From the point of view of formation

A few weeks before the official presentation of the Strenna of the Rector Major for 2011, entitled  “Come and See” the Councillor for Salesian Formation, Fr Francesco Cereda, replied to some questions on the subject of vocations.

1. How do you see the vocational situation in our Congregation?

In the world many young people are attracted by the Salesian charism and in particular by the person of  Don Bosco. They are fascinated by his eucharistic, biblical and Marian spirituality; they want to devote their lives and share his mission for the young, especially the poorest ones; they like his style of community and family life  and his simple and joyful  relationships. As a Congregation we have on average 550 novices a year: this is a great grace from God! Our vocational proposal to the young needs to concentrate more on consecrated life, in other words on the primacy of God, on love for the Lord Jesus  and on following him, on being open to the Spirit; as well as the mission to youth, it is necessary to present to young people and also give them the experience of fraternal life  lived in community and life lived according to the evangelical counsels of obedience, poverty and chastity, which are the characteristic features of Salesian consecrated life. There are many ways of living the charism of Don Bosco, as lay people too; consecrated life is one of the ways, to which God constantly calls young people. I hope that by improving the stages of the aspirantate and of the prenovitiate, the Congregation will be able to accompany better the vocations which God sends her.

2. Is this situation the same in the whole Congregation or are there differences in different countries?

The vocational geography of the Congregation has changed rapidly especially in the last thirty years. After the launching of "Project Africa" at the beginning of the 80s,  and the planting of the charism in a more widespread manner, in this continent there are about 80-90 candidates to Salesian  consecrated life every year; these are "African" vocations which require us to prepare teams of formation personnel, formation communities, study centres and above all a method of formation which is individualised and inculturated. The same applies to Asia where, in addition to countries with a well-established vocation tradition such as India, there are new countries with a flourishing of vocations such as Vietnam, East Timor, Indonesia, Myanmar, Korea. The situation in Oceania, and especially in the Pacific Islands, is in its early days vocationally speaking; there are promising signs, for example in Samoa. The situation in America is varied: as well as countries where vocations are on the increase, there are others where the situation is stable or stagnating. Europe, finally, is in difficulties, but we  can observe an average of about 50-60 novices a year. The geography of vocations in the Congregation has changed, and therefore new balances of cultures are beginning to form. It should also be noted with satisfaction that in the countries which are vocationally more fruitful there is an outpouring of missionary generosity, towards all the Regions of the Congregation; on this account the international communities and the intercultural experiences are always becoming more important.

3. How could the vocational Strenna of the Rector Major help us to take better care of vocations for the Church and for the Salesian Family?

First of all it should be noted that real concern about vocations in the various groups of the Salesian Family is  generally weak; we meet many young people who are generous and ready, but we pay little attention to making the proposal and to their accompaniment, in order to help them to live an apostolic Christian life and discover their vocation. This is a conviction I have come to from my knowledge of the Provinces of the Congregation and the Salesian Family. We are often persuaded that vocations arise spontaneously when in our groups and in our educative pastoral communities there is a calm, welcoming and joyful atmosphere; this is certainly important, but not enough. Fr Egidio Viganò, seventh successor of Don Bosco, used to say that  "without the proposal there is no response." It is necessary therefore to have the courage to make the vocational proposal. However, personal accompaniment is also necessary, because without a spiritual guide a vocation cannot come to maturity. With his Strenna this year, the Rector Major Fr Pascual Chávez is inviting not only us Salesians, but the whole Salesian Family to have greater concern about vocations and to work not only for vocations to one’s own group, but also for those to other groups of the Salesian Family and to the Church.

4. As the Salesian Family what ought to be the convictions as the basis for our commitment to  vocations?

Prior to any of our pastoral attention to vocations there needs to be in each one of us the profound conviction that it is God who raises up vocations, that it is the  Lord Jesus and his Gospel which attract and fascinate young people, that it is the Spirit who inspires, animates and moves. Therefore God continues to call the young, also in the most difficult and secularised places: God is also calling young people from Europe to be apostles of the young people of Europe. God never tires of calling and proposing; it is we who sometimes become  discouraged and resigned; therefore prayer needs to precede, accompany and follow all vocational activity. In the second place, it is the joyful and fraternal witness in living one’s own vocation in communion with other brothers which can provoke a certain vocational restlessness and can be the beginning of a vocational journey for the young; it is  not so much the words as the witness of genuine disciples of Jesus and therefore his apostles, full of passion following the example of Don Bosco, which creates a vocational atmosphere. God speaks through our lives and our witness. The vocational proposal becomes worthy of trust only if there are credible witnesses.

5. How can we in particular Salesians, educators and pastors, help young people in their search and in the accompaniment of their vocation ?

As Salesians we have the 26° General Chapter which encourages us and gives us practical suggestions to help young  people discover their vocation. Every confrere needs to have the courage to make an explicit vocational  proposal. The community needs to commit itself to creating a vocational culture, by which each young person feels himself thought of and called by God; it fosters apostolic vocations among the young, inviting them to do good to their peers; it accompanies those young people  who are asking themselves questions about consecrated Salesian life; it helps them discover the Salesian consecrated lay vocation. For vocational discernment it is necessary that the community is open and welcoming; that it offers the young people the possibility of taking part in community occasions; it proposes  experiences of “come and see” it starts and consolidates experiences of the aspirantate. The Strenna of the Rector Major will help us to develop further these suggestions.

6. Will greater care for vocations also have positive effects on Salesian formation?

Formation personnel involved in initial formation are particularly ready and open to collaborating  in sound vocational promotion in the communities and in the Provinces. Nowadays the maturing processes of the young are slower; life decisions cannot be improvised, but need gradual steps though not too long-drawn-out; on this account from the educational and formation points of view we need to make the point "slow is cool." This does not mean that we have to lengthen formation procedures; rather we have to ensure the continuity of formation and not have gaps in the proposal for the various age ranges, especially in a culture of fragmentation and complexity. The young people who have made a vocation journey which was not improvised have more of a sound motivation, they have undertaken a more attentive  discernment process, they have acquired the readiness and the right attitudes for accompaniment. So formation personnel are also waiting for the commentary on the Strenna of the Rector Major; it will also help us to form in the confreres a sensitivity to and a capacity for  vocational guidance.

7. How can formation and youth ministry collaborate in  vocation promotion ?

In the month of September this year 2010 we concluded the meetings of the Commissions for Formation and Youth Ministry of the eight Regions of the Congregation on the third key issue of the GC26 "Need for vocation ministry". These were meetings for the sharing of ideas and investigating how to put the recommendations of the Chapter into practice. Some Regions are further ahead in the process of reflection and experimentation while others are only just beginning. It is my hope that the same spirit of collaboration will be taken up at Province level by the Formation Commissions and the Youth Ministry Teams. The common ground for discussion and collaboration is the accompaniment of candidates and the search for new and different kinds of aspirantate, but there could also be reflection on the faith journey of young people, on their affective maturing, on the vocation culture and on ways of bringing to maturity apostolic vocations, on how to involve the families in vocation procedures, on approaches suited to young university students ... It seems to me that formation personnel  are ready to offer their experience, and to work with young people and for young people.