#539

EXPERIMENTAL COMMUNITIES: A FASCINATING 'GOODNIGHT'

(Note:  I am quoting verbatim from Nick Reina - there entire Goodnight obviously had the chapter members entranced, and Nick has a 'gigabyte' memory, I think, for detail!  Read on:)

"After evening prayer, P. Piet Palmans, provincial of Belgium North, gave the goodnight.  He spoke about new communities in the province.  He began by
noting that in early 1999 some of the young confreres in the province expressed their uncomfortableness in communities made up mainly of elderly confreres.  The style of living, praying and working was, for the most part, determined by the older confreres.  The young confreres with the ideal of a gospel-based community, recognizable as such, open and dynamic often met with strong resistance.  In addition, certain number of confreres were looking for communities more attractive to outsiders that offer a real opportunity for Salesian life and commitment.  The provincial sent out a circular letter in May 1999 and invited every confrere to express and to personally communicate in writing his thoughts about structuring communities in different ways.

    In August 1999 a "study group on religious communities" was established. 
The purpose of the study group was to:  1) reflect and study the possibility of small communities able to provide, in an open and dynamic way, a clear
witness of religious life with a Salesian style;
2) draw up concrete models of small communities to be proposed to the Provincial and Council by April 1st, 2000.

    On August 15, 2000 at the request of a young Salesian priest, the Provincial and Council opened a small community in the rooms and other former
accommodations of the Salesian community in Zwijnaarde that had been closed some years before.  In the first phase the community remained juridically attached to the Salesian community of St. Denijs in Westrem.  The aims of the community were as follows:

1)  to form a Salesian community with confreres and lay people that tries to live a gospel-based life that is recognizable as such, open and dynamic;
2)  to be available for the young people and adults in the Don Bosco College, living and working with them in the spirit of a Salesian pastoral educational
project;
3)  to have a particular concern for the young people in the school who have special problems either in school or at home, offering them, if need be,
temporary accommodation in the community;
4)  to be open to those young people who are looking to give a possible Salesian dimension to their religious experience; 5)  to live and work in contact with the movement around Don Bosco in the city of Ghent.

Today this community is composed of 3 confreres, 1 novice, 3 pre-novices, and a young man who shares in the life of the community and works in the Salesian board school of St. Denijs Westrem, and three young men with serious personal problems and family difficulties.  These latter are in the community on a temporary basis where they are receiving help.  The whole community is actively involved in scholastic, parascholastic and pastoral work in the school.  The community is very open and is regularly visited by youngsters and teachers from the school.

    Times of prayer are half an hour in the morning and half an hour in the evening, and the prayer experiences are well-prepared by the confreres and by the young people.  Every Sunday there is a special youth Mass that is drawing from 500 to 600 young people and young families in the area.  The community lives together in a simple life style.  There are no domestic staff to help, so that they do the cleaning, washing, and cooking themselves.  Every Sunday evening they meet together to plan for the coming week and to share their lives and their faith experiences.  The school administration (all lay people) is very positive about the community that is considered as the "heart-beat" of the school.

    P. Piet mentioned other communities set up in the province in a similar nature  To name just one more, he noted that as of September 1, 2001 a
similar community was established at the retreat center in Groot Bijgaarden with three confreres and three young men.  The community has the retreat
center as its main mission, and they are working to make the retreat house a center for Salesian youth spirituality.  The community invites other young
people to join for either a day or a weekend or a holiday period.  Those invited have to participate fully in the life of the community, in its prayers, and as far as possible make a contribution towards the objectives of the retreat/youth center.

    P. Piet Palmans concluded his goodnight by sharing two parts of the province chapter deliberations that called for the establishment of such experimental communities.  At the end we all clapped!"