Macau Salesian Family journey together

By Fr. Joseph CHOW Pak Fai, SDB

Macau, 2 December 2017 -- Every year the six groups of the Salesian Family present in Macau gather together to celebrate, to pray, to share and to enjoy meal together. The usual frequency is at the beginning of January for receiving the Strenna of the Rector Major, then on May 24 and December 8. This year on the occasion of EAO Regional Councilor animation visit we gathered at Instituto Salesiano (Salesian School) in Macau in the afternoon of December 2nd.

All 6 groups - SDB, FMA Sisters, VDB, Salesian Cooperators, Past pupils of Don Bosco and Mary Help of Christians - were present with a total of 60 participants, with the presence of our provincial Fr. Lanfranco Fedrigotti. After an initial greeting Fr. Klement introduced a lively video presentation of the 31 Salesian Family groups and invited us to share in five smaller groups around these two questions: What can our group offered to the others? What does need our group receive from other SF groups?

During a lively sharing the lay groups expressed their continuous needs of accompaniment by the two religious Congregations SDB and FMA in the person of their delegates, assistants with formation talks, sacraments and spiritual direction. In turn the numerous Don Bosco Past Pupils.

What needs do we have in common? It was all about prayer for vocations, about joint vocation promotion, about knowing better each other group through mutual invitation, offering good night talk or apostolic life sharing amidst the other group. The Past Pupils were asked to send their children to SDB or FMA schools, to be the face, voice and hands of Don Bosco in the local society of Macau.

At the end of the sharing the EAO regional councilor showed us the video presentation of 'Cagliero Project' of missionary volunteers by the Australia - Pacific province and challenged us with starting a similar volunteer experience also in Macau. Indeed the Bosco Youth Service Network in Macau (http://www.bys.org.mo/introduction/index.html) is one of the best platforms for local volunteering of young Past Pupils in our province.

At the end of the evening we prayed together the Vespers of the first Advent Sunday, after a short period of Eucharistic Adoration at the end of the liturgical year and after a good night talk shared by Fr. Provincial we enjoyed a simple family dinner in the Hall of the Salesian School.

We were glad to deepen our fundamental Family awareness, that "Without the others the members of a particular Group cannot be themselves... This is cultivated by all Salesian Family groups, inspires appropriate expressions and practical attitudes." (Charter of Charismatic Identity of Don Bosco Salesian Family, art. 10 - Exchange of Gifts).

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