EAO - Salesian community animation - survey summary Hua Hin Rectors formation (2007)

Province: AUL(2), CIN(3), FIN(12),FIS(7),GIA(2),ITM(4),KOR(3),THA(10), VIE(5)- total(51)

Rector (44)– Confrere (7)

Lectio divina 5 11 10 6 1 [of 33]

I find the most important (5) ways of community animation to be:

Regular community meetings (assembly):27

Regular monthly, quarterly recollection: 25

[Make confessor available:1]

Friendly talk (daily chat, cultivate more): 25

Regular Good Night Talk (shared in a small community): 22

Community day (varied ways, weekly, well established): 21

Community plan and evaluation (EPC, regularly): 18

Gospel – Life sharing – Spiritual sharing: 12

Table fellowship-talk, regular, faithful, value: 14

Lectio divina (understood in its full sense=continuous union with God through the Word): 5

Weekly (daily) Eucharist and Adoration, concelebration & shared homily, well-prepared: 4

Spiritual direction, Confession: 5

Community prayers: 5

Choosing the daily spiritual reading: 1

Daily round walk around the SDB/lay workplace and chat with them: 5

Community work day: 1

Patience, understanding, kindness: 1

Daily prayer for confreres: 3

Salesian Cooperators formation: 2

Presence in the community, availability: 3

Rest with recreation occasionally, Community outing, Informal gathering: 4

Working through the council of work (EPC Council): 1

Formation, Conference to the lay collaborators:3

Witness, good example (prayer, lifestyle): 1

Caring, understanding, generous, humbly and simple: 1

Informal consultation with the confreres: 1

Doing personal plan: 1

Scrutinium paupertatis: 1

Conferences: 1

Celebrating feast-days of the confreres: 1

Happiness in daily duties, relationship: 2

Other suggestions or remarks (needs, issues, challenges):

• Because we are a single isolated community (Fiji), it also brings us together more closely (AUL)

• As a Rector it’s hard and challenging to keep my PATIENCE (reverence) towards confreres who are indifferent and un-cooperative

• Reorganize the community into a community adequate in quantity and quality (CIN)

• A great challenge is to start practice of friendly talk/ GNT (FIN)

• To bring SDB world news down to community (web) – FIN

• Most urgent need: re-vitalize the monthly recollection. Making sure that at least 3 hours are really dedicated to prayer and reflection. If the recollection is done in the evening, this is ensured only if the whole evening is devoted to it until one goes to bed (CIN)

- Continuous and ongoing preparation, qualification of rectors (FIN)

- Orientation in forming other members of the Salesian Family (FIN)

- The presence of problematic confrere in regular house (FIN)

- Rectors formation should be given first to the rectors to be! (FIN)

- Confreres can’t communicate comfortably in English (PNG-SI)

- A crippling factor to community animation arises from community that is not numerically consistent (very small number).

- Community animation can be best nourished if there is a quality ‘Delegation’ animation. (PNG-SI)

- We need to receive Salesian news: ANS, Acts of the General Council (PNG-SI)

- For me very important remark or challenge for the rich or well-off community is to look, help and be really concern for those community who are poor and isolated in the province (FIS)

-To take your confreres as a PERSON, not as a function. Not what can he do, but WHO he is (FIS)

- Materials for formation talks/ formation to the Salesian Cooperators (FIS)

- Preparing confreres for the work for youth at risk (FIS)

- Capitalize our strong point: Education (FIS)

- Challenge for me is to realize and make that heart-to heart talk to a confrere or our lay mission partners happen! (FIS)

- Openness of all confreres for common animation and availability (ITM)

- Need mental plan of the confreres (ITM)

- Need evaluation of the community programs (ITM)

- Animator supposed to know how to create a good and healthy climate in order to make each member of the community feel at home (ITM)

- For us it is difficult to make the position and role of the rector understood where lay collaborators are concerned (GIA)

- Moments of retreat well-prepared (KOR)

- Create and independent structure of some commissions/ communities. Create an atmosphere so our students are not objects of our education but also become subjects for others (THA)

- Need of our Cambodian mission is for missionaries from outside for many years to come(THA)

- Insistence on the commitment of the Rector to his community (VIE)

Other questions

• May the Rector refuse to give spiritual direction to confreres, if he has not been qualified and prepared for the task? (FIN)

• Will new Rectors be given ‘The Rectors manual’? (FIN)

• Asian cultures value relationships highly. What happens when these relationships break down or are non-existent among confreres? What remains of the friendly talk then? (FIS)

• How to animate a community, which has so many activities in different settings, such as parish, schools? (difficult to fulfill the SEPP)