Mexico - Retreat: "Educators and Pastors for young people in today's world
Amatitán, Mexico - December 2023 - The Retreat for Rectors and Provincial Councils of the two Salesian Provinces of Mexico (Mexico-Guadalajara (MEG) and Mexico-Mexico (MEM)) was held from 1 to 7 December in the Bethsaida house in Amatitán, Jalisco, Mexico. The following Salesians also took part in this retreat: Bishop Salvador Cleofás Murguía Villalobos, Bishop of the Prelature of Mixes-Oaxaca; Fr Guillermo Lugo and Fr Francisco Zárate; Fr Osvaldo Gorzegno, Delegate for the Salesian Family; and Fr José de Jesús Medrano, formator at the Postnovitiate in the Central American Province (CAM) in Guatemala. The retreat waspreached and directed by Fr Pascual Chávez Villanueva, Rector Major Emeritus, and had as its central theme: being "educators and pastors of the young in today's world". This space of personal encounter with God sought to "contribute to confirming the yearning and deep thirst we have for Him, in the vocation to which we have been called... expressing it succinctly in the motto of our Congregation: Da mihi animas, caetera tolle", as Fr Filiberto González, MEG Provincial, expressed to the participants. The retreat ended with a Eucharistic celebration. During his homily, Fr Chávez urged participants to continue cultivating a personal and authentic encounter with God and to work on a renewed personal life project. At the end of the mass, a tree was planted as a sign of the commitment to care for our common home.