Rome (Italy). On 10 December 2022, in Rome, at the Generalate of the Daughters of Mary Help of Christians, the Representatives of Associations and Groups of the Salesian Family, of the Mornese ONLUS Association, and of VIDES, in person and online, expressed their Christmas wishes to the Superior General of the FMA Institute, Mother Chiara Cazzuola.

Present in the Chapter Room of the FMA Institute were  Sr. Leslye Sándigo, Councilor for the Salesian Family Sector with collaborators, Sr. Gabriela Patiño Osorio, Delegate of the Mornese World Confederation Past Pupils/FMA; and Sr. Lucrecia Uribe, World Delegate of the Association of Salesian Cooperators (ASSCC) and World Animator of the Association of Mary Help of Christians (ADMA); Sr. Runita Borja, Councilor of the Youth Ministry Sector; Sr. Annecie Audate, Director General of VIDES International; some FMA Councilors; and representatives of the Associations and Groups of the SF.

The encounter opened with a brief presentation and greetings from the members of the Associations connected online: Renato Valera, President of the Primary ADMA; Margherita Rossebastiano, President of the Mornese Onlus Association; and some councilors, both new and no longer in office.

“Thinking about the new year, today we want to make the invitation of the Strenna 2023 resound: Like leaven in today’s human family. The lay dimension of Don Bosco’s Family, so that our greatest wish for you, for all the FMA, and for all of us Don Bosco Family is to continue to be like leaven, in communities, works, schools, among young people, among the people, in the missions, in the mission,” said Renato Valera.

After the initial greetings, there was a moment of prayer inspired by the parable of the leaven in the dough, the members of the Salesian Family, the Groups, the Movements, and the Associations like leaven and flour under the action of the Spirit, become bread broken for the world, making present the Charism shared as the Salesian Family.

Each symbol brought before the Child Jesus and offered to His Mother, represented the variety and uniqueness of each Association and Group that brought the wish:

Sr. Lucrecia Uribe, as representative of the Association of Mary Help of Christians (ADMA), brought the fire of the Holy Spirit that bears witness to all the baptized.

Guido Barbera, President of VIDES, recalled that the volunteers of this Association will never be leaven alone but only together, forming alliances and collaborating in a co-responsible way to restore peace, reduce poverty, respect creation.

Olivia Furlàn, Vice-president of the FMA Past Pupils Association, mixed the leaven with the flour, focusing on the challenge for the Past Pupils to have the courage to mingle among the people, without preconceptions and preclusions, aware of the problems that afflict humanity.

Antonio Boccia, World Coordinator of the Salesian Cooperators (ASSCC), in presenting the bread, expressed the desire of the members of the Association to learn to wait for God’s time, like Mary, without losing hope, guarding joy, reading the beauty, and accepting to see the flour leavened only according to God’s timing.

Thanking for the greetings received, Mother Chiara Cazzuola in her greeting took up the profound meaning of the exchange of greetings and of Christmas:

“Bringing best wishes means desiring all the best for family members, friends, companions on the journey. Wishing you a Merry Christmas means invoking the blessing of the Child Jesus on the people we love and on their history. Sending best wishes means believing in the good at all costs. And if bitterness, discouragement, distrust strike us, we firmly believe in all the people who still do good; in their humility there is the seed of a new world. We welcome people who have kept their hearts like a child’s. We learn from wonder; we cultivate amazement.”

At the end of the evening, all those present shared a snack together, relishing the family spirit in the joy of belonging to Don Bosco’s charism and to the Salesian Family.