(ANS - Rome) - The Study Days on the First Proclamation of Jesus in the City organized by the Department for the Missions of the Salesians and the Sector for the Missions of the Daughters of Mary Help of Christians ended on Saturday 21 November.
Speakers were invited from outside the Salesian Family to help the participants to think beyond their normal way of thinking. On the first day a Comboni priest, Fr Giulio Albanese, who is also a journalist, gave a description of the city in today's globalized world, highlighting the common features and phenomena of the city. He insisted that "our works", are not always evangelizing, but we have to plan and have the intention to ensure that "our work" is really evangelizing.
On the second day Sister Milva Caro, a Scalabrini missionary, daughter of Italian immigrants in Germany, spoke about the phenomenon of human mobility and the challenges and opportunities for the First Proclamation in an urban setting.
On the third day a layman, Professor Carmelo Dotolo, Dean of the Faculty of Missiology at the Urban Pontifical University, stressed the distinction between secularization and secularism and the challenges and opportunities for the First Proclamation in a secularized setting in the cities.
In the fourth day two speakers gave a profound reflection on the First Proclamation from a Salesian perspective. Sister Piera Ruffinato, professor at the Auxilium Pontifical Faculty of Educational Sciences, showed that in urban areas the preventive system can be a Salesian way to carry out the First Proclamation. Fr Ubaldo Montisci from the Department of Youth Ministry and Catechetics at the Salesian Pontifical University showed how youth ministry in the urban environment offers many opportunities for the First Proclamation.
The Rector Major and the Mother General of the FMA gave the "Good Night" on 20 and 21 November. Both stressed the missionary character of the two congregations and the importance of keeping alive the missionary flame in each member.
The Study Days led the participants to the conclusion that the awareness of always carrying out the First Proclamation is what leads every SDB and FMA to live their lives in a permanent state of mission, a situation that demands a pastoral and spiritual conversion in each and every one. The Rector Major also stressed that what is important is not so much the paper published, but the change of mindset that this learning experience and reflection has brought about in each participant.
The proceedings of the Study Days will be published as a book, in different languages, with different index cards that will enable local communities in different parts of the Congregation to use the material for ongoing formation.
(ANS - Rome) - The Study Days on the First Proclamation of Jesus in the City organized by the Department for the Missions of the Salesians and the Sector for the Missions of the Daughters of Mary Help of Christians ended on Saturday 21 November.
Speakers were invited from outside the Salesian Family to help the participants to think beyond their normal way of thinking. On the first day a Comboni priest, Fr Giulio Albanese, who is also a journalist, gave a description of the city in today's globalized world, highlighting the common features and phenomena of the city. He insisted that "our works", are not always evangelizing, but we have to plan and have the intention to ensure that "our work" is really evangelizing.
On the second day Sister Milva Caro, a Scalabrini missionary, daughter of Italian immigrants in Germany, spoke about the phenomenon of human mobility and the challenges and opportunities for the First Proclamation in an urban setting.
On the third day a layman, Professor Carmelo Dotolo, Dean of the Faculty of Missiology at the Urban Pontifical University, stressed the distinction between secularization and secularism and the challenges and opportunities for the First Proclamation in a secularized setting in the cities.
In the fourth day two speakers gave a profound reflection on the First Proclamation from a Salesian perspective. Sister Piera Ruffinato, professor at the Auxilium Pontifical Faculty of Educational Sciences, showed that in urban areas the preventive system can be a Salesian way to carry out the First Proclamation. Fr Ubaldo Montisci from the Department of Youth Ministry and Catechetics at the Salesian Pontifical University showed how youth ministry in the urban environment offers many opportunities for the First Proclamation.
The Rector Major and the Mother General of the FMA gave the "Good Night" on 20 and 21 November. Both stressed the missionary character of the two congregations and the importance of keeping alive the missionary flame in each member.
The Study Days led the participants to the conclusion that the awareness of always carrying out the First Proclamation is what leads every SDB and FMA to live their lives in a permanent state of mission, a situation that demands a pastoral and spiritual conversion in each and every one. The Rector Major also stressed that what is important is not so much the paper published, but the change of mindset that this learning experience and reflection has brought about in each participant.
The proceedings of the Study Days will be published as a book, in different languages, with different index cards that will enable local communities in different parts of the Congregation to use the material for ongoing formation.