NEWS
Team Visit – Day 2: Preferential option for poor, abandoned youth
The second day of the Team Visit of the General Council dealt with youth and youth ministry. Father Miguel Garcia, General Councillor for Youth Pastoral, restating the words of Don Bosco, said, ‘Be the signs of the times.’ He continued to explain that the signs of the times in the present digital world mean: scanned, read, interpreted, and assessed. It’s better to light a candle than curse the darkness, and we have to discover what the Lord is saying to us,
Salesians. “Don’t settle down for less than what you can achieve”, Father Miguel said with a broad smile.
Going further, Bro Sunny Joseph and Father Gildasio reminded the gathering that poor and abandoned youth and their environment should be centrifugal to our formation manual. “If our option is not for the poor, our mission is dead,” said Fr Gildasio. Brother Jean Paul Muller called on the Salesians of South Asia and the world to be ready to develop plans to ensure the sustainability of the mission towards the poor youth. He warned that the time of abundance is over, and the era of disillusionment has begun.
Fr Stefano Martoglio, the Vicar of the Rector Major, said, “In this time of ours, marked by multimedia, it is necessary to make the charism visible, throw light on the message, transmit the reasons for our hope and the meaning of our choice more directly. It is important in the new frontiers of missions, and above all in making the old frontiers ever new, so that they do not lose the meaning that gave rise to them initially.”
Father Pathiaraj Rayappan and Father Alfred Maravilla enlightened the assembly about the lay dimension that makes the mission of Don Bosco more relevant and lasting. The open discussions helped the participants to understand the commitment needed for today’s youth ministry.
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