Realisation, Repentance and Renewal:  A Lenten Journey Undertaken as Baptised Christians and Consecrated Salesians
 

As we prepare to enter the season of Lent after a fortnight, the Word of God confronts us with a searching question, one that disturbs us yet carries the promise of grace: “Where are you?” (Gen 3:9). This question is not first answered by arguments or external conformity, but by the interior assent of the heart, that place where faith is either living or silently fading. Pope Francis sharpens this challenge with an exhortation saying: “spiritual worldliness hides behind the appearance of piety and love for the Church.” For Pope Francis, “spiritual worldliness” means using religious language, practices, or concern for the Church as a cover for seeking personal comfort, power, prestige, or self-promotion. It looks devout on the outside, but its focus is on the ego rather than on God and humble service to others. In this way, it is more dangerous than an open sin because it disguises self-interest as holiness. In our case as Salesians, spiritual worldliness can hide behind the appearance of love for the congregation, love for the province or love for a particular ministry of the province or love for the poor, marginalised and abandoned youth. In the holy season of Lent, Jesus will lead us once more into the desert, not because we are lost, but because we are loved. He is the reason for this journey: He who fasted, prayed, struggled and emerged renewed for the mission entrusted to Him by the Heavenly Father. If Lent does not lead us to a living encounter with Christ, then even our religious fidelity risks becoming correct in form yet weak in conviction or outwardly proper but lacking inner commitment. 
 

Realisation, Repentance, and Renewal are essential for us Salesians because they help us reawaken the depth of our baptismal faith, confront the ways in which we have drifted away from God, and restore the vitality of our consecrated commitment. Realisation allows us to see our lives clearly in the light of God’s presence. Repentance calls us to turn back to Him with sincerity and humility, and Renewal gives us the grace and courage to live our vocation with renewed fervour and authenticity. These three pillars form the heart of the journey we are invited to undertake in Lent, and this circular will be concentrating on them as guiding themes for personal and communal conversion. 
 

Realisation: Reading the Signs of the Times in the Light of Faith 

"Test everything; hold fast to what is good” – 1 Thes 5:21 

The world before our eyes is changing at a pace never before experienced. Gen Z, Gen Alpha, and the emerging Gen Beta are not merely younger versions of previous generations; they are shaped by digital immediacy, fractured attention, emotional vulnerability, and deep existential loneliness. Global wars stream live into our rooms; on the one hand, we can remain undisturbed by the reality of suffering, and on the other, we risk losing the capacity for wonder. Modern humanity thus risks becoming inhumane, spiritually numb and slowly losing the ability to stand in awe before God. Yet the season of Lent gently calls us to a moment of realization: we, as religious, are not mere observers of this shift but participants in it. Today, even believers may live as though God were no longer existentially necessary. This phenomenon can be seen in traditional religious institutions gradually losing their monopoly on religion. The closed and empty churches or churches with dwindling number of faithful, that we may encounter stand before us as a prophetic warning sign. 
 

In other words, empty churches or few practicing Catholics are not simply a sociological statistic; they are a prophetic sign pointing to what could become the default condition of the Church if it does not undergo a deeper spiritual renewal and reform rooted in lived faith, existential meaning, and openness to the signs of the times. This is not a call to despair, but an invitation to spiritual maturity, described metaphorically as “the afternoon of Christianity”: a stage in which the Church is called not merely to preserve structures but to rediscover its identity in relation to God and to the world, moving beyond institutional dominance toward authentic evangelization and deeper faithfulness. 
 

That is why our Constitutions remind us that our vocation as Salesians demands a unity of life rooted in God (C. 12) and predilection for the young (C. 14). As religious, whether we like it or not, we are constantly proclaiming something to the world through our lives, but what do we proclaim, and how do we proclaim it? We need to remind ourselves that our credibility lies in the change we ourselves have experienced through what we proclaim. During the season of Lent, let us gently become aware of ourselves and prayerfully ask whether we have truly experienced this change in our own lives and within our Salesian communities. 
 

Repentance: Returning to the Heart of the Gospel and the Heart of Our Vocation 

“Return to me with all your heart” – Joel 2:12

Repentance is not a moral repair but a relational return that addresses every form of diluted discipleship in our religious life. When faith in the God who we believe in weakens, deviations follow, quietly and persistently: activism without contemplation, fraternity without vulnerability, obedience without inner freedom etc. What can save us from this situation? Each of us allowing the Gospel and the Constitutions of our congregation which are also written based on God’s Word to interrupt the false images of ourselves. This interruption is painful, yet salvific.

