DAY FIVE: SALESIAN BROTHER VOCATION PROMOTION – Province plan - EAO

Aug, 25 2006

Australia AUL

At present we have a Salesian vocations team – SDB & FMA together

Headed by SDB priest (part-time)

Main activity is the organization of two “Come and See” weekends each year.

In the future:

1. We have an urgent need to place vocations promotion at the forefront of the thinking of every Salesian in the Province.

2. Encourage every community to make prayer for vocations a part of their daily experience.

3. Support the vocations team in their ministry: investigate the feasibility of appointing a full-time vocations promoter.

4. Make schools and parishes the special focus of the Vocations Director.

5. Vocations Director should regularly ask school principals and parish priests, and also committed lay people in our works, to nominate possible candidates.

6. Re-evaluate the wisdom of having a joint SDB-FMA vocations team.

7. Encourage communities to more regularly invite young men to the community for special occasions – feast days, etc. -to share both tables (the Eucharist and our community meals).

8. Make more use of our summer camp site at Dromana as a venue for vocations camps. (Could each community organize a “vocations camp” for its own young people at Dromana or at another venue each year?)

9. Include specific input on Salesian Vocations in our leadership camp programmes.

10. Make Vocations Promotion a special focus of the Provincial Chapter in 2007.

CHINA (CIN)

1. Different kinds of two-day one-night vocation camps regularly held in Hong Kong will include Brother-Priest presentation and will be extended to Macau and Taiwan with the support of the newly set up local Vocation Office.

(Provincial Vocation Delegate follows up)

2. Through the 2006-2007 Annual Retreats, we will instill in each confrere the concern: “Before my death, I have to find at least one successor in Salesian life”.

(Provincial Formation Delegate follows up)

3. Make sure that in each of our works there are posters introducing the Salesian Brother-Priest vocation and inviting young people to join in. (Provincial Vocation Delegate follows up)

4. Local communities actively introduce to confreres, youths and coworkers the great provincial events of animation and vocational celebrations (Brothers-Priests’ perpetual professions, priestly ordinations, Brothers-Priests’ silver and golden and diamond jubilee celebrations, etc.), encouraging the confreres to take youths and coworkers along.

(Provincial Formation Delegate follows up at Rectors’ Meeting, Provincial Vocation Delegate promotes implementation)

5. We will offer special Brother-Priest vocational input to youth volunteer movements of Salesian inspiration like Torch Action.

(Provincial Vocation Delegate follows up).

6. We will prepare a lesson plan to be included in the curriculum of secondary students, introducing the Salesian Brother-Priest vocation. (Provincial Vocation Delegate follows up)

FIS

1. Explore new ways of vocation promotion strategies similar to that of the Vietnamese model and from other Provinces in the Region of EAO

2. Activate the vocation animation team with the coordination of the local vocation promoters (rectors, catechists,) and contacts from non-salesian settings

3. Involvement of the CYM and SYM of the province in pro-active vocation promotion: integrated into all EPP’s, Programs and activities in the local and provincial level.

4. Sub-commission on SYM and Vocation Animation will work together in designing and implementing Plans, Programs and Activities for vocation promotion

5. Vocation Team will develop module for the DBCLAY to help in the vocational awareness of our Lay Mission Partners and vocation promotion among our young people

6. Re-enkindle in each FIS confrere the responsibility of witnessing, praying, inviting and accompanying candidates

7. Sensitivity, especially of sdb’s, of communicating the salesian brother through the means of social communication: theater plays, posters, brochures, multi-media, etc.

8. Community daily prayer for vocations and to Blessed Artimide Zatti for salesian brother vocations

GIA

1. In the years 2004-2005 a Commission for vocation promotion of Salesian Brother has been set up. We have now to make it work.

2. Focus our vocation promotion of Salesian Brother especially at the group of young adults.

KOR

1. Understanding of Salesian Brother vocation:

• all confreres will carry for the right and deeper understanding of SB vocation during the ‘Salesian Brother’ week in each local community the special activities

2. Vocation promoters

- in each local community will be appointed a vocational promoter, who will look for the vocational promotion

- twice a year the Provincial formation commission will organize a formation session for the local vocation promoters. Hence we will guarantee the awareness of the two faces of the same Salesian vocation and help to prepare well the vocational planning and animation of each community

3. Vocational encounter

- Vocational promoter and SB Delegate will prepare together the materials for the monthly vocational encounter the necessary materials to present the SB vocation

- In each local community will be held a regular meeting of all SBs (monthly)

- All the candidates to the SB vocation the SB Delegate will be followed personally by the SB Delegate, who will help them to deepen their vocational motivations

- For the youth and animators who take part in our Youth summer and winter camps we will prepare and run some programs to present the Salesian Vocation

- We will strengthen the vocational activities in Kwangju-HS and Seoul Parish (Kuro 3 Dong) like Savio club etc

4. Vocational campaign in the Church and Salesian Family

- In order to present the Salesian Vocation we will prepare some fliers, video materials

- The vocation promoter and SB Delegate will commit themselves to foster more vocational materials on the provincial website for the youth, and keep in touch with the youth who are interested

- We will strengthen the regular vocational ‘advertisement’ for the Catechists in all Parishes (present the Salesian Vocation and direct invitation)

5. Evaluation of Vocation Ministry

- The Provincial with his Council and the Formation Commission will animate and evaluate regularly the vocational ministry in the Province

VIE

Follow up of the PC 2004 Deliberations

1.1.1 Giving Aspirants More Contacts With SB in Their Communities And Works

1.1.2. Presence of Salesian Brother In Vocation Promotion

2.1.1. Provincial Commission for Youth Ministry and Communication --> Materials

2.1.2 More Vocation Centers

2.1.3 A Day Per Year For SB

We evaluate that these have been implemented and we need to improve with the following suggestions:

- The Province has done a lot of things; yet, in the last analysis, the Rector of the local community is the one who animates the community to implement these.

- Some imposition on improvement;

- There will be the need for more SB groups’ contacts with the aspirants, postulants. Those meetings should be well prepared for the good result. Some stress on exemplary SB’s attendance.

- A meeting will be held for all SB and the whole province to echo this SB seminar.