austraLasia #2159

Salesian Provincial Day in Vietnam

HO CH MINH CITY: 27 May 2008 -- The Salesian province of Vietnam annually celebrates its Family Day at the end of May, after the solemn Feast day of Mary Help of Christians. This year, that day fell on 26 May. 42 pre-novices, 19 novices and more than 250 confrères gathered together to enjoy the precious moment of a Big Family, surrounding the Provincial as their spiritual father and the vicar of Don Bosco in Vietnam.
    The program of the day was nothing extraordinary except that it was a time for everyone to meet with each other (for some, after a whole year of labor in the apostolate) and share the family spirit. The eldest of the Salesians in Vietnam, also the first professed Salesian, Fr. Isidore Le Huong, an alumnus of Bottolengo Community of Theology, was present at the early part of the day. He came from a very far village parish where he has worked for more than 30 years. The young confrères quickly gathered to share their joys (for ending a scholastic year) as well as their looking forward to the summer apostolate. The adult confrères chatted for more information regarding new works in distant areas or new commitments of their classmates.
    The formal program was scheduled with some talks and theatrical performances by the novices, pre-novices. The provincial gave an informal talk about the General Chapter and its guidelines as well as its lines of action. The delegate of the GC26, Fr. Joseph Phuoc also gave some input during the talk. Both of them received questions from the floor for a better understanding of the directions of GC26. Anyway, a talk of 30 minutes could only cover some main points of the work of GC26.
    Another item of the program attracted the attention of this Big Family. The confrères who are involved in new presences or commitments in poor areas shared their experiences and their understanding of the cries of the poor youth of today and how their communities are trying to respond to these. Everyone seemed very pleased and inspired by these efforts to re-actualize Don Bosco among the young. It seems that the pre-novices and novices have been truly encouraged by these practical initiatives to help poor youth.
    The day finally ended with the solemn celebration of the Eucharist and a buffet lunch. 

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Title: australasia 2159
Subject and key words: EAO Provinces VIE Provincial Day
Date (year): 2008
ID: 2000-2099|2159