By Fr. Gary & Fr. Thomas, SDB
Photos by Fr. Martin
Cheung Chau, Hong Kong, April 2, 2016 - After a one year long preparation process, the Provincial Chapter (March 29-April 2) has given answers to the present day challenges of the Salesians in Hong Kong, Taiwan and Macao.
The first challenge was to implement the guidelines of the General Chapter 27, which require a renewed radicality in living and proclaiming the Gospel. Consequently, the Chapter pointed out a threefold way of conversion: the primacy of God, the fraternal community, and to be servant of the young.
The second challenge of the Chapter was the task to reshape the presences in the Province. In this regard, the Chapter made three fundamental options: firstly, do everything that deepens the conversion of the confreres; secondly, set up communities that have a sufficient number of confreres and can guarantee apostolic quality; thirdly, give special attention to the 10% most neediest youth in and outside the Salesian works.
Finally, was approved the newly revised version of the Provincial Directory (2004-2016) that indicates practical ways of Salesian life and mission today. Among other things, the Chapter voted here for a stronger cooperation with and participation of lay mission partners, and to provide the respective formation programs for them.
Day 5 of the PC (April 1)
dedicated a lot of time was spent working on the production of a good chapter document. The fruits of these efforts might be not only the theoretical guidelines for the Province’s renewal and development for the coming next few years, but also the learning process and community experience of the chapter members during the chapter sessions. As a matter of fact, we do not lack meaningful written documents, but what we need most is the realization and concretization of the written contents into our daily mission that is to put into practice the Gospel like Don Bosco!
Some interesting proposal about to work more with evaluation tools, teams and action plans. These could be helpful to make renewal efforts more measurable and more effective than ordinary commissions. Likewise, we would better come to know where we lack the “radicality of the Gospel” and set up good examples and good practices that push the whole Province forward.
The last full day ended with a Good night talk by Joseph Cardinal Zen. In his good night talk he encouraged us to build a deep affection and cultivate a sense of belonging to the Salesian Congregation and to the Church. "Even though there are defections in our congregation, low number of new vocations, scandals in the Church, still we must not be discouraged and strive to persevere. Let us not forget that our Congregation was founded by a holy man, led and inspired by the Holy Spirit!
Day 6 of the PC (April 2)
Fr. Denis Kong, who took care of the daily prayers in the beginning of each section, mentioned about the two sentences written in the chapel where we prayed every day: "The sincere fraternity among the brothers makes the hill become jade, the deep affection between father and son makes the earth become gold. Indeed we have experienced that in this week.
Before ending the PC16, Fr. Lanfranco Fedrigotti, the Provincial, gave us the final speech, mentioning about the three words type structure of some good and similar thoughts in the course of these years after the convocation of the GC27 by Fr. Chavez. "call and response, consecration and sacrifice, sending and mission; the primacy of God, the primacy of the community, the primacy of the youth; mystic, prophet, servant; more belong to God, more belong to confreres, more belong to the youth; living in the love of God, loving each other, bearing fruits; more visible, more credible, more fruitful; more listening to God' call, interpreting the situation, acting concretely." In the end he shared what he experienced well in these days and gave thanks to those who have contributed to the success
FOR THE SUNDAY EXAMINER, HONG KONG
Salesians of Don Bosco - Provincial Chapter 2016
By a Salesian of Don Bosco
Implementing a radical Gospel approach, reshaping the presences in the Province, and revising the Provincial Directory – these were the three big tasks of the 25th Provincial Chapter of the Salesians of Don Bosco, which was held in the Salesian Retreat House on Cheung Chau Island from Easter Monday 28 March until Easter Saturday April 2.
After a year-long preparation process, the Provincial Chapter has given answers to the present day challenges of the Salesian Congregation in Hong Kong, Taiwan and Macao. The first challenge was to implement the guidelines of the General Chapter 27 (Rome Feb-Apr 2014), which require a renewed radicality in living and proclaiming the Gospel. Consequently, the Chapter pointed out a threefold way of conversion: the primacy of God, the fraternal community, and humble service to the young, especially the poorest. The second challenge of the Chapter was the task to reshape the presences in the Province. In this regard, the Chapter made three fundamental options: first, do everything possible to deepen the conversion of the confreres; second, set up communities that have a sufficient number of confreres and can guarantee apostolic quality; third, give special attention to the 10% neediest youth in and outside the Salesian works. Finally, the third big challenge was to revise the Provincial Directory from 2007. The newly revised version concretizes practical ways of the Salesian mission today.
Among other things, the Chapter voted for a stronger cooperation with and participation of lay mission partners, and for providing the respective formation programs for/with them. As a matter of fact, the Salesian mission for the young and the glory of God has to be shared by the different groups and lay mission partners of the Don Bosco Family! The Don Bosco Family in the Province comprises Salesians of Don Bosco, Daughters of Mary Help of Christians, Salesians Cooperators, Past Pupils of Don Bosco, Sisters Announcers of the Lord, the sodalists of the Mary Help of Christians Association, and others.
Several guests were invited during the Chapter. They enlightened and inspired the Chapter members through their sharing. Invited were Salesian confreres from the Province, our missionary in Mongolia Fr. Paul Leung Kon Chiu, Salesians Cooperators, Past Pupils of Don Bosco, Fr. Stephen Tong of the Society of Jesus, and Cardinal Joseph Zen. The latter pointed out that there are a lot of problems in the Congregation and the Church, but he encouraged us to cultivate a strong sense of belonging and joy, because: the Congregation was founded by a holy man – St. John Bosco – through the initiative of the Holy Spirit. And it is the Lord Jesus and his sanctity that makes every renewal and conversion possible, and guarantee a life in abundance!