Turin (Italy). From 8 to 11 February, the PRIME meeting, ‘To re-motivate the Educative Mission’, took place in Turin, at the headquarters of Mary Help of Christians Province (IPI), for the annual event that brings together the Daughters of Mary Help of Christians from seven to ten years of Religious Profession from all over Italy.
At Valdocco, in the places that saw the birth and development of the Salesian Charism, the young Sisters had the opportunity to confront and reflect on the theme of the Educative Mission. The days were characterized by a succession of meetings, sharing, and significant experiences aimed at highlighting the motivation that impels an FMA every day to give her life for young people, in particular for the poorest ones.
Guided by the phrase taken from the Memoirs of the Oratory of Don Bosco, “Who knows if these young people had a friend outside who would take care of them,” the theme of youth poverty was transversal to all four days.
The Lectio Divina offered by Fr. Paolo Paolucci, Salesian of Don Bosco, the visit to the work and to Bl. Laura Vicuña Community of Turin-Vallette, and the round table with those who deal with the prison apostolate, placed particular emphasis on the needs of those young people who in today’s society find themselves living on the margins and have less chance of success. For youth like these, Don Bosco gave his life and for them, as FMA, we are called to give ourselves, in the awareness that in every young person a point accessible to the good is found.
The days allowed for sharing and sincere fraternity, which strengthened communion and rekindled the joy of a shared journey. The certainty of being together in the Family Spirit desired by the Holy Founders, becomes support and strength for the challenges that the mission itself asks us to face.
The group expressed gratitude to the Superior General of the FMA Institute, Mother Chiara Cazzuola, who on 8 February accepted the invitation to participate in the sharing of the young sisters, listening to their experiences and offering a word to encourage and support the mission of each.
“At the end of the encounter, what remains is profound gratitude for the family experience, for the opportunity to re-motivate the mission and start again from the only foundation which is Christ, and for the gift of the Salesian Charism which makes us walk with the young people on the path to holiness,” expresses a young participant.
