Juan Edmundo Vecchi – “Letter of the Rector Major” in ” Acts of the General Council of the salesian society of St John Bosco”

The Rector Major reflects on the significance of the year 2000, not just as a unique moment in the calendar but as a cultural milestone with unforeseen consequences for individuals and humanity as a whole. It urges us to retrospectively evaluate the past century and to rekindle hopes for the future and beyond. This moment serves as an invitation, even a challenge, for disciples of Christ to engage in a process of reevaluation amidst a complex transformation. It’s an evolution in which we are actively involved, not merely as passive observers but as co-responsible participants in shaping what has transpired and what is yet to come.

Contents:

• 1. Grace and mercy enfold our life
  • “Mediante Christo”
  • Freely given love and salesian practice
• 2. Love leads to judgement
  • A merciful and just God
  • The sense of sin
  • The formation of conscience
  • Judgement and salesian life
• 3. Conversion and new life in the Spirit
  • The return to God
  • Salvation at the root of evil
  • Salesian implications
• 4. The sacrament of Reconciliation
  • A process of re-evaluation
  • The sacrament and salesian spirituality
  • The reconciled and the ministers of Reconciliation
• Conclusion: crossing the threshold

Reference time period: 1999

Reference institution:
Direzione Generale SDB