A journey towards convergence

INM Province led the participants of the FMA PCI Inter-Sector Encounter to the day’s schedule with their well animated prayer moment based on the fundamental values of the Preventive System lived by Don Bosco and Mother Mazzarello.
The participants in their respective Provinces shared their journeys of convergence at various levels. The final analysis was presented in the general assembly which was moderated with great efficiency by Sr. Wilma de Souza, Provincial, (INB) who is also the President of the FMAINDIA PCI.
The Scriptural passage and the Icon for the year 2011-2012 proposed by the Youth Pastoral were approved by the assembly.
The four General Councillors: Sr. Maria Del Carmen Canales, Sr. Alaide Deretti, Sr. Maria Americo Rolim and Sr. Giuseppina Teruggi gave their concluding messages to the participants at the end of the encounter.
The climax of the encounter was the thanksgiving Mass presided over by Fr. Cletus D’Souza sdb. In his homely, he exhorted us that having encountered God, we cannot but share the experience with others. He further offered a great challenge saying we should be effective efficiently and not efficiently effective. The FMA INDIA Inter-Sector Encounter was concluded in mutual thanksgiving and appreciation.

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The tangible presence of the Institute in the midst of our General Councillors

The Immaculate Heart of Mary Province, Shillong, led the participants of the FMAINDIA Inter-Sector Encounter with a well animated prayer. Each Sector members were privileged to have the General Councillors to animate day. Their presence was a great source of inspiration as they facilitated the significant moment. All the sectors were delighted to arrive at the concrete decisions for their onward journey among the young. Everyone felt the tangible presence of the Institute in the midst of our General Councillors. Each of them have given us clear guidelines and directions for our Sectors.

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Beatification of Pope John Paul II

Catholics around the world honoured Pope John Paul II.
John Paul II is beatified on May 1, 2011 at St Peter's square at the Vatican. Hundreds of thousands of pilgrims attended the Vatican ceremony which Pope Benedict XVI honoured his late predecessor John Paul II as he declared him beatified. French Sister Marie Simon-Pierre (R), whose unexplained healing was the miracle that qualified John Paul II for the beatification was also present for the ceremony.
FMA INDIA Inter-Sector Encounter group had the opportunity to watch the beatification of John Paul II on live Television.

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A Day of Great Rejoicing !

The Eucharist of the day was presided over by Fr. Gofrey D’Sa sdb. In his homily he referred to the invitation of Pope John Paul the II to universal call to Holiness. He then highlighted three challenges faced by the youth of today: Secularism, Virtual Reality and the New Age Movement.
The morning session began with the presentation of the INM Province on Annual Youth Convention conducted in the year 2009.
It was followed by the General Assembly presided by Sr. Maria Del Carmen Canales who presented the synthesis of the Inter- Sector Group work done on the previous day on the Formative Implications and Open questions on how to communicate the Christian Vision of Life to the young. Sr. Carmen synthesized it under 3 aspects such as :”to be”, ‘to give” and “to be challenged.”And the open questions were categorized under ‘what’ and ‘how’ to communicate the Christian Vision of life in today’s context.
The participants then got into groups of two, to share their experience of communication young people their faith in the God of Jesus Christ. They identified the elements that favoured and blocked their experiences.
In the afternoon session the Inter – Sector Groups met together to identify the priority choices required from the FMA in order to communicate the Christian Vision of life to the young. The General Assembly was moderated by Sr. Maria Americo Rolim .
At the conclusion of the assembly Sr. Maria highlighted the convergence: Centrality in Christ, Quality and Formative Presence and unified coordination of all the Sectors.
During the recreation moment Sr. Magdalene Segueira, the Development Coordinator of St. Mary Mazzarello Province, Mumbai (INB), presented the MORD Programme, a project for the development of young people of the underprivileged areas. It was a great exposure for the FMAINDIA Sisters to know about this project.
Sr. Alaide Deretti during her “ Goodnight” took the assembly around the Continent of Asia to have a glimpse of the first arrivals of the FMA in different parts of the continent. She invited the group to be generous in volunteering for the Missions and assured the group saying that with one missionary vocation , the province would be blessed with nine new vocations.

