu escucha, tu oraci\u00f3n. \u00a1Esto nos consuela, nos anima y nos da fuerza y esperanza para poder seguir sirviendo a los j\u00f3venes, pobres y heridos, asustados y aterrorizados!\u00bb.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n El 25 de marzo de 2025, la Iglesia celebra la solemnidad de la Anunciaci\u00f3n del \u00c1ngel Gabriel a Mar\u00eda. Es una de las solemnidades m\u00e1s significativas para la fe cristiana. En esta solemnidad conmemoramos la iniciativa de Dios de entrar a formar parte de la historia humana que \u00e9l mismo cre\u00f3. Ese d\u00eda, en la Sagrada Eucarist\u00eda, recitamos el Credo y cuando profesamos que el Hijo de Dios se hizo hombre, los creyentes nos arrodillamos en se\u00f1al de asombro ante esta maravillosa iniciativa de Dios ante la cual no nos queda m\u00e1s que ponernos de rodillas.<\/p>\n\n\n\n En la experiencia de la anunciaci\u00f3n, Mar\u00eda tiene miedo: \u201cNo temas Mar\u00eda\u201d, le dice el \u00c1ngel. Despu\u00e9s de expresar sus interrogantes, con la seguridad de que es el plan de Dios para ella, Mar\u00eda responde con una frase sencilla que sigue siendo para nosotros una llamada y una invitaci\u00f3n. Mar\u00eda, la bendita entre las mujeres, dice sencillamente: \u201cH\u00e1gase en m\u00ed seg\u00fan tu palabra\u201d.<\/p>\n\n\n\n El pasado 25 de marzo, el Se\u00f1or llam\u00f3 a la puerta de mi coraz\u00f3n a trav\u00e9s de la llamada que me dirigieron mis hermanos en el Cap\u00edtulo General 29. Me pidieron que me pusiera a disposici\u00f3n para asumir la misi\u00f3n de ser Rector Mayor de los Salesianos de Don Bosco, la Congregaci\u00f3n de San Francisco de Sales. Confieso que en ese momento sent\u00ed el peso de la invitaci\u00f3n, momentos de desconcierto, porque lo que el Se\u00f1or me ped\u00eda no era poca cosa. La cuesti\u00f3n es que, cuando llega la llamada, los creyentes entramos en ese espacio sagrado en el que sentimos con fuerza que es \u00c9l quien toma la iniciativa. El camino que tenemos ante nosotros es simplemente entregarnos en las manos de Dios, sin condiciones ni reservas. Y esto, por supuesto, no es f\u00e1cil.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cVer\u00e1s c\u00f3mo el Se\u00f1or trabaja\u201d<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n En estas primeras semanas sigo pregunt\u00e1ndome como Mar\u00eda: \u00bfqu\u00e9 sentido tiene todo esto? Luego, poco a poco, empiezo a sentir el consuelo que me dijo una vez uno de mis inspectores: \u201cCuando el Se\u00f1or llama, es \u00c9l quien toma la iniciativa, y de \u00c9l depende lo que se haga. Mantente preparado y disponible. Ver\u00e1s c\u00f3mo el Se\u00f1or trabaja\u201d.<\/p>\n\n\n\n A la luz de esta experiencia personal, pero de gran alcance, porque se trata de la Congregaci\u00f3n Salesiana y de la Familia Salesiana, me dirig\u00ed inmediatamente a mis queridos hermanos salesianos. Desde el primer momento, les ped\u00ed que me acompa\u00f1aran con sus oraciones, su cercan\u00eda y su apoyo.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Debo confesar que estas primeras semanas ya siento que esta misi\u00f3n debe estar inspirada en Mar\u00eda. Ella, tras el anuncio del \u00c1ngel, se puso en camino para ayudar a su prima Isabel. Y as\u00ed, me he puesto al servicio de mis hermanos, escuch\u00e1ndolos, compartiendo con ellos y asegur\u00e1ndoles el apoyo de toda la Congregaci\u00f3n, especialmente a aquellos que viven en situaciones de guerra, de conflicto y de extrema pobreza.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Me ha impresionado el comentario de un inspector que, junto con sus hermanos, vive una situaci\u00f3n extremadamente dif\u00edcil. Tras una conversaci\u00f3n muy fraterna, me dijo: \u201cPadre, s\u00f3lo necesitamos tu cercan\u00eda, tu escucha, tu oraci\u00f3n. Esto nos consuela, nos anima y nos da fuerza y esperanza para poder seguir sirviendo a los j\u00f3venes, \u00a1pobres y heridos, asustados y aterrorizados!\u201d. Tras este comentario nos quedamos en silencio, \u00e9l y yo, con algunas l\u00e1grimas cayendo de sus ojos y debo decir que tambi\u00e9n de los m\u00edos.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Cuando termin\u00f3 la reuni\u00f3n, me qued\u00e9 solo en mi despacho. Me pregunt\u00e9 si esta misi\u00f3n que el Se\u00f1or me pide aceptar no es quiz\u00e1s la de hacerme hermano junto a mis hermanos que sufren pero esperan, que luchan por hacer el bien a los pobres y no tienen intenci\u00f3n de rendirse. Sent\u00eda dentro de m\u00ed una voz que me dec\u00eda que vale la pena decir \u2018s\u00ed\u2019 cuando el Se\u00f1or llama, \u00a1cueste lo que cueste!<\/p>\n\n\n\n <\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" In English and Spanish THE MESSAGE OF THE MAJOR RECTOR – Don Fabio Attard, SDB A confrere said to me, “Father, we just need your closeness, your listening, and your prayer. This consoles us, encourages us, and gives us strength and hope so that we may continue to serve the young, who are poor and wounded, afraid and terrorized!” On March 25, 2025, the Church celebrated the Solemnity of the … Continuar leyendo When the Lord Knocks \/ Cuando El Se\u00f1or Llama a la Puerta<\/span><\/a><\/p>","protected":false},"author":10336596,"featured_media":20220,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_coblocks_attr":"","_coblocks_dimensions":"","_coblocks_responsive_height":"","_coblocks_accordion_ie_support":"","advanced_seo_description":"","jetpack_seo_html_title":"","jetpack_seo_noindex":false,"jetpack_seo_schema_type":"","_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":true,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_wpcom_ai_launchpad_first_post":false,"_jetpack_feature_clip_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[782003447,516714022],"tags":[35890],"class_list":["post-20200","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-rector-major","category-salesian-world-news","tag-featured"],"jetpack_likes_enabled":false,"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p59ePG-5fO","jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/salesianbulletin.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/04\/54411614500_557c0387e8_k-e1744768603601.jpg?fit=1000%2C667&ssl=1","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/salesianbulletin.org\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/20200","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/salesianbulletin.org\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/salesianbulletin.org\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/salesianbulletin.org\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/10336596"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/salesianbulletin.org\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=20200"}],"version-history":[{"count":8,"href":"https:\/\/salesianbulletin.org\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/20200\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":20281,"href":"https:\/\/salesianbulletin.org\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/20200\/revisions\/20281"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/salesianbulletin.org\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/20220"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/salesianbulletin.org\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=20200"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/salesianbulletin.org\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=20200"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/salesianbulletin.org\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=20200"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}Cuando El Se\u00f1or Llama a la Puerta<\/strong><\/h6>\n\n\n\n