Don Bosco understood repentance as fidelity to love. His frequent confession, Eucharistic devotion, and Marian trust were not devotional excesses but safeguards against vocational erosion. The General Chapters echo his concern, warning that structural reform without spiritual conversion leads only to exhaustion. The authentic reform in the Church is always rooted in holiness, patience, and obedience to the Spirit. The fruitfulness of the reform and the future vibrancy of the Church depend on a reconnection with the deep spiritual and existential dimension of faith. The Salesian Constitutions speak very clearly saying that the consecrated life is a permanent call to conversion (C. 90), and the Church does not renew herself by adaptation alone, but by conversion to Christ. 

 
Renewal: Rediscovering Our Baptismal and Salesian Identity in Christ 

“Be transformed by the renewal of your mind” – Rom 12:2 

Renewal is never cosmetic; it is Paschal. When we say that renewal is never cosmetic, we mean that true transformation in religious life or faith life is not about superficial changes or appearances, or checking off spiritual routines. It is not enough to act busier, speak holier, or adopt new methods if the heart and interior life of a religious remain unchanged. Cosmetic changes the appearance and it may impress the one who looks at or even convince ourselves for a moment, but they do not touch the core of our baptismal faith or our consecrated commitment. 

By contrast, renewal is Paschal, rooted in the mystery of Christ’s Passion, Death, and Resurrection. Like the Paschal event, authentic renewal is interior, transformative, and often uncomfortable, because it requires letting go of old habits, attachments, and fears, so that the new life of Christ can emerge within us. Let us try to understand the notion of renewal with three analogies: Firstly, the Tree analogy: A gardener cannot make a dying tree appear healthy just by painting its trunk or trimming a few branches. True renewal comes when the roots are nourished, the soil refreshed, and the tree is pruned in ways that allow it to grow strong again. Similarly, Paschal renewal works from the “roots” of our hearts, prayer, humility, love, not just on the surface behaviours. Secondly, the Caterpillar analogy: A caterpillar turning into a butterfly does not just repaint its wings or change its colour; it goes through a radical process inside the chrysalis. Its old form is transformed into something entirely new. Paschal renewal in our lives is like this: the Holy Spirit works deeply within us, reshaping our desires, our priorities, and our very way of being in Christ. Thirdly, the Gold Refining analogy: Gold is refined not by polishing its surface but by intense fire that melts away impurities. Similarly, true renewal is a Paschal fire: it burns away what is not life-giving, so that what emerges is authentic, radiant, and enduring. In short, renewal is not about looking better or being more efficient in ministry; it is about dying to what is weak, selfish, or routine in us, and rising with Christ into deeper faithfulness, love, and freedom.  
 

This is why Lent, a season of fasting, penance, prayer, and reflection, is the perfect time for us Salesians to embrace renewal in its Paschal depth. Renewal is rooted in our baptismal death and resurrection with Christ. Renewal requires that we become mystics when faith risks becoming an inherited habit rather than a lived encounter. Today, the young are not rejecting God as much as they are rejecting the unreality. It is in this context that Pope Francis insisted: “We are called to be evangelizers who speak of a God whom we ourselves know and love.” Without this lived knowledge, our witness becomes shallow and hollow. Our Patron St. Francis de Sales teaches us that holiness grows quietly through fidelity, gentleness, and perseverance and St. John Bosco’s renewal was never nostalgic; but a creative fidelity. Pope Francis, St. Francis de Sales and St. John Bosco are only emphasizing that religious life exists to witness that God alone is enough. So, we are invited to rediscover a faith capable of dialogue and depth. Our Constitutions remind us that the Salesian community is where this renewal is lived and tested (C. 50), however, not within the four walls alone but also where its mission is carried out. 
 

Realisation, Repentance and Renewal: The Witness of Our Saints and Deceased Confreres 

“Be faithful unto death, and I will give you the crown of life.” – Rev 2:10

As we journey through Lent, the Salesian calendar of February itself becomes a silent but powerful commentary on the theme of this circular. On the first day of the month, as we commemorate all our deceased confreres, we are confronted with the truth that vocations are ultimately measured not by activity or visibility, but by fidelity. Their lives, hidden or celebrated, strong or fragile, remind us that religious life is a pilgrimage toward God, marked by daily realisation of our dependence on grace, continual repentance for our limitations, and patient renewal through perseverance. They now stand before God not as functionaries of a mission, but as sons who trusted Him enough to give their lives. Their memory asks us quietly but insistently: What remains eternal in the way I am living my vocation today? 
 

