austraLasia #3450
"From 'Do-it-yourself' to Responsibility"
Dr (Fr) Barnaba An Phong Le sdb
3450 June 2014 -- Amongst the EAO diaspora are men who are both holding down a full-time responsibility and studying at the same time. Fr Barnaba An Phon Le is a good example: he is currently responsible for the two year Brothers' formation located at Valdocco, and has been completing his doctoral thesis at the Alphonsianum 700 kilometres further south in Rome!
Finally, on 6 June 2014, Fr Barnaba successfully defended his thesis: "From 'Do it yourself' to Responsibility': the Salesian educative proposal in the moral maturing of young people".
Shortly, Fr Barnaba will be returning to Vietnam where his Province is eagerly awaiting him - and of course with new responsibilities to take up!
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In his thesis proposal, Fr Barnaba sees that young people today are very much influenced (and he is drawing on his Vietnamese as well as his Italian experience) by what he likes to call the 'do it yourself' approach, which might be a call to independence and responsibility at one level but in fact risks taking away ones freedom, autonomy and responsibility, especially during the process of maturation of a young person.
He suggests that the humanistic tradition's "Become what you are" is now understood more as "Be what you are."
His response to this situation is to identify the elements of Christian theological anthropology which include:
But Fr Barnaba goes a step further and sees that this charism of Don Bosco's, despite its development in a Christian and indeed Catholic cultural matrix, is also applicable to the non-Christian and the non-believer for its deep sensitivity to human dignity. As he puts it: " The Salesian educative proposal has an anthropological leaning towards the development of the young person, for its attention to human values and its notion of the holistic, natural but also spiritual nature of the youngster, his (or her) human capacity, transcendence".
We congratulate Fr Barnaba An Phong Le!
"From 'Do-it-yourself' to Responsibility"
Dr (Fr) Barnaba An Phong Le sdb
Finally, on 6 June 2014, Fr Barnaba successfully defended his thesis: "From 'Do it yourself' to Responsibility': the Salesian educative proposal in the moral maturing of young people".
Shortly, Fr Barnaba will be returning to Vietnam where his Province is eagerly awaiting him - and of course with new responsibilities to take up!
--------------
In his thesis proposal, Fr Barnaba sees that young people today are very much influenced (and he is drawing on his Vietnamese as well as his Italian experience) by what he likes to call the 'do it yourself' approach, which might be a call to independence and responsibility at one level but in fact risks taking away ones freedom, autonomy and responsibility, especially during the process of maturation of a young person.
He suggests that the humanistic tradition's "Become what you are" is now understood more as "Be what you are."
His response to this situation is to identify the elements of Christian theological anthropology which include:
- The fact that we have our limits and can easily fall into sin.
- That we are rational and free and to guide this freedom we seek norms, true freedom, and recognise the role of conscience, responsibility.
- The human being is an integral being: individual but communal, with a history and a culture.
- Faith offers us revealed truth which, combined with human reason, shows us that out life is gift, vocation, has a purpose (God) and is modelled by Jesus.
But Fr Barnaba goes a step further and sees that this charism of Don Bosco's, despite its development in a Christian and indeed Catholic cultural matrix, is also applicable to the non-Christian and the non-believer for its deep sensitivity to human dignity. As he puts it: " The Salesian educative proposal has an anthropological leaning towards the development of the young person, for its attention to human values and its notion of the holistic, natural but also spiritual nature of the youngster, his (or her) human capacity, transcendence".
We congratulate Fr Barnaba An Phong Le!
