Chris Valentino sdb MUMBAI, JULY 13, 2009: On a cloudy afternoon, when the city of Mumbai was in siesta mood, Don Bosco Provincial House, Matunga was working overtime. Eight Salesians of the Mumbai Province gathered in the Provincial Council room, on July 12, to kick-start the Pre-Capitular Commission Meeting in order to animate and prepare the Province for the forthcoming Provincial Chapter. It was indeed the ‘day of the Lord’ and a real working afternoon with all work and no play, as this dynamic bunch of Salesians were soon to discover. Beginning with a short prayer, invoking the guidance of the Holy Spirit and the assistance of Our Lady Help of Christians, the members of the Pre-Capitular Commission got down to serious business-at-hand. Fr Michael Fernandes, Provincial initiated the proceedings by thanking the confreres for their generous availability. He then explained the entire dynamics and the intended role of the Pre-Capitular Commission. He said “Look at this entire exercise as if you were trying to place the train on the right track and wheel it into the station.” He wished the members the very best as they commenced the proceedings that would last over two months and a half, till the first session of the Provincial Chapter scheduled for October 1, 2009. Fr Ashley Miranda, the Chief Moderator then took charge of the entire proceedings. It was an “afternoon at the Council Room” with suggestions, counter-suggestions, opinions, deliberations and probabilities. Having framed certain structural plans, the Commission has now set itself and the province the onerous task of analysis, evaluation and execution. Winding up at quarter to six, it was a welcome end to a brilliant beginning. “Let your loins be girded and your lamps alight…. waiting for the day when your work begins…”