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A visit to the KUNE MISSION

The Inter-Sector Encounter group along with the General Councillors visited the KUNE Mission. It was a wonderful experince to this beautiful place and to meet the tribal women and the children of the village. We praise and thank God for the wonderful work the community is doing for the upliftment of the poor people of the locality. DA MIHI ANIMAS CETERA TOLLE

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The Preventive System Is Relevant For Today

The Inter-Sector Encounter group began its new day with a lively morning prayer based on the theme “Water” . Jesus is the living water. This was followed by the Holy Eucharist. Fr. Robert Penn sdb exhorted the group to rely on the GOOD SHEPHERD for guidance and enlightenment in dealing with the youth. The Preventive System is relevant for the present and the years to come.
This was followed by the Sector Meet and General Assembly presided by the General Counsellor, Sr. Maria Carmen Canales.n the afternoon we had an exciting Programme … “A wonderful Outing “
First we went to the Walvande Dam. We went around admiring the beautiful garden, the water fall, the dam etc. Next we were taken to the Wax Museum and then to the KUNE Mission. We returned home happy and relaxed.
VOICES OF THE PARTICIPANTS
“Enjoyed the day to the full; admired God”s creation.” Sr. Tamilarasi
“Day full of work and enjoyment” Sr.Anelfreda
“It was a wonderful and enriching day” Sr.Arokia Selvi
“It was an awesome day, a day to praise and thank God for every good gift He has given us in our lives and in His wonderful Creation ” Sr. Hilda Braganza

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Thoughts on the Preventive System
~ Make yourself loved, not feared – this is the advice that comes from DonBosco, who imbied it from St.Francis de Sales.
~ “Education, is a matter of the heart” – Don Bosco
~ Don Bosco had only one aim which he realized whether he prayed or worked or whatever else he did, THE SALVATION OF SOULS.
~ Introducing – “listening eyes”, that can read between lines, Read the sorrow underlying angry words, frustrated sighs… St.Francis de Sales
~ “Be cheerful always. This is the sign of a heart which loves the Lord very much”. Sr. Mary Mazzarello
~ Don Bosco spoke to a friend, “ You know the spirit of our Oratory…the secret of making oneself loved, listened to, and obeyed by our young people; loving all without humiliating anyone, assisting night and day with vigilance, patient charity and constant goodness… The good Mother Mazzarello possesses these requirements”.
~ Respect for the young girl and boy, for her/his greatness and frailty, for her/his dignity as a child of God – Don Bosco
~ Preserve the Preventive System, renew it, rejuvenate it, enrich it with all modern discoveries but keep this treasure and build up in thousands of hearts this way of loving and saving souls. Don Bosco
~ Preventive System can be the enabling environment for a “culture of Rights”. Fr. Anthony Blair sdb

Thoughts on Preventive system:

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Fr. Savio D’Souza SDB presenting a session on: The Preventive System, our response to the challenges with respect to education and transmission of a Christian Vision of Life.

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Love, the unifying principle of the Preventive System is the centre of the Christian Vision of Life

The INK Province of Bangalore enabled us to start the day with Emmaus experience climbing 12 steps slowly and steadily culminating in inviting Jesus to enter into our life, to walk with each other and to break the bread of life as all journey together with the young people.
After journeying with Jesus to Emmaus, we shared the Bread broken by Jesus. Love which is the unifying principle of the preventive system is at the centre of the Christian vision of life. This was represented by a symbolic offering of a heart at the entrance rite.
Through a power point presentation the Sacred Heart province of Bangalore shared with the assembly their journey of accompaniment lived through the various ministries carried out in the province.
The morning session commenced with invocation of the Holy Spirit symbolically represented by the lit candles. The five secretaries of the groups presented the findings of their respective groups; the elements and the challenges that the FMA India faces in carrying out the mission. Sr. Giuseppina Teruggi was the moderator of this session. The discussion was opened to the assembly and rich interventions were made. After the refreshments Fr. Savio D’Souza SDB presented a paper on: Preventive System, our response to the challenges with respect to education and transmission of a Christian Vision of Life which was a fruit of his deepened study, reflection and his personal experience in the Formation houses. It was a moment of enlightenment and