By Soccom Korea

Seoul, 16 April 2024 -- After the Salesian Family Spirituality Day, on Sunday, 14 April, the Salesians of Korea organized a time of communion and sharing for the entire province, from the oldest members to those who are just knocking on the door of the religious life. The so-called Provincial Community Day!

The gathering of the members, 103 to be exact, began with evening prayer. In his Goodnight, Fr Joseph Phuoc, making the Extraordinary Visitation to the Province, recounted the EAO Team visit to Vietnam last month and expressed his gratitude for the financial contribution of the Korean province, which enabled the meeting to be held in a well-equipped venue that comfortably accommodated the Rector Major and more than a hundred guests from all EAO provinces. He also expressed his gratitude for the generosity of the Korean province in supporting various missions' territory in the Region and hoped that this generosity of sharing would continue.

After dinner, a consultation session was held for the selection of the next provincial. All members gathered in the multipurpose hall on the seventh floor of the provincial building. First, the Rector Major's letter to all members of the province was read. The Rector Major, Card. Angel explained the meaning of the Extraordinary visitation and the authority of the visitor, wishing the province to be more faithful to its charism through this visit. He asked the members to approach the consultation with a spirit of listening to the Holy Spirit, reminding them that the selection of the Provincial Superior is one of the most important tasks of the Rector Major and that the consultation is a way for the confreres to participate in this.

Each confreres was provided with two handouts, one (Paper-A) on which they were asked to write their responses, and the other (Paper-B) printed with a list of all members of the province and a list of possible candidates for the next provincial. On Paper-A they were asked to write three positive things about the current state of the province, followed by three negative things, then three priorities for the next provincial, and finally three qualities they would like to see in the new provincial. After completing these tasks, confreres were divided into groups of 15 or so to share their notes with those in their group, and then the whole group came back together to present the stories from each group. This took place over about an hour and half.

Each confreres then wrote down three names of the Salesian priest he thought would be suitable to be the next provincial on Paper-A. Under each name, he was invited also to list his strengths and weaknesses. This was then handed in Fr Joseph Phuoc. This concluded the consultation process for the selection of the next Provincial. Based on the input received, the Rector Major and his council will conduct a multifaceted evaluation and discernment and will appoint the next Provincial for 2024-2030, probably by the end of this coming June.

At 21:30, the time of festivities began. In enlivened atmosphere which was enhanced by the abundant food and simple entertainment prepared by each community, we congratulated four confreres who celebrated their 25th anniversary of first profession (Bonaventure Kim-vice-provincial, Bosco Park-a community rector, Marc Choi-provincial economer, and Peter Hyun), and Fr Joseph Phuoc, who celebrated this year his 50th anniversary of first profession.

The next day, Sunday morning, just as God cannot be absent where there is love, neither can sport be absent where the Salesians are present! Gathering on the provincial centre football grounds, the confreres divided into two teams (odd vs. even by birth year) and played tee-ball. The even-team, whose player hit the home run, won the game with a beautiful curve of the ball into the crystal clear sky. Meanwhile, the arrival of boxes of treats from the Salesian Sisters caused such a roar from the confreres that the neighboring apartments complained about the noise! In the soccer game that followed, the woeful futility of middle-aged confreres whose hearts beat but their feet don't, in the face of the youthful agility of the younger generation, dug in their heels and kicked their opponents in the shins!

Then, lunch in the parking lot. The pork barbecue filled our fraternal hunger like a rice field before the harvest, and thus ended a happy Provincial Community Day with a recharging and reorienting of the energy that community life provides.

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