Preparing Our Hearts for Death and Eternal Life through the Mission to the Poor

November invites us to journey together in faith and hope. It is a sacred month of remembrance, gratitude, and renewed missionary zeal. We begin on November 1st, celebrating All Saints’ Day, rejoicing with all who now share in the glory of heaven and inspire us to live lives of holiness and service. We thank God that nine Polish Salesian who were martyred during World War II will be beatified soon for their faithfulness to vocation and mission even to the point of death. On November 2nd, we commemorate All Souls’ Day and on this day our hearts turn in prayer for all the departed, especially the forgotten, the unborn, and those children who were aborted and for whom the womb became a tomb. We entrust every life, known and unknown, to God’s infinite mercy. On November 5th, we gratefully remember our deceased benefactors and members of the Salesian Family, whose faith and generosity continue to sustain our mission among the poorest and most vulnerable. November 11th then shines as a day of joyful remembrance of the 150th anniversary of the first Salesian missionary expedition to Patagonia. This milestone renews our call to carry St. John Bosco’s dream to the ends of the earth, serving the young and the poor with courage and faith. On November 13th we celebrate the memory of St. Artemides Zatti, a Salesian coadjutor who dedicated his life totally for the sick and vulnerable. His only desire was that all Salesians lived together and served in the mission together. Finally, on November 25th, we commemorate the death anniversary of Venerable Mamma Margaret, mother of St. John Bosco, whose simplicity, faith, and maternal love still nurture our Salesian spirit. She kept dear to her heart a few convictions and instructed others on the same saying: “God sees you”, “How good God is” and “Don’t mess with God”. On this day let us also remember and thank God for the great gift of our own mothers both living and those who have gone to their eternal reward, who were instrumental for our vocation to religious life and priesthood. May this month deepen our holiness, prepare our hearts and lives for eternal life, and renew our mission to serve Christ in the most vulnerable with faith, tenderness, and gratitude.

Holiness and Death

Sainthood is both a universal calling and a recognition of extraordinary holiness. In Scripture, “saints” (Greek hagioi, Latin sancti) refers broadly to all the faithful in Christ (1 Thess 1:4; Col 1:12), yet Christian tradition understands it more deeply as those who live in close communion with God, showing heroic virtue, and now dwell with Him. The Catechism explains that canonization “recognizes the power of the Spirit of holiness within [the Church] and sustains the hope of believers” (CCC 828). Sainthood is not about human perfection but about “cooperation with divine grace,” something every baptized Christian is called to. Formally recognized saints serve as examples whose lives inspire veneration and intercession. The Church’s canonization process investigating life, heroic virtue or martyrdom, miracles, and beatification, simply affirms what God has already accomplished. Pope Francis reminds us that every believer is chosen “to be holy and blameless before Him in love” (Eph 1:4), highlighting that holiness grows through virtue, union with Christ, and faithful witness. The early Latin Fathers, like Augustine and Ambrose, linked holiness to death, showing that the way we live shapes the way we die. Augustine observes that death is good for the righteous, while Ambrose identifies three types of death, namely, death to sin, bodily death, and spiritual death through sin, emphasizing that “death is a good” for those who live rightly. The Greek Fathers, such as Chrysostom, focused on participating in death and resurrection, teaching that sainthood is about “living by resurrection and transformative grace,” not merely by one’s moral effort. We need to remember that life and death are inseparable in sainthood: life is a journey of virtue, prayer, charity, and self-offering, while death is the culmination of that journey, a passage to eternal life. A saintly or “good death” reflects a life oriented toward grace, reconciliation, and love. “Death is the great, decisive moment of salvation… the final act of our lives.” In this way, saints live in Christ, die in grace, and enter the fullness of eternal life.

Life and Death: The Pathway to Glory

Life and death are intertwined in the journey to sainthood, with death not an end but a passage to eternal life. Daily dying to self, that is, letting go of ego, pride, sin, and comfort and preparing the soul for this ultimate encounter with God. Saints show that a holy death reflects a life of union with God, trust, surrender, and love. To die well is to be reconciled with God, others, and oneself, embracing hope and gratitude. Preparation begins now through sacraments, prayer, virtue, detachment, and acts of charity, shaping a life oriented toward eternity. Key distorted understandings that hinder the journey toward sainthood include perfectionism and paralysis, minimalism or mediocrity, sainthood as performance or status, and neglect of death and the final things. Added to these are isolation, burnout, or lack of community, holiness reduced to external works, and confusing sacrifice with suffering without union in Christ. These misunderstandings distort true holiness by turning it into perfectionism, complacency, self-promotion, or empty activism, rather than a humble, grace-filled participation in  love, lived in community, prayer, and continual conversion toward a good and holy death. In our modern and postmodern world, several hurdles hinder the journey toward holiness and a good death: the culture of death denial and distraction, consumerism and image-based spirituality, overemphasis on efficiency and results, individualism and isolation, and the secularisation of death and rituals. Added to these are relativism and the loss of transcendence, technological speed and superficiality, and the growing burnout and hyper-activism that detach life from deep union with Christ. These forces together dull spiritual awareness, weaken community, erode prayerful interiority, and make sainthood seem irrelevant in a world obsessed with pleasure, performance, and productivity.

150th Anniversary of the Salesian Missionary Expedition 

Building on the call to holiness and the path of sainthood, the 150th anniversary of the first Salesian missionary expedition is a profound moment to reflect on the Church’s enduring mission: to serve, uplift, and accompany the poorest and most marginalized. For a century and a half, Salesian missionaries have ventured beyond comfort and familiarity, following  command to love and serve, bringing the Gospel to the poor and abandoned youth and communities often forgotten or overlooked. This milestone reminds us that sainthood is not only a personal journey but also a communal vocation, living out holiness through service, self-giving, and solidarity with the needy. The Salesian mission is not limited to spreading faith, but extends to a commitment to meet material, emotional, and spiritual needs where they are most pressing. Inspired by St. John Bosco, missionaries translate charity and mercy into action, providing education, healthcare, and support, empowering communities to flourish despite limited resources. The 150-year celebration calls us to gratitude for those who laboured faithfully and inspires renewed dedication to a world still in need. Holiness in action, like the saints we honour, requires courage, compassion, and a firm trust in God. The Salesian journey, like sainthood, reflects a life of service that bears fruit in the here and now, making the presence of God tangible among the poorest. May the Triune God’s invitation, Mother Mary’s protection and St. John Bosco’s guidance to live in holiness through mission to the needy youth, prepare us for life eternal.

Yours affectionately,
  

Fr. Don Bosco SDB
INM Provincial

Date: 01.11.2025
Place: Chennai – 10

Source: INM-DBL-CIR 57/11-2025 (NOVEMBER 2025)