(ANS - Sampran) - The Salesian Mission Study Days series opened on Sunday 14 August in the East Asian part of the East Asia-Oceania Region. The theme is First Proclamation. Various representatives of the Salesian Family are present at the meeting, being held at Sampran, Thailand.

Discussions for these Salesian Mission Study Days are based entirely on First proclamation of the Gospel in East Asia. Participants are guests of the Salesian Sisters in Sampran from 14-18 August. The initial proclamation of Jesus is seen not only as a response to the intimately missionary character of the universal Church, but as a specific value for the whole Salesian Family. The theme, in fact, has been chosen both by the Salesians and the Sisters as a guide for the six year period from 2008-2014.

“We are immersed in the hectic pace of our daily life and mission, and often lack the time to reflect on our actions and beliefs. These study days give us the opportunity to reason together more deeply concerning our evangelising mission”, says Fr Vaclav Klement, Councillor for the Salesian Missions.

Fr Klement asked participants to first consider some issues: The evangelising dynamics that are possible in the daily opportunities to encounter non-Christians, offered by Salesian oratories and schools, and the dialogue of life that can be established with non-Christians, the doubts and prejudices relating to evangelisation, direct or indirect; the importance of family as the natural place for first proclamation, as witnessed by the presence of the Salesian Cooperators; and the shared experience of God, as indicated by the Asian Mission Congress, held in Chiang Mai in 2006.

In relation to the Apostolic Exhortation ”Ecclesia in Asia” by Pope John Paul II, the Study Days aim to promote as a favourite evangelisation tool the dynamics of “telling the story of Jesus”, a salient issue in the Salesian Congregation, and major theme for Salesian Missions Day, 2012.

These are the fifth such Salesian Mission Study Days in the Region, following on from Hua Hin 1989, on “Culture, Religion and Evangelisation in East Asia”; Batualo 1994, on ”Evangelisation and Interreligious Dialogue”; Hua Hin 1998, on “The uniqueness of salvation in Jesus Christ and the primary need for evangelisation”; and Hua Hin in 2004, on “The challenges of the mission to the nations in East Asia”.

Salesians, Salesian Sisters, Salesian Cooperators, Daughters of the Queenship of Mary Immaculate, Sisters Servants of the Immaculate Heart of Mary and the Sisters of Charity of Jesus are amongst those taking part at Sampran.

The Sampran event follows the pattern of similar days held in Prague last November, concerning first Proclamation in the European context. In the coming days, August 20 - 25, the Salesian Mission Study Days will be completed with a second period of reflection in the context of Oceania, the other part of the Region. The location of this latter meeting will be Port Moresby, Papua New Guinea.

Published 17/08/2011