(ANS - Rome) - The 33^rd Spirituality Days of the Salesian Family will begin on Thursday 15 January. This traditional event is a time of fellowship, reflection and sharing, especially on the content of the Rector Major’s Strenna.

by Gian Francesco Romano

This will be a first for the Rector Major, Fr Ángel Fernández Artime. He will have the opportunity to present the significance of his first Strenna - "Like Don Bosco, WITH the young, FOR the young." - to about 400 participants, representatives of almost all of the 30 groups of the Salesian Family.

Activities will begin in the afternoon of Thursday 15, with a welcome by the Rector Major and an introduction to the work. Afterwards there will be a round table entitled: "Like Don Bosco, a charism of evangelization." There will be three themes and three speakers:

• History-Church, Fr Giuseppe Buccellato.
• Pedagogy-Mission, Sr. Piera Ruffinatto.
• Spirituality, Fr Jesús Manuel García.

At the end there will be contributions from three young people and then, if time permits, from the assembly. In the evening, Luca Pontassuglia who designed the posters for the Strenna will explain the meaning of the graphics. The video of the Strenna will be shown and, finally, the Rector Major will give the Good Night.

Friday will begin with the screening of the short video containing testimonials on the Salesian Family gathered in recent months, at the request of Fr José Pastor Ramírez, Coordinator of the Spirituality Days. The Rector Major will then speak on the topic, "What does it mean to BE WITH YOUNG PEOPLE TODAY."  He will also preside over the Eucharist. In the afternoon there will be a talk by Fr Guido Novella - "Walking with Mary, Don Bosco and the young people of today" - and a time for reflection on the inputs of the day. In the evening, all participants will go to the Don Bosco House in Cinecittà to attend a show staged by the post-novices from Nave.

On Saturday morning various speakers will take turns in presenting the commitment of the Salesian Family to be with young people and for young people in different parts of the world: Fr Paolo Bustos, for Argentina; Fr Vicente Serrano for Spain; Mr. Achim Jägers will speak about the work for migrants in Germany. In the afternoon Fr José González Rodríguez and Fr Donizete Ferreira will speak on the same topic in marginalized areas and in social communication. The day will conclude with an evening of fellowship.

Finally, on Sunday 18, the Rector Major will preside at the concluding acts: morning Mass and the final meeting of the assembly, with the recital of the CREDO drawn up by the groups.

Published 12/01/2014