In Blessed Pius IX, whose memory we recall on February 7, we see a shepherd who had the courage to read the signs of his turbulent times and to trust the Spirit at work in new charisms. His support of Don Bosco was born of discernment and humility, a recognition that God was renewing the Church through unexpected paths. His life speaks to us of realisation: the ability to recognise God’s action beyond familiar frameworks; repentance: the willingness to let go of fear in order to accompany new beginnings; and renewal: the courage to bless what the Spirit is bringing to birth. In a time when authority is questioned and institutions are fragile, his witness reminds us that authentic authority flows from faith and trust in God’s work. 
 

Blessed Eusebia Palomino, commemorated on February 9, brings the Gospel even closer to the ground of our daily lives. She lived no extraordinary public ministry, yet her life was a continuous Lent, shaped by humility, prayer, hidden sacrifice, and fidelity to small duties. In her we see repentance lived as simplicity of heart, renewal lived as quiet perseverance, and realisation lived as awareness that holiness is formed in ordinary faithfulness. At a time when visibility and impact are easily confused with fruitfulness, her life gently but firmly calls us back to the truth that God looks first at the heart. 
 

Finally, the feast of St. Luigi Versiglia and St. Callistus Caravario on February 25 confronts us with the ultimate horizon of consecrated life. Their martyrdom in China was not an accident of history, but the fruit of a vocation lived seriously, prayerfully, and courageously. Their blood seals a life of continual conversion, realisation of the cost of discipleship, repentance expressed in total selfgift, and renewal that passes through the Cross into resurrection. They remind us that the Salesian vocation, at its core, is not about survival, comfort, or success, but about radical availability to Christ and to the young, even when that fidelity demands everything. Together, our deceased confreres, our saints, and our blesseds proclaim to us that realisation, repentance, and renewal are not abstract ideals but lived paths. They call us, in this Lenten season, to rediscover the seriousness and beauty of our vocation, to allow Jesus once again to be the reason for our journey, and to walk forward with humble courage, so that when our own day of remembrance comes, our lives too may speak of a love that endured. 
 

Walking Together Through Lent with Mary and St. John Bosco 

“If today you hear His voice, harden not your hearts” – Heb 3:15 

So, Lent is a prophetic interruption. Prophets of Biblical times disturbed the complacency of those responsible for the people, because they felt God’s pain for the world. The season of Lent, if lived well, will certainly disturb us so that we become mystics, prophets and servants in our identity as Salesians. The Salesian identity unfolds as a journey of realisation, repentance, and renewal in fidelity to Don Bosco’s charism. In realisation, we as Salesians rediscover ourselves as mystics, rooted in a living relationship with God that gives meaning and unity to our mission among the young. In repentance, we are called to prophetic conversion, courageously confronting personal and communal complacency, while recommitting to the dignity and hopes of the young, especially the poor. In renewal, we become servants once more, revitalising the preventive system through humble, creative, and loving service that renews both our vocation and the lives of the young entrusted to us. The world does not need efficient religious; it needs witnesses who have been seized by God, that is, men whose lives testify that Jesus is not an idea, but a living presence.  
 

As we bring this reflection to a close, the Strenna of our Congregation for 2026 offers us a concrete path for living this Lenten journey of realisation, repentance, and renewal through four simple but demanding movements: look, listen, choose, and act. Lent invites us first to look honestly at our lives, our communities, and the world of the young, allowing reality to question us without fear or defensiveness. It then calls us to listen to the Word of God, to the silent cries and hopes of the young, and to the gentle yet persistent voice of the Spirit speaking within our hearts. From this attentive looking and listening, we are urged to choose anew: to choose God over self, the Gospel over comfort, and a renewed fidelity to our Salesian vocation over routine and mediocrity. Finally, we are sent forth to act, transforming conversion into concrete gestures of presence, service, and loving-kindness, so that our lives may become credible signs of hope and salvation. In this way, Lent does not end with us, but continues through us, for the good of the young and the renewal of the Church. 
 

So, Let us walk together through this Lent with courage. Let us allow the Word who became flesh and dwelt amongst us to disturb us, the Eucharist to re-centre us, and fraternity to convert us. May Mary Help of Christians, who welcomed God’s disruptive grace, lead us anew to her Son Jesus. May St. John Bosco intercede for us, that we may never lose the fire of realizing and renewing our authentic faith. May this Lent restore us, through authentic repentance, to commit ourselves totally for the good of the young and the salvation of our own souls.

 

Yours affectionately, 

Fr. Don Bosco SDB
INM Provincial 

Date: 01.02.2026 
Place: Chennai