(ANS - Zagreb) - Wednesday, April 29, in the Provincial House of the Salesians in Knezija (Zagreb), over 40 Salesians from the various educational and pastoral communities gathered with Fr Filiberto Gonzalez, General Councilor for Social Communication, to hold the periodic ongoing formation. The theme of the meeting was shown by three titles: "Communication in the family, a privileged place for the encounter of gratuitous love", "Don Bosco the communicator in celebration of the bicentennial of his birth" and "Personal reflections applied to community life".
                                                                                                                                                                                  By Fr Sebastijan Marković, SDB

After the introduction of the coordinator, Fr Milan Ivančević, and the greetings of the Provincial, Fr Pejo Orkić, Fr González spoke, stressing the importance of ongoing formation for the Salesians, reaffirming the priority: the encounters of the confreres, the reciprocal communication and the ability to develop love towards others in the community; these elements are measured more in the actual relationships rather than in their detailed analysis, applied more in being together rather than in the study of some topics.

As a priority, the councilor has pointed out the letter of Don Bosco about spreading good books, an effective channel through which the salvific contents of a sound education can reach the young people and the people of God. The participants, divided into three groups, commented on the main ideas of the  letter seeking the connections between the time of Don Bosco and today.

During the group discussions it was then observed that the present time reveals a crisis in the reading of books, but also the spread of new technologies among young people and the need that also the Salesians use these new possibilities of communication, especially in the educational and pastoral activities.

After the celebration of the Eucharist, in which the provincial noted the importance of the Word through which God communicates with his people, in the afternoon there was another reflection in groups on the Pope's message for the 49^th World Day of Social Communication.
At the center of the message there is the family, as a privileged place for the encounter and for the formation in the art of true communication: in the family resides all the human components, from the communion of joy, of pain, of concern and of the approaches towards openness to God, prayer in common, the transmission of the faith, of human values and of mutual acceptance.

At the end of the thematic reflections, Fr Orkić informed the participants about some information on the life and work of the Salesians in the Province: he recalled the formation that rejuvenates and enriched oneself, with new members (10 postnovices, 2 novices, 7 postulants, 3 deacons) and he invited to pray for the sick and elderly Salesians.

Fr González stayed in Croatia until 1 May, visiting the communities of Žepče and animating the sector of Salesian communication in the country.

Posted on 05/05/2015