By Fr. Drans Nolasco, SDB
Makati City, Philippines. October 24, 2019, a day dedicated to Mary, Help of Christians, unfolded in an extraordinary way for the Salesian FIN Province. It marked the opening of the Congress on Youth. This Congress was the culmination of the synodal process that the Salesians undertook with lay adults and youth during the Philippine Year of the Youth. The process—SYNODO—bannered the theme: “Salesians and Youth, journeying together, forging relationships.”
The Congress began with the Holy Eucharist at the St. John Bosco Parish Church, Makati City. The Salesian Bishop, Patrick Buzon, SDB, DD, of the Diocese of Bacolod, Negros Occidental, presided over the celebration. In his homily, Bishop Buzon congratulated the FIN Province for its unique way of celebrating the Year of the Youth. More than organizing a festival of only one day, the SDBs harnessed the momentum of the Year of the Youth and went through a more serious year-long discernment process leading to the radical renewal of Salesian youth ministry and of the youth ministers (SDBs, members of the Salesian Family, lay mission partners, youth leaders). This, in the encouraging words of the bishop, was the best gift the province could offer to the young people of today.
Bishop Buzon also emphasized how the young people of today, given the right motivation and conviction by adults accompanying them, can be very radical in fighting for what is right, even to the point of giving their lives for the causes they believe in. He showed that this runs contrary to how some sectors in society describe the youth of today as a lazy and narcissistic bunch of individuals. He challenged the Salesians to discover, through the congress, how to become authentic witnesses of their vocation to the young, so as to inspire them to accept the message of the Gospel in their lives and in turn be radical disciples of Christ, fighting not only for temporal causes but for truths that are directed to eternal life.
After the Holy Mass, the assembly proceeded to the Joy Center of the adjoining Don Bosco Technical Institute. Fr. Joebeth Vivo, SDB, head of the FIN Commission on Youth Ministry, welcomed all the participants by allowing them to look back at the series of events that led to the Congress on Youth, the first part of SYNODO 3. He explained that the main objective of SYNODO was the renewal of Salesian youth ministry. He described how the SDBs, Salesian lay mission partners, members of the Salesian Family, and the young people listened to each other and discerned together, confident that the guidance of the Holy Spirit would lead to a clearer understanding of the vision toward which the grace-filled Year of the Youth was leading them and of the mission what God was entrusting to them.
Fr. Renato De Guzman, SDB, a member of the World Synod on Youth held in Rome in 2018, presented the working paper of the congress with the synodal process as its guiding framework. He oriented the whole assembly on the flow of the congress, especially for each working group. The participants were divided into thirteen working groups for the thirteen specific areas of concern in youth ministry. Each group was asked to identify one strategic direction and two or three concrete lines of actions that are innovative and relevant.
The second day of congress, October 25, Friday, focused on the outcome of the group discussions that took place the day before. Each group presented to the plenary assembly their strategic direction and lines of action, allowing the participants to scrutinize them. The work of the thirteen groups formed the content of the congress document, that was approved and submitted to Fr. Provincial and his council.
At the closing Eucharistic celebration, Fr. Gerry Martin, SDB, the FIN Provincial Superior, shared his deep conviction: what defines a person is what each one loves, and what each one loves is what that person chooses to belong to. He applied this to the grand objective of renewing Salesian youth ministry. Thus, he challenged everyone to ensure that this renewal of youth ministry would be rooted in the renewal of one’s vocation, for “Christ is the one we love and the one we belong to.”
