(ANS – Liegi) – Over 150 young people from France and Belgium were present at the celebrations for the 120th anniversary of the arrival of the Salesians  in Liege and the perpetual profession of four young Salesians, a Belgian and four Vietnamese, during the Mass at which the Rector Major Fr Pascual Chávez presided. Then at the invitation of the Salesian Youth Movement the young people continued the festivities with a meeting at the Don Bosco Centre at Farnières.

On Saturday evening 8, 150 young people accompanied by about 20 Salesians and Daughters of Mary Help of Christians (FMA) arrived for a Youth Vigil called “Salesian Colours” The chapel was full. Mother Yvonne Reungoat, Superior of the FMA, and Fr Chavez were welcomed by two showers of confetti. Then the four newly professed answered some questions put to them by the young people, describing their lives and the story of their vocations explaining the meaning of  consecrated life and their reasons for folowing the charism of Don Bosco in this way.

The evening ended with prayers and hymns, a short  sketch and then with various coloured ribbons the youngsters produced a large design, representing the various aspects of life. Then Fr Chávez gave the traditional Good Night, in which he invited everyone to discover the joy and the fascination of religious life. If the four young Salesians who had taken their vows had made a gift to the Congregation offering their lives, the Congregation would give them the marvellous gift of an enthusistic and fruitful life, he said.

On Sunday morning, divided into age groups, the young people reflected on various topics. The older ones learned about the various groups  making up the SYM network. They discovered that they had beliefs and practices in common, identical educational a spirituality backgrounds: in brief that they shared a family spirit not to be ignored, especially when they recognised that together they could move ahead as each one felt stronger knowing they are not alone. The younger ones had various workshops on topics such as: exclusion, racism and similar things, with the one question: “What do you chose for your future?”.

Finally Fr Luc Herpoel presided at Mass. The parable in the gospel of the guests invited to the wedding feast was acted out by some youngsters, and then in his homily Fr Herpoel emptied a suitcase to illustrate the idea of the suitable garment. On one side he put things that were not really helpful, and on the other things we really could offer to the Lord.

The meeting was a great help for the young people as they discovered more about being Salesians in Belgium and also in France, and learned that the Movement was not narrow but broad, in which many other young Christians shared the same ideas and ideals and they also made many new friends.

Published 12/10/2011