A. Inspiration
•  Biblical Text: Wis. 11, 23 - 12, 2
•  Encyclical: “Evangelium Vitae”

B. Formulation
«You love everything that exists, and nothing that you have made disgusts you…, since all is yours, Lord lover of life! For your imperishable spirit is in everything» ( Wis 11,24.26)

Letting ourselves be guided by God's love for life

At a time when life is particularly under threat, as the Salesian Family we commit ourselves to:
•  accept life as an inviolable gift with gratitude and joy,
•  foster life as a responsible service with passion,
•  defend the dignity and quality of every life especially the most weak, poor and defenceless with hope.

C. Motivation
The strenna is intended to be “a a precise and vigorous reaffirmation of the value of human life and its inviolability , and at the same time a pressing appeal addressed to each and every person, in the name of God: respect, protect, love and serve life, every human life! Only in this direction will you find justice, development, true freedom, peace and happiness!” (EV 5, italics in the original)

“God created human beings to be immortal, he made them as an image of his own nature. Death came into the world only through the Devil's envy; as those who belong to him find to their cost” (Wis. 1,13-14; 2, 23-24). Cf. the killing of Abel by Cain (Gn 4, 2-16).

“The Lord's question: "What have you done?", which Cain cannot escape, is addressed also to the people of today, to make them realize the extent and gravity of the attacks against life which continue to mark human history; to make them discover what causes these attacks and feeds them; and to make them ponder seriously the consequences which derive from these attacks for the existence of individuals and peoples.” (EV 10).

D. For a true culture of human life
Faced with a culture of death we are therefore called to take life as good news and take up again the gospel of life, in order celebrate it and to serve it.

“Interiorly renewed by the grace of the Spirit, "who is the Lord and giver of life", we have become a people for life and we are called to act accordingly.” (EV 79).

1. Life as good news
Life is a vocation and a mission; this implies
•  accepting and loving life as a gift
•  taking responsibility for life as a duty.

2. The gospel of life
Christ came so that all might have life to the full, which demands that our pastoral and educational efforts should
•  serve it making it grow, giving our own lives
•  defend it, especially that of those who are at a disadvantage: children, the poor, the sick, the elderly; it is a question of the ministry of the family, of the church, of the school, which is placed at the service of life
•  form
- to the fulness of life: life's meaning and life's plan
- to respect and foster: life and sexuality, life and ecology, life and human dignity
- to duty: a moral conscience regarding the inestimable value of a worthy and full life

3. “Salesian” Programme for life
To create a culture of life there is a need to make the newness of the Gospel of life shine forth. This means that:
• all the members of the Salesian Family teach these truths from the very first proclamation of the Gospel, and thereafter, in catechesis and in the various forms of preaching, in personal dialogue and in all educational activity;
• educators, teachers, catechists and pastoral workers emphasise the anthropological reasons upon which respect for every human life is based;
• we all work together with all those who are committed to the establishment of a new culture of life. (Cfr. EV 82)

Don Pascual Chávez Villanueva
Rector Major