The ‘Wake-up’ Spirituality of a Salesian Assistant by Br. Romanius Barwa

The ‘Wake-up’ Spirituality of a Salesian Assistant

Br. Romanius  Barwa

One of the toughest phases of the life a young Salesian is the phase of ‘practical training’ or ‘regency’, when he learns the ins and outs of Salesian Assistance. During this time he’s lovingly call ‘Br. Assistant’. During this period many of the brothers go through the experience of purgatory. The task of an Assistant seems pretty simple, and it can be very well summarized in two words – ‘Wake-Up.’ Yes, the only task of an assistant is just to wake-up the boys entrusted to his care. However, many of the Assistants find it very difficult to wake-up the boys. The difficulty arises not because the Assistants are lethargic but most often because they lack the basic ways to wake-up the boys. To wake-up the boys at the early dawn is very simple, one just needs to clap the hands or ring the bell. But the major problem is not how to keep the boys awake physically but mentally all through the day. It is a backbreaking task to keep the boys awake mentally (and spiritually).
Salesian Assistance, in short, is a challenging yet marvellous task of waking up the boys. It is challenging because many of the boys don’t like others telling them what to do and they do get upset when they are challenged to think and act differently. Moreover, it is a noble task for an Assistant, because by waking up the sleeping mind he implants a new ray of hope that will enable a young person to generate sufficient light for his own life and also for the life of people around him. Some of the ‘wake-up’ tasks that an Assistant fulfills towards his boys are as follows:
He wakes up their heart to love. Love is not a natural thing that emerges spontaneously. It has to be taught and nourished gradually.
He wakes them up from their ignorance into intelligence. The Assistant helps them to see the meaning and reasons behind all the hum-drums of life.
He wakes them up to shake off their restlessness to move into patience. Restlessness is what characterizes the boys. Hence, the Assistant helps them practice patience by educating them to understand their restlessness.
He wakes them up from their fears to instill freedom. Fear paralyzes thoughts and limits dreams. The Assistant creates an atmosphere of freedom and also opportunities to help them overcome their fears.
He wakes them up and calls them to move from energy towards synergy. The boys are full of energies such as emotional, physical, psychic, spiritual and sexual. The Assistant helps them to move into a synergy that these energies bring about a holistic growth in the boys.
Apart from the above mentioned ‘wake-ups’ there are many other wake-ups that an Assistant has to consider. Thus, we could say that the only task of the Salesian Assistant is to wake up the boys. However, it is not as simple as it sounds for it is often said that it is not easy to wake up a guy who is not sleeping. However, it might be possible that the boys are in actual slumber because of ignorance rather than malice. The Assistant therefore plays a fundamental role in the formation of the youngsters entrusted to his care by gently and firmly waking them up into a holistic and fuller growth.