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Fransalian International

"Be what you are, Be at its best!"      - St. Francis de Sales

Editorial  SFS  Fr. Mermier  General Curia  SFS Publications      News from the Provinces Brazil   East Africa England Franco-Swiss North-east India Nagpur  Pune   South-west India Visakhapatnam     Hearty Congratulations Fr. D. Kuzhupil  Fr. E. Mayoraz Fr. A. Fernandes Fr. A. Mookenthotam Fr. A. Mangatt  New Priests   Vol. 3  May 2001

Fransalian International

St. Therese of Lisieux in her Autobiography compares human persons to flowers:  I realized, then, that all the flowers He had made are beautiful, the rose in its glory, the lily in its whiteness, don't rob the tiny violet of its sweet smell, or the daisy of is charming simplicity.  I saw that if all these lesser blooms wanted to be roses instead, nature would lose the gaiety of her springtide dress - there would be no little flowers to make a pattern over the countryside.  And so it is with the world of souls, which is his garden.

In the garden of the Church, quite in tune with the Salesian dictum "Bloom where you are planted," 55 MSFS young men said their 'yes' to God and to the Church, and were ordained priests during the Jubilee Year.  They made a decision for Christ to be totally involved in his mission, to be sharers and bearers of his light and life; it is indeed the Jubilee gift of the MSFS Congregation to the Universal Church.  The present issue of FI highlights this great event; we rejoice with the new priests and thank God for the gift of these persons.

This issue of FI marks also another important event in the life of the MSFS Congregation; the election of the Superior General.  We place on record the yeoman service rendered by the outgoing General Rev. Fr. Emile Mayoraz for the past 24 years of his tenure, bringing the Congregation to an intercontinental stature.  While we thank the former Superior General for his dedicated services, we offer our hearty Congratulations to the new General, Rev. Fr. Agnelo Fernandes and promise him our whole-hearted support and cooperation.

The Congregation is ever alive and active; let us take it as we find it, but let us not leave it as it is.  Let us look at it as a mirror; smile at it and we will get the best of it.  The challenges, promises, problems and possibilities of the Congregation are our common concerns.  Little things done with greater love makes life brighter; lighter and lovelier.  The Salesian axiom: All by love and nothing by force epitomizes it.  Let us be little lights that shed incessant radiance dispelling event he deepest abyss of darkness.  Let us do little with greater joy, wisdom and Salesian Optimism.

Fr. Antony Kolencherry msfs

(Chief Editor)