By Mavron Fernandes
MUMBAI, JAN 18, 2016: Six young Salesians - due for their perpetual profession in May 2016 - met at the Don Bosco Provincial House in Matunga for 'English Proficiency' assessment on January 14, to help assess their command over the language, in view of their future ministry as priests.
Father Godfrey D'souza, the Provincial, and Father Savio Silveira, the Vice Provincial, celebrated Holy Mass at 7am , at the crypt of the Shrine of Don Bosco's Madonna. In his homily, Father D'souza stressed that Jesus should be the centre of the lives of the young Salesians and that they need to develop their lives by trying to grasp the qualities of Jesus.
At 9.30 am, the brothers gathered in the AV Hall for the 'English Proficiency Test'. The Test began with a written paper aimed at assessing grammatical and comprehension skills. The next segment of the examination was listening based. The final two segments of the test were an assessment of reading and conversational skills. The entire examination, which was very comprehensive, ended at 12.30 pm.
Post- lunch, Father Chrys Saldanha held a session on formation and the need to prepare well before the young Salesians took their final vows. He mostly dealt with the need to nurture their own vocation and to take care of it daily throughout their lives. He added that we are our own teachers and formators.
He stressed on the need to understand the signs of the time like Don Bosco and then build one's life to respond to the needs of the young, today. In all, Father Saldanha made them realise that formation is an ongoing process. The day ended with each of the six brothers individually meeting Father Silveira, who communicated the results of the 'English Proficiency Test' to them personally and also helped them better prepare for their perpetual profession.