Turin (Italy). The participants of the Salesian Family Spirituality Days, 16 to 19 January 2020 in Turin, Valdocco, on the third day of work, study the theme “Honest citizens with a Salesian spirit today”, which began with listening to the guests of the Round Table coordinated by Fr. Moreno Filipetto, Responsible for Communication in the Salesian Province of Piedmont and Valle d’Aosta (ICP).
They alternated on the stage:
Emma Ciccarelli, Salesian Cooperator, national vice president of the Forum of Family Associations, represents families at the National Consult of the Italian Episcopal Conference.
“Everyday problems belong to all of us. We are not inhabitants of heaven, but of this earth where each person has needs. To listen to these needs, to respond not only with proximity, but also with building a more just society, I believe is an imperative of ours, as Salesians, because we have a mandate, the one Don Bosco left us, the mandate of apostolic charity, to embody love for young people in concrete works.”
Joaquim Maartín Calleja, Salesian Cooperator, coordinator for monitoring the group of Salesian Schools in Andalusia and the Canary Islands (Spain).
“The school as a meeting place, where young people meet in all situations, is a place to take care of, a platform for the person’s integral salvation. It is essential to talk about the person as a whole. When you save a person, you save the whole. Salesian life is an opportunity to save many young people.”
Jorge Santos, a past pupil of the Salesians in Lisbon (Portugal), he was a judge and trainer of judges. He dedicates himself to volunteering in situations of poverty.
“I have always dedicated myself to achieving concrete and informal justice. (…) I think that today those who do not volunteer cannot be Christians. I want to be an open door for the poor. Often the poor have only us. It is a duty to do as Jesus Christ did.”
Nico Lotta, Salesian Cooperator from Sicily and President of International Volunteering for Development (VIS).
“What side are we on when we educate? (…) Are we on the side of an epochal and structural phenomenon of migration, especially with regard to young victims of human trafficking? The Salesian family, as Fr. Angel reminds us, is deeply connected to the migratory phenomenon. Don Bosco himself is a migrant who begins his work with migrant children, sends the first missionaries to serve migrants in Italy, and in many parts of the world we continue this service with this spirit, fully inserted in the Salesian charism.”
To conclude the morning, before the Eucharistic Celebration presided by Fr. Eusebio Muñoz, SDB Delegate for the Salesian Family, there was the testimony of the commitment in the territory of the Past Pupils of the Daughters of Mary Help of Christians of Rossana, in the province of Cuneo.
In the afternoon, there were visits to Valdocco and some places in Turin, to the roots of “Good Christians and honest citizens” and the sharing by groups of the Salesian Family.
The day ended with the Family Feast, animated by the Salesian Novices of the Novitiate of Colle Don Bosco (Castelnuovo d’Asti), where they attended the presentation of some representatives of the groups of the Salesian Family and culminated with a brief theater by the boys of the Association of Mary Help of Christians (ADMA) of Turin, and the Good Night of the Rector Major: “It is beautiful to end the journey like this, among the boys. Here in Valdocco everything speaks of Mary, of Don Bosco. Not the giant, but Don Bosco who understood that his life was a simple life of love for the boys – ‘For you I study, for you work, for you I am also willing to give my life’ (Don Bosco) – to seek the good of the boys and bring them closer to Jesus. We are a Family that dreams, just like Don Bosco. Dreaming the good of children, of young people, so that they can live with deep convictions, to help them to be good Christians and honest citizens. The Salesian Family of Don Bosco today is more alive than ever!”.
The XXXVIII Edition of the Salesian Family Spirituality Days ended on January 19 with the Sunday Eucharistic Celebration, presided over by the Rector Major of the Salesians of Don Bosco, Fr. Angel Fernández Artime and with the concluding encounter at the Theater Grande in Valdocco.
