We must face the fact that our generation is totally enthralled by the latest trends. But these novelties do not constitute the whole of reality. In the future there is God, of course; but God does not belong solely to the future – Christ yesterday and today and forever (Hebrews 13:8).
The Salesian of our times is still a contemporary of Don Bosco, for yesterday was the beginning of tomorrow! To act as though the Salesian charism were merely the result of the signs of the times would be sheer philosophical immanence without faith. It would be tantamount to substituting for the founder an impersonal, ambiguous, and relative gnosis, disguised with a face-lift dictated by fashion.
The true Salesian must anticipate the new times. If he shuts himself off from them, he becomes a mere curiosity in a museum; if he allows himself to be engulfed by them he destroys himself. If, however, in their midst he emerges as a bearer of a permanent charism of the Holy Spirit, then he is indeed true to his vocation.
The Salesian of Don Bosco moves into the new times from a platform of traditions; for him there is no future without fidelity to the past. The Salesian will lose his identity if he does not guard the traditions of his vocation, does not explore their depths, does not develop them. And this demands a return to the sources if there is to be any true renewal. The Second Vatican Council tells us that renewal of the religious life involves:
A continuous return to the sources of all Christian life and to the original inspiration behind a given community and an adjustment of the community to the changed conditions of the times. (Perfectae Caritatis)
For many people the concept of tradition is distasteful. They feel that anyone invoking tradition is applying the brake rather than pressing the accelerator. Nevertheless, remaining faithful to tradition is the only way we can deal with the signs of the times and preserve our identity. An identity card carries a photograph and specific data, after all, not vague directional promises.
Christianity also makes its promises, but it founds its future on fidelity to its traditions. Once again, Vatican II reminds us:
In his gracious goodness God has seen to it that what he had revealed for the salvation of all nations would abide perpetually in its full integrity and be handed on to all generations.
(Dei Verbum 7)
Therefore the apostles, handing on what they themselves had received, warn the faithful to hold fast to the traditions which they have learned either by word of mouth or by letter, and to fight in defence of the faith handed on once and for all.
(Dei Verbum 8)
Assuredly tradition is not static and entombed: it makes progress within the Church with the help of the Holy Spirit. The signs of the times do not merely occasion superficial external modifications; they actually present a new dimension that must be understood as genuine progress. For this reason it is a mistake to hold that everything was crystal clear in the beginning, and that in practice there is nothing important to be changed. The greater thoughtfulness and human sensitivity that mark the new age do not constitute merely an external way of life. Indeed they bring with them genuine values hitherto unknown. We are not lacking in loyalty when we say that these values do not begin with Don Bosco or from the Gospel, but arise from the contemporary human situation.
It is only by grasping the realities of the signs of the times that we can speak of living traditions that contain their permanent Gospel values as a salvation message for mankind in the various stages of its development. Truly, tradition must be living. This brings us to the nub of the matter: to accept new values and still conserve an authentic tradition, we simply must return to the Gospel through the insights and spirit of Don Bosco. Our striving for relevance, our new attitudes and methods, our decentraliation, our debunking of certain moral observances that are no longer valid – all these efforts are of no earthly use to us if we forget the Gospel and the way Don Bosco did things.
For the Salesian of this new world, the signs of the times are particularly important. It is of vital concern, however, for him to turn back to the Gospel through Don Bosco, if he is to preserve his identity and grow in the future. Hence the importance of knowing and deepening our understanding of our origins, of studying the Salesian spirit, of pondering the depths of our Salesian Preventive System. Unless we return to our founder and study him profoundly, we undermine the dialogue between God and the world, proper to our vocation, for we are sent by God himself to the young people of the new age.