Letters to the Editor

Allow me to share my Peru experience with your readers. Did you know that Our Founder, just before he died in 1962, expressed his wish to have the Society planted in Latin America, or to be more precise, in Brazil? Fr Carlos, alias Charles Azzopardi, then prefect of the Elects in Marsa, knew of this wish and wanted to make it come true.
    Fr Charles was a Drydock worker late back in the 50s, and in 1957 he left Malta for Australia, thus joining other Members who had founded the Society there only some years before. He spent eleven years working in Australia before responding to another call from God, this time to leave Australia for Latin America. Fr Charles went to Peru and there he studied to become a priest, for he thought that that was the best way to see the Founder’s wish come true.
    Fr Azzopardi is now in Lurin, situated some 100 km away from the Capital of Peru, Lima. Although he is now 74 years old, and is no more a parish priest, he keeps himself very active, serving as a chaplain in a large hospital. At home, he teaches catechism classes to both boys and girls on separate days. Fr Charles gives top priority to the spiritual formation of these boys and girls, and he also holds classes for young adults, some of whom, especially a candidate called Rosa, give a helping hand in the transmission of faith and SDC formation.
    Some years back, when Fr Charles was in a place called Arequipa, he had also the grace to have two young men incorporate as Members of the Society. One of the Members later entered the seminary to study for the priesthood, while the second moved to a far away village and therefore he could not keep in touch. I am always struck by the zeal and energy of my friend. He has never been idle, and worked hard to insert the Society of Christian Doctrine in Peru. He translated into Spanish: The Watch; all the prayers we use during our Assignment, translated our Rule of Life and every hymn we use in our special programmes. Each meeting starts with one of the prayers from The Elects’ Watch and then with the Rejoice O Virgin Mary… Alegrate Virgen Maria; Venerable Padre Celestial and Saludos a San Miguel; a los siete angeles, a Santa Gema; a nuestro Fondador and ends with the Santisima Trinidad followed by the giving of La paz sea contigo y contigo tambien.
    I have always desired to visit my old friend in his mission, and I feel I have to thank God for providing me with the opportunity when together with my sister, who is also an SDC Member, I spent some weeks in Peru with Fr Carlos. What a welcome we got! On arriving at the airport, we found a group of some 16 young adults together with Fr Azzopardi all with gleaming and smiling faces waiting for us. We admired their sense of pride in wearing the Society’s badge. We also learned later that their good example at school made other girls come to the meetings, and they themselves work hard to make Jesus known and loved among the wider community of the towns and villages from where they come.
    My sister spent her time sharing with these girls some craft work she knows and in return they showed her their ability to learn and develop new skills quicklu. They played volleyball and other sports and they were so appreciative towards us. What struck me most was their sense of sacredness during praying and during their catechism classes, and their behaviour during break-times, outings and classes which is just amazing.
    I am very happy that our Founder’s wish is fulfilled. This is achieved through the hard work of my friend and the positive response of those who attend our Society’s activities there. May God bless them and us and those who will in the future answer to the call for Evangelisation of the whole world. I do pray for those who are called for the missions not to turn a deaf ear. Now is the time. Make yours, the maxim of Fr Preca: “Those who have time should not wait for the time”. La Paz sea con ustedes.

Charles Xuereb sdc
Hamrun II - Malta

Dear Editor, On behalf of the Members in NSW, I express my sincere thanks to the Superior General and the General Executive Council for the visit of Superior Tonio Caruana GEC and Superior John Micallef last August.
    During their stay in Australia, these two Members shared with us several beautiful spiritual insights and communicated to each and every one of us the spirit and charism of our Founder. Their visit was both uplifting and encouraging to each one of us.
    We are all aware of the great sacrifice in travelling such a long distance to come over to Australia, so this shows the care that our Superiors have for all of us.
    Those who were present for the Reflection Weekend that took place between the 16th and 18th August at GOYURA Salesian Retreat Centre Lysterfield - GOYURA is an aboriginal word that stands for Mountain of Light – can express the sense of brotherhood we all shared in a very moving and special way. I feel that we are obliged to share our experience of that weekend, especially with those who were not able to be with us.
    It was encouraging and also a great joy to hear that Members from the Region of Malta are interested to come and join us here in Australia. Many of us are getting old and therefore we do need young Members to help out in our catechetical ministry. I hope that even female Members respond to this need.
    May the blessing of our Blessed Founder, George Preca, help us to persevere in our vocation.

George Felice sdc
Rooty Hill – Australia

I recall….
During the Easter holidays a group of our youngsters were enjoying themselves in the sunshine and playing on a quiet sandy beach. The outing was nearing its end when one of the boys cut his foot on a broken bottle. It was nothing very serious, but to get to the nearest transport we needed to walk some three miles over very rough countryside. The boy made light of his injury and after having it bandaged and disinfected, insisted on walking the distance despite the repeated offers to carry him. When about two miles of very rough country had been traversed, with the boy still refusing help, it was obvious that his foot was very painful and his Prefect insisted that he should be carried.
When some days later the Prefect asked the boy why he hadn’t accept the help offered if his foot had been so painful, the boy confided: “I wanted to offer my pain for the conversion of sinners.” What a noble thought!

Maurice Mifsud sdc
Hobart – Australia

Fr Preca: One Man’s Dream Becomes a Reality.
    On June 29 2002 a theatrical drama was staged based on the life of Fr Preca and the foundation of the Society of Christian Doctrine. This was to celebrate the first anniversary of the Beatification of our Founder and also tell our story to the wider community.
    Starting with the dockyards of Malta, the drama also depicted various aspects of the nature of the lay commitment of our Society. Four scenes were used to tell our story – The Dockyards, First Members, The Christmas Eve Nativity Walk (presenting the child Jesus throughout the streets of Malta with community participation), and the First Missionary Members to Australia.
    Using a narrator before each scene, we were able to inform the public not only of the early beginnings of the SDC, but also of the role that we play in our lay involvement through the example of our apostolic calling in our day-to-day life at work and in our Centres, ‘a people for the people’.
    At the end of each scene, an actor would be left standing alone before the audience. That member would then speak to the audience about their particular role. For example, one person representing Eugene Borg and the first Members, would speak about why he had chosen this way of life. The play ended with the highlight of the dream of Fr Preca – that the Gospel be made known throughout the world. This was told movingly to the audience, many of whom were themselves migrants to Australia during the 1950s and 1960s.
    The drama itself was a success with an attendance of around 200 people. This is our first attempt at evangelising the Word to the general public using this form of media. Many in the audience were not familiar with who we were as a lay movement within the Church. However, by the questions and interest generated afterwards, I believe that it has served to inform people of the lay commitment of our Society to the Word of God.
   I believe this to be a positive step forward as a new medium directed to make Christ better known. Our apostolate in Australia has largely been the catechesis of the young. I hope and pray that this will open doors for more opportunities to present the Word of God in this new light.

Raymond De Bono sdc.
Ardeer Centre - Australia.

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