DON BOSCO FARM

As I was Reading the note provided by Fr Edison Fernandes SDB Chapter 1 from the French Revolution to the Fall of Napoleon reminded me of a classical novel Animal Farm. This is an allegorical novella by George Orwell published in England on 17 August 1945. According to Orwell, the book reflects events leading up to and during the Stalin era before World War II. The novel addresses not only the corruption of the revolution by its leaders but also how wickedness, indifference, ignorance, greed and myopia destroy any possibility of a Utopia. While this novel portrays corrupt leadership as the flaw in revolution (and not the act of revolution itself), it also shows how potential ignorance and indifference to problems within a revolution could allow horrors to happen if a smooth transition to a people's government is not achieved. Time magazine chose the book as one of the 100 best English-language novels (1923 to 2005); it also places at number 31 on the Modern Library List of Best 20th-Century Novels. It won a Retrospective Hugo Award in 1996 and is also included in the Great Books of the Western World.

Drawing a reflection from this book, I arrived on a thinking that pushes me to think laterally on Don Bosco Farm. This is a grown, well-appreciated congregation over the last century which is well known by the world.

Coming back to the book Old Major, the old boar on the Manor Farm, calls the animals on the farm for a meeting, where he compares the humans to parasites and teaches the animals a revolutionary song, "Beasts of England".

We see Don Bosco himself giving us his dream before he passed away from this earthly life. But being with us in and with the constitutions he handed to the first Salesians. We too, in our congregation have so many meetings with regard to formation, mission, the general chapters, the provincial chapters, the council meetings, house councils, annual meetings to come out with rules, regulations, solutions, resolutions and lines of action and many other tasks at hand.  We could all day long sing the “Salesian Anthem – We are Salesians or to work among”.

  

When Major dies three days later, two young pigs, Snowball and Napoleon, assume command and turn his dream into a philosophy.

We see here those in positions like the Rector Majors, the Provincials, the Rectors and others of whom you think are in positions and authority always wanting to turn a dream into a living philosophy.

The animals revolt and drive the drunken and irresponsible Mr Jones from the farm, renaming it "Animal Farm".

We see in our congregation many Salesians revolt against the authority many a times and feel the renaming or reframing the way we think of the Don Bosco Farm or the Salesian Farm. Thus we see the calling for Return to Don Bosco.

The Seven Commandments of Animalism are written on the wall of a barn. The most important is the seventh, "All animals are equal."

We in our congregation also speak of equality but the equality is seen alone in the act of speaking.

All the animals work, but the workhorse, Boxer, does more than others and adopts the maxim — "I will work harder." Boxer is a loyal, kind, dedicated, and respectable horse. He is physically the strongest animal on the farm, but impressionable (a major theme in the book), which leaves him stating "I will work harder" and "Napoleon is always right" despite the corruption.

I believe this is my maxim too…as a Salesian…I see myself applying the maxim of Don Bosco: “Work, Work, and Work.” Call me whatever you like I will work harder. Don Bosco is always right.