THE QUINQUENNIUM

(FSDB 532 – 534)

532.The first years of full involvement in pastoral work:

A transition from a directed and supervised life (as in formation communities)

to full personal responsibility for one’s apostolic work

Consequences: a re-arrangement of one’s life;

an adjustment to a new pace of life and work

= a call for a new synthesis in one’s life.

Emerging needs:

the need for self-affirmation,

the quest for fruitfulness,

the impulse of personal initiative and creativity,

living with the tension, difference and discrepancy arising between what one learned

and what one finds in daily life,

a sense of inadequacy for one’s new roles and responsibilities.

533.The young Salesian priest or brother therefore has to:

deepen his motivations,

keep a unity in his life,

resist dissipation,

avoid aloofness, seclusion and a slackening in the pace of his spiritual growth,

make a deliberate effort to live God’s design in the new context of his life and to

discover new ways of being faithful to him.

To this end, he

reinforces his sense of community,

his attitude of shared responsibility,

his readiness to share with others;

makes it a point to meet experienced confreres who can share with him and guide

him with their friendship, patience and spiritual depth;

makes the most of the opportunities that can help him grow in his enthusiasm for

Christ, his spiritual renewal, his keeping himself up-to-date and his reflection.

534.The local community strives to:

offer him a family atmosphere,

show him confidence,

provide him with ample space to carry out the mission,

help him develop his skills and continue his formation,

obtain his participation in the spiritual growth process of the community.

The Rector is well aware of his particular responsibility of providing him fraternal solicitude

and guidance.

The Province:

follows up the priests and brothers who are in their first years of the apostolate,

gives them support at local level,

offers them a steady form of assistance to enable them to carry out their mission

fruitfully,

organizes periodical meetings

to help them continue the spiritual effort they made during their initial

formation,

to afford them opportunities for sharing their experiences and reflections on

community living and apostolic work.