Below is a presentation and first impressions of the new FMA Delegate of the Salesian Cooperators.
Formation as an FMA
I have been a Daughter of Mary Help of Christians since 1982, the year of Religious Profession in the Colombian Province "María Auxiliadora" (CMA). From the very beginning, I felt that "to be a teacher was my passion". I had the opportunity to train in Educational Psychology at the "Auxilium" Faculty of Educational Sciences in Rome and then I specialized in Educational IT. In educational centers, I worked as an educating teacher, coordinator, and director, in private and state schools.
Accompanying young people, being close to them and their families, was a strong summons that helped me to strengthen the Salesian identity, to deepen the Preventive System, and to contextualise it.
The experience with the Salesian Family
In 1998, when I was Provincial Vicar, I had the opportunity to be part of the Provincial Council of the Salesian Family and to have a concrete approach to the different groups of the Salesian Family, at the local and the national level.
As Provincial (2005-2010), I carried out joint animation work, especially with the group of Past Pupils and Salesian Cooperators. Participation in the last three General Chapters of the FMA Institute has allowed me to broaden my vision and to grasp the journey that the Salesian Family has made in recent years.
The charismatic roots are well-founded under the guidance of the Spirit and the hand of Mary in the heart and in the experience lived by Don Bosco. We live in the awareness that the Spirit pours out the charism among many laypeople, men and women, in a shared mission, at the service of children, adolescents, and young people most in need, in very different forms and expressions.
The future lines of the Association of Salesian Cooperators
At the World Congress in 2018, the main options that represent the springboard to be where the Lord calls one “to be Don Bosco today” were indicated: to strengthen fidelity to the apostolic promise, increase the sense of belonging to the Church, to the Association, and to the Salesian Family, to take care of the family spirit and shared responsibility.
As a World Delegate, I commit myself to accompanying the Association by walking together with young people to build a more Christian and humane society.
I am grateful to Mother Reungoat, and to the Rector Major, Fr Ángel Fernández Artime, to the Delegates who preceded me, and especially to Sister Leslye Sándigo, who has worked in communion to spread the charism in these years. I entrust myself to the Lord to support me in this new mission and I ask everyone to accompany me with prayer and fraternity.
