HONG KONG: 5 February 2103 -- The
China
Province held a practical training seminar on Sunday February
3rd
at the Shek O Retreat House in Hong Kong. Six men in
practical
training attended the seminar and were accompanied by Fr.
Joseph Ng and
Fr. Provincial for the whole day. Fr. Matthew Chan was also
present to
give a short presentation on Don Bosco’s preventive
system. The
seminar began with a sharing by Fr. Provincial on the topic of
faith. Fr. Provincial challenged all present to
reflection
through asking some challenging questions such as “do I have
the
faith?”, “do I experience God?”, and “how do I know if I
have
received this gift of faith?” His call for all present
to deepen
our faith seemed to dovetail well with both the current year
of faith
being celebrated in the Church and also the call of the Rector
Major to
a radical living of our Salesian vocation .
After the Provincial’s sharing, the group
heard from
Fr. Matthew Chan about both the roots of the preventive system
and the
current situation in Hong Kong schools. This was helpful in
the sense
that it provided a theoretical background for the more
practical
sharing of the practical training case studies which followed
Fr.
Matthew’s talk. Following the presentation by Fr. Matthew, 3
men in
practical training shared concerning one or two particular
students
from their apostolate and the challenges that both these young
people
were facing as well as the challenges that the Salesian in
formation
was encountering. After each sharing there was time for
the group
to give feedback, offer suggestions, and show support to their
brother.
In between the sharing about particular
young
people, the community enjoyed a good lunch and a walk outside
taking in
the beautiful view of the ocean coast. With the sharing
completed, the
seminar finished with a mass celebrated by Fr. Provincial and
Fr.
Joseph Ng. One participant had this to say about his
experience,
“I learned a lot by listening to the other men in practical
training
share their stories, I admire their courage in the face of a
challenging apostolate; this seminar has helped me reflect on
my own
work with the young and strengthen my love for my Salesian
vocation.”
