Culmination of a year-long program

By Fr. Drans Nolasco, SDB

Makati City, the Philippines, 24 October 2019 -- 24 October this year turned out an extraordinary day for the FIN Province as it commemorated the day dedicated to Mary Help of Christians. Why? It was the opening day of the 2-day Congress on Youth. This Congress was the culmination of the synodal process that the Salesians of Don Bosco of the Philippines – North Province (FIN) undertook with lay adults and youth during this Year of the Youth. The SYNODO process stands for Salesians and Youth Journeying Together, forging relationships.

The congress began at 8:00am with the celebration of the Holy Eucharist at the St. John Bosco Parish church with Bishop Patrick Buzon, SDB, DD, of the Diocese of Bacolod as the main presider.

In his homily, Bishop Buzon first congratulated the FIN Province for its unique way of celebrating the Year of the Youth. Instead of just organizing a festival that may only last for a day, the province decided to get the most out of the momentum of the Year of the Youth by doing a more serious year-long discernment towards a radical renewal of Salesian youth ministry with renewed Salesian youth ministers (the SDBs, the lay mission partners, the Salesian Family, and the young leaders).

Bishop Buzon praised the province as he learned that the fruit of this synodal process is the best gift the province can offer to the young people of today. He likewise emphasized that contrary to how some sectors in society describe the youth of today as a lazy and narcissistic bunch of individuals, he said that the young people of today, if given the right motivation and conviction by the adults around them, can be very radical in fighting for what is right, even ready to give up their lives for the cause they believe. The challenge, therefore, of this congress is for Salesians to discover how to become authentic witnesses of their vocation to the young so as to inspire them to accept the message of the Gospel in their lives and to be radical disciples of Christ…fighting not only for temporal causes but for truths that are directed to eternal life.

After the Holy Mass, the assembly proceeded to the JOY Center of Don Bosco Technical Institute, Makati City for the congress proper. Fr. Joebeth Vivo, SDB, the head of the FIN Commission on Youth Ministry welcomed all the participants by allowing them to look back to the series of events that happened that led to this Congress on Youth, the first part of SYNODO 3. A renewed Salesian youth ministry in the FIN Province is the main objective of this SYNODO. The SDBs, the Salesian lay mission partners, the members of the Salesian Family, the young people of all the Salesian houses listened to each other, discerned with each other before and during this series of SYNODO experiences under the guidance of the Holy Spirit to have a clearer vision of where this grace-filled Year of the Youth is leading them and a clearer mission of what God is asking them in the same way He gave St. John Bosco his mission.

Fr. Renato De Guzman, SDB, a member of the Synod on Youth held in Rome early 2018, presented the working paper of the congress with the synodal process as its guiding hand. He oriented the whole assembly about the flow of the congress especially for each working group [the participants are divided into thirteen working groups for the thirteen specific areas of concern in youth ministry] to come up with only one strategic direction and only two or three concrete lines of actions that are innovative and creative for the whole afternoon session.

The second day of the congress, 25 October, Friday, focused on the outcome of the previous day's group discussions. Each group reported to the plenary its strategic direction and lines of actions in the morning. The reports were then open to scrutiny by any member of the congress during the plenary session before the body approved them as the content of the main document of this congress that will be submitted to Fr. Provincial and his council for approval. After rounds of healthy discussions, the plenary approved the whole document [with some modifications.]

In his homily at the closing celebration of the Holy Eucharist, Fr. Gerry Martin, SDB, the FIN Provincial Superior, shared his conviction that what defines a person is what he/she loves; and that every person belongs to what he/she loves. As we strive to renew ourselves in renewing our Salesian youth ministry, Fr. Gerry continued, this renewal must be rooted in the renewal of our vocation – as true followers of Christ, the one we love and the one to whom we belong.

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