austraLasia - 5038(II)_Commitment of the Salesian Cooperators for the next 6 years

ASC World Council meets with the new World Coordinator

By Mr. Philip Yu, ASC
World Councilor for the EAO Region 2014-2020

Rome, 15 March 2019 -- The Biennal Meeting of the World Council of the Association of Salesian Cooperators (Coordinator: Mr. Antonio Boccia, World Delegates Fr Giuseppe Casti, SDB and Sr Lesley Sandigo, FMA) is taking place in Rome, March 13-17, 2019, in order to finalize the 6 year Strategic Plan for the 35,000 members of the Association. One of the recent 5th World Congress of ASC (Rome, October 23-28) documents was the one-page 'Final Working Document' - 6 Year Plan Outline (cf. Boscolink).

Among the 11 ASC Councillors who took part, was Mr Philip Yu (EAO), who shares his personal experience:

"We had some group sessions with Fr Casti on the key message from the 2018 Bishop Synod (Youth - Faith - Vocation Discernment) in connection with commitment guidelines for the Association in the next six years, followed by some personal time of reflection. Here are some personal reflections:

There is a gap between “we know” and “we do”

we know and we have heard many times what we should do ;
what we’re doing in reality is possibly not even close to what we should do;
aging is a common problem causing the gap;
the “old” mentality could be another reason because our members “in charge” have grown up (in the past) as a benefactor and/or handyman ;
the new or younger generation is still in the minority and hopefully growing

We are transitioning from status quo towards our dream

the majority of senior members or older generations are in charge and there is resistance to change ;
some local centres are transitioning toward “we do”;

Strong need of Formation and inspiration

good formation is the only engine to drive change and inspire ASC members toward “we do”;
inspiration is even more important as it comes from the heart, driven by the Holy Spirit;
a consistent message or guidance from the World Council will help the provincial level and accelerate the transitioning process.

After our personal sharing in the World Council Assembly then we examined the commitment guidelines emerging from the 5th World Congress (October 2018) and with some enhancement. There was also a suggestion of an addition to point (5), Conversion Process, that we close the gap between “we know” and “we do” as mentioned above. The World Council will give it more thought before approving the final document later in this meeting.

On the evening of the first day we were happy to have the presence of the Rector Major, Fr Ángel. He agrees with our lines of commitment and encourages us to accomplish them as a Salesian Family in accordance with the 2018 Synod of Bishops ('Synodality'). Although he had just returned from Southern Africa, he appears to be very energetic and joined us for dinner. Then Fr. Ángel shared in familiar fashion his (2018, November) Korean visit experience. I think you know that story well, that he gave a hug to one Salesian Cooperator with her husband's permission and then immediately more than 40 other ladies lined up for a hug after the Salesian Family Eucharist with the ASC Promise! This is a breakthrough in the Korean tradition...!

We invite all ASC members and Salesian Family members from our East Asia - Ocenia Region to sustain us with prayers until the end of this important ASC World planning meeting.

5038(II)_Commitment of the Salesian Cooperators for the next 6 years

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