FIJI COMMUNITY ATTRACTS INTEREST
Julian Fox
SUVA: 10th June -- 'attracts interest'...not
from the bank, unfortunately. But from young Fijians who are beginning to
show an interest in Salesian life and work. The weekend past saw six
candidates living in to 'come and see'. Three of these are from the
Catholic Teachers' College, two of whom are in their final year there. Of
the other three, two are engaged in studies at the University of the South
Pacific and a third is discerning an already developed journey along the road to
priesthood - witht he knowledge and indeed the blessing of the local
bishop.
It is early days, and the community here has quite
deliberately not made this move in the first two and a half years of its
existence, but the call to hold a 'come and see' opportunity came from the
candidates themselves and had reached a point where to delay them further would
not be sensible, since there are yet others 'out there'.
Given that we have had the time to think this
through, and in the knowledge that a firm footing in Fiji needs to ensure that
our side of the call-response dynamic is on solid foundations, the community has
developed a plan to deal with 'come and see' candidates - a weekend of the kind
just completed, a two week segment for those who have gone a step further by way
of formal request by letter, a monthly accompaniment program for those who have
requested the opportunity and, towards the end of the year, a promise to look at
the possibility of pre-novitiate for those who have faithfully completed these
early steps.
It at least augurs well that those initially
interested have either begun a vocational journey of work for young people, or
have involved themsleves in the wider activities of the community (camps,
picnics, prison visits, study programs) and have moved into tertiary studies
themselves with some sort of goal in mind.
