4568(III)_A purpose oriented reading of the Family of today

International Congress YM and Family - Day 2

November 30, 2017

By Fr Joel Camaya, SDB

Madrid, Spain, 28 November 2017 -- The participants after having gathered for the opening prayer, listened to Fr. Fabio Attard's plenary address. Fr. Attard is a Doctor in Moral Theology and the General Councilor for Youth Ministry of the Salesians of Don Bosco.

His talk revolved around the topic "Youth Ministry and Family: The Journey of the Salesian Congregation."

Fr. Attard presented the journey that the Salesian Congregation has taken after Vatican II, which touched the theme of the family in the Conciliar Constitution Gaudium et Spes. He underscored the fact that in the Special General Chapter (SGC 20), the theme of family emerges significantly. This is followed up especially in GC 26 and GC 27. The theme on family ministry also figures in the writings of the Rectors Major Fr. Egidio Vigano, Fr. Pascual Chavez and Fr. Angel Fernandez. He synthesizes the first part of his talk in five points:

1. to begin the journey by recalling the prophetic force of the SGC;
2. to note that for some decades the theme of the family has been recalled in other topics that the Congregation was dealing with at this particular time;
3. to note that a path that is strengthened in its attention to the family is the family as an educational and pastoral subject;
4. to continue the effort of reflection, study and sharing on this theme of the family;
5. to see the synthesis that follows from the study of the journey of the Congregation: involvement, protagonist, accompaniment, and formation.

The second part of Fr. Attard's talk is the collation of the responses of the different Salesian provinces around the world on questions on family ministry, answers which he divided into five categories: the reality we encounter, the understanding of marriage and family, the challenge of faith, pedagogical processes, the proposal of youth ministry, and ultimately the urgency and the need for accompaniment.

At the end, Fr. Attard presents the reflection question that would be answered in the different groups by Regions later in the day: "What are the challenges that result from the journey that the Congregation made so far?"

At the latter part of the morning, the assembly broke up into smaller groups to for the presentation of best practices from different provinces. This will be done also for the next two days. Among the topics today were the following:

• Love Matters - A remote marriage preparation program for teenagers
• Family Garden: Counseling centre for Families
• Parents of Students: The First Educators, the first Youth Ministers
• Rebuilding trust between young people and their parents

In the afternoon, the group broke up into different regions, with every region further subdivided into two. The smaller groups discussed the question proposed by Fr. Attard. This will be the root--the first of the sources for the output of the Congress when it concludes on Friday.

Later in the afternoon, the mini-courses or workshops began--these are lessons that are held for four meetings throughout the Congress. Among the topics for the mini-courses are the following:

1. Couples for Christ Covenanted Community: A Model of Youth Ministry within Family Ministry (which is handled by Fr. Francis Gustilo, SDB)
2. Dynamics of Parent-Early Adult (Youth) Conflict in Family and Interventions
3. Orientation and Practice for Salesian Family Ministry
4. Family Youth Ministry: A New Paradigm?

In the evening, all the participants gathered in the big hall and celebrated the Holy Eucharist presided by Archbishop Bruno Forte.