general chapter part 6: the dynamic power of the mission

The dynamic power of the mission The dynamic power of the mission

The foreseeing love of God opens us up to the newness of the Spirit and urges us towards ever new frontiers in the multi-cultural and multi-faith settings in which we find ourselves called to work.

Consecrated life is meaningful, not so much for what it does, as for what it is: a Samaritan life, a living

memory of Jesus … Only thus does it become witness, proclamation, mysticism and prophecy.

This apostolic passion, nourished from the original source which is Christ, finds, in Mary, Mother of Jesus and of the Church, the

icon of our on-going journey in love which intuitively grasps needs.

Signs of hope for young peopleThe greatest challenge today still is, as it was in the beginning of our Institute, how to help young people to realize that God loves them.

Signs of hope for young peopleThe greatest challenge today still is, as it was in the beginning of our Institute, how to help young people to realize that God loves them.

The Salesian educational principle of knowing you are loved needs to be greatly valued with young people, especially the

most disadvantaged. In feeling loved, they awaken sentiments of self-confidence and gratitude and develop attitudes of free giving

and service.

Education according to the preventive style is a joyful sign of hope for young people, especially the poorest and those lacking family and

social points of reference.

Our mission aims at helping every young person to develop the totality of their resources and its ultimate goal is salvation in

Christ.

The educating community is a privileged place in which they can experience mutual relationships, be helped to grow in autonomy

and responsibility, to appreciate the way of love according to God’s plan.

A hedonistic and materialistic culture makes the education of young people to love more urgent. We are aware that sexuality, a component of human love, which is often exploited by today’s culture, needs to be developed in line with the call to love as a source of life, of gift and of responsibility.

Today, more than ever, we require the art of educational accompaniment, of which our founders were masters, in harmony with the spiritual

experience of St Francis of Sales.

The educating community becomes a place of vocational guidance, in that one can find different vocations in it, and in as much as the mutual relationships lived there, become an icon of our common vocation to love.

The Frontiers of our mission