The "source course" is a genuine novelty in the proposals that the Missions Sector offers to Salesians: included as an integral part of the six-year program, it will take place for the first time in May, from Saturday the 4th to Saturday 25th, the day after the Feast of Mary Help of Christians. The venues will be different, to link the topics regarding some of the most significant places for the Salesian spirituality and charism: Rome, Mornese, Annecy, Castelnuovo Don Bosco and Valdocco in Turin.
The general objective of this course is to ensure that the approximately 15 registered participants – from seven different nationalities and active in eight different countries – receive a renewed missionary formation, capable of welcoming seniority as a source of generativity, through comparison with the experiences gained in mission. In this way, we want to encourage a reinterpretation of the inner transformation and help each of the participants to discover a new way of living the Christian and Salesian life in old age.
"It will be a charismatic experience, of reflection and sharing of life lived on mission" explained the course organizers. "In prayer, listening to testimonies, in personal reflection and joyful life with the other confreres in the course, the missionary will be helped to verify, deepen and, sometimes rediscover the deep reasons for his being in mission."
At the operational level, all the members of the Missions Sector will participate in the work, starting with the General Councillor, Fr Alfred Maravilla, and continuing with his collaborators: Fr Pavel Zøniesek and layman Marco Fulgaro (from the Department for Missionary Animation), Fr Eric Mairura (for Missionary Solidarity) and Fr Reginaldo Cordeiro (for Vocations and Formation), together with the other people involved in the course in the different places.
While at the thematic level, topics such as happiness in the different stages of life; recognition of emotions; wisdom of the time with the words of Pope Francis; theology and biblical foundations of mission; the Salesian missionary vocation; the feminine dimension of the Salesian charism; and – from the reading of Saint Francis de Sales – topics such as spiritual friendship, pastoral zeal, the role of the Sacraments and trust in Providence will be addressed.
Finally, the approach to the course will involve an experiential methodology that will integrate personal experience; listening and comparison through the presentation of topics for reflection; and personal reflection and sharing. Great importance will also be given to sharing the Word, to re-read personal experiences in mission; and there will be visits, pilgrimages and meetings with other Salesians in initial formation to encourage interaction and the exchange of experiences at every level.
