austraLasia #2408
Unwrapping the gift of the Preventive System
MELBOURNE: 5th May 2009 -- On the weekend of 1-3 May the Australia-Pacific Province celebrated the 150th anniversary of the Salesians with a gathering of 60 senior leaders from schools across the province. The occasion was the biennial Salesian Educational Leaders Conference hosted by the Salesian Principals Association of Australia, and the theme was Educating with the heart of Don Bosco.
The keynote speaker at the Conference was Fr David O'Malley SDB, Vice Provincial of the Great Britain Province (GBR) and Chaplain at Salesian College Thornleigh, near Manchester. A consummate teacher, Fr David has many years of direct experience in youth ministry and has written extensively on the topic. All the conference delegates appreciated his deep insights, borne out of his reflections on his pastoral practice.
Over the course of the four main sessions, which took the form of interactive conversations, Fr David unwrapped the gift of the Preventive System, which he described using the analogy of the iceberg: "what you get is more than what you see!"
At the external, visible level the Preventive System is a series of techniques. Even those who do not share our faith commitment to the evangelisation of the young can engage with young people using Respect, Understanding, Affection and Humour (RUAH). 'Ruah', however, is the Hebrew word for the breath of God, the Spirit who pervades and animates the whole of creation, revealing life and the presence of God. Here we see the Preventive System as a Spirituality. The experience of working with young people moves us beyond the material and the mundane to ask questions about the meaning of life and the purpose of our existence. Here we touch the mystery of life and this opens up the possibility of encountering the presence of God. It is in contemplating the person of Jesus Christ that we discover the Preventive System as gospel. A Salesian reading of the gospels reveals Jesus the Good Shepherd, who is preventive par excellence. It is in Jesus' relationship with humanity - revealed in his saving us from meaninglessness, his gifting us with the fullness of life and his care of the little ones and the poor - that we discover Jesus as the model of the Preventive System.
Fr O'Malley's final session was a hands-on extended meditation using Don Bosco's Hat (his biretta) to explore the mind of Don Bosco and 'get inside his head'. All participants walked away with their very own biretta!
The formal input sessions were interspersed with a series of prayer experiences, the first of which included a series of skits exploring the theme "Educating with the Heart of Don Bosco'. Year 11 boys from Salesian College, Chadstone, performed the prayerful dramatic reflections which were written by Ron Ruzzier, Director of Student Wellbeing at this multicultural school of 900 boys in the south eastern suburbs of Melbourne.
The penultimate session of the Conference was a Panel Discussion during which Bishop Tim Costelloe SDB (Auxiliary Bishop of Melbourne), Fr Frank Moloney (Provincial) and Fr David O'Malley responded to questions from the floor. The conference closed with the celebration of the Eucharist during which the Provincial challenged each school to take up the Rector Major's proposal of forming or enhancing a core apostolic action group within each school after the manner of Don Bosco's founding of the Salesians.
_________________
AustraLasia is an email service for the Salesian Family of Asia Pacific. It also functions as an agency for ANS based in Rome. For queries please contact admin@bosconet.aust.com . Use Bosconet-wiki to be interactive. RSS feeds - just go to Bosconet, click on austraLasia 2009 in the sidebar. You will see the RSS orange icon in your browser address bar - add it from there. Avail yourself of the Salesian Digital Library at http://sdl.sdb.org
Title: australasia 2408
Subject and key words: EAO Provinces: AUL Preventive System
Date (year): 2009
ID: 2000-2099|2408
Unwrapping the gift of the Preventive System
MELBOURNE: 5th May 2009 -- On the weekend of 1-3 May the Australia-Pacific Province celebrated the 150th anniversary of the Salesians with a gathering of 60 senior leaders from schools across the province. The occasion was the biennial Salesian Educational Leaders Conference hosted by the Salesian Principals Association of Australia, and the theme was Educating with the heart of Don Bosco.
The keynote speaker at the Conference was Fr David O'Malley SDB, Vice Provincial of the Great Britain Province (GBR) and Chaplain at Salesian College Thornleigh, near Manchester. A consummate teacher, Fr David has many years of direct experience in youth ministry and has written extensively on the topic. All the conference delegates appreciated his deep insights, borne out of his reflections on his pastoral practice.
Over the course of the four main sessions, which took the form of interactive conversations, Fr David unwrapped the gift of the Preventive System, which he described using the analogy of the iceberg: "what you get is more than what you see!"
At the external, visible level the Preventive System is a series of techniques. Even those who do not share our faith commitment to the evangelisation of the young can engage with young people using Respect, Understanding, Affection and Humour (RUAH). 'Ruah', however, is the Hebrew word for the breath of God, the Spirit who pervades and animates the whole of creation, revealing life and the presence of God. Here we see the Preventive System as a Spirituality. The experience of working with young people moves us beyond the material and the mundane to ask questions about the meaning of life and the purpose of our existence. Here we touch the mystery of life and this opens up the possibility of encountering the presence of God. It is in contemplating the person of Jesus Christ that we discover the Preventive System as gospel. A Salesian reading of the gospels reveals Jesus the Good Shepherd, who is preventive par excellence. It is in Jesus' relationship with humanity - revealed in his saving us from meaninglessness, his gifting us with the fullness of life and his care of the little ones and the poor - that we discover Jesus as the model of the Preventive System.
Fr O'Malley's final session was a hands-on extended meditation using Don Bosco's Hat (his biretta) to explore the mind of Don Bosco and 'get inside his head'. All participants walked away with their very own biretta!
The formal input sessions were interspersed with a series of prayer experiences, the first of which included a series of skits exploring the theme "Educating with the Heart of Don Bosco'. Year 11 boys from Salesian College, Chadstone, performed the prayerful dramatic reflections which were written by Ron Ruzzier, Director of Student Wellbeing at this multicultural school of 900 boys in the south eastern suburbs of Melbourne.
The penultimate session of the Conference was a Panel Discussion during which Bishop Tim Costelloe SDB (Auxiliary Bishop of Melbourne), Fr Frank Moloney (Provincial) and Fr David O'Malley responded to questions from the floor. The conference closed with the celebration of the Eucharist during which the Provincial challenged each school to take up the Rector Major's proposal of forming or enhancing a core apostolic action group within each school after the manner of Don Bosco's founding of the Salesians.
_________________
AustraLasia is an email service for the Salesian Family of Asia Pacific. It also functions as an agency for ANS based in Rome. For queries please contact admin@bosconet.aust.com . Use Bosconet-wiki to be interactive. RSS feeds - just go to Bosconet, click on austraLasia 2009 in the sidebar. You will see the RSS orange icon in your browser address bar - add it from there. Avail yourself of the Salesian Digital Library at http://sdl.sdb.org
Title: australasia 2408
Subject and key words: EAO Provinces: AUL Preventive System
Date (year): 2009
ID: 2000-2099|2408
