JEJU (Korea): 18 November 2012 --
A
meeting of Salesian Brothers from KOR Province was held from
November
15 to 18 in Jeju Island, the largest island in Korea in the
southern
part of the country, at the Isidor Youth Centre run by the
FMA.
'Empty bowl' was the poetic main theme of this year's meeting
at which
all 15 Brothers in the province attended. The theme was
divided into
sub-topics, one for each day: collecting the bowl for the first day, emptying the bowl the
second day, refilling
the empty bowl the third day, and the fourth day's topic was never a dry bowl!
The main purpose of these Brothers meetings is to strengthen
the
identity of the Salesian Brother and promote the Brother's
vocation.
From the 2006 onwards the feast of Bro. Zatti has been
celebrated as
Brother's week in Korea. Each community prays for the
Brother's
vocation during evening prayer and has a chance to meet the
Brothers in
the province.
Late evening they arrived at the Youth Centre located in the
middle of
Jeju Island, the most popular place for tourism in the
country. On the
second day they were inspired by and shared the tender breath
of God in
the beauty of nature. Each could do this in his own style,
choosing
whatever he wanted to see around Jeju island. The majority of
them
spent their time enjoying the stunning views of the blue
ocean,
watching fishermen in their boats and thinking of the the
absolute
command of the Lord to his disciples asking them to be fishers
of men.
Serious and intense reflection was the order of the third day,
from
morning until late at night. Peter Choi, the principal of the
Don Bosco
Vocational Training Center, spoke at length on the theme of
'Salesian
Brothers and the vision of Don Bosco'. He presented the model
of the
Salesian Brother who carrying out the ideals of Don Bosco in
the
vocational training field. As a consequence of his long period
of
dedication to this field in fidelity to Don Bosco's
charism for the
salvation of youth, the lecturer
testified how our society and
government has come to recognise the value of the preventive
system,
and shows it is willing to collaborate with us in vocational
education
of the young, specially for the poorer ones. This recognition
and
changing attitude is a small miracle that is helping society
to change.
Then followed the presentation of what the Salesian Brother's
spirituality is, by Bro. Mark Choi who returned last August
from the
Salesian University in Rome after 3 years study in Salesian
spirituality. The Brother's spirituality, the second lecturer
argued,
is nothing else than joy of work in carrying out DB's mission
in the
community and with the community. He said that it is a most
appropriate
testimony of the kingdom of God and one not always currently
understood
by others in the Brother's life.
here was also time to look back at the EAO Brothers meeting in
Cambodia
in 2006, material from which has been translated into Korean.
Bro.
Benedict Baek resented and guided discussion on this and how
much it
had influenced the provincial plan. There was discussion on
the coming
Thailand meeting, August 2013, who will participate
and what
contribution they will bring. Finally there was a very
fruitful and
meaningful gathering late into the evening in a fraternal
atmosphere
focused on the desire to share the pastoral life and
rediscover the
value of the Brother's vocation in today's difficult times.
The last day of the meeting, November 18, saw a homily at Mass
by Fr.
Stephen Nam the provincial, who had followed the meeting from
the
beginning. He expressed his admiration at the sincere and
enthusiastic
participation in and contribution to the meeting. As layman in
the
religious community, the Provincial said, with strong faith
and human
maturity the Brother has to testify to the value of the
kingdom of God
in and beyond the community. As a true protagonist in
realising Don
Bosco's mission, the salvation of the youth, he has to be
close to the
young first in order to lead them to be 'good Christians and
upright
citizens'.