In the three minutes of the video message, importance is given above all to the central point (4.14), this being also one of the aspects that emerged most strongly from the research on young Salesians and accompaniment, in which over 4,000 young people in formation and their guides participated.
In fact, from that survey it emerged that, on the one hand, this can be a valuable tool for community accompaniment, where the team of formators is committed to supporting everyone's journey by encouraging, advising, correcting, strengthening the itinerary of personal growth; on the other hand, there are also many signs that indicate how a malfunctioning of this tool can undermine the trust between formators and those in formation, which is like the soul that makes accompaniment alive and effective in all its expressions.
A key passage in the Ratio is recalled with regard to evaluations. “During the period of initial formation, scrutinies must be conducted every three months to evaluate and foster each person’s process of formation. The objectives of the phase and the progress of the confrere should be examined together, and his growth in his vocation must be assessed in continuity with previous assessments. The confrere himself should be involved in the assessment in different ways. (FSDB 296) The involvement of the young person in formation is not only a choice of method. Rather, it corresponds to another basic conviction for formation, already clearly expressed by St. John Paul II in Pastores dabo Vobis: "All formation is ultimately a self-formation" (PdV 69). Without the full participation of those who are the main protagonists of each formative path, there can be no path of vocational growth.
At the conclusion of the video, shot in the post novitiate of San Tarcisio, in Rome, the Rector Major emeritus Fr Pasqual Chavez, who is a member of that community, also intervenes and concludes with these words: “Conversion starts with the eyes and the heart. When we become mystical in our way of valuing one another, recognizing indeed in every brother the presence of God, then our living and working together becomes a prophecy of fraternity; this is the first service we can offer young people and which will give rise to new generous vocations.”
The video can be seen on ANSChannel.
Furthermore, it can be downloaded together with the related animation materials, as well as the 8 previous video-seeds and related aids, from the multimedia section of the formation page on the website: www.sdb.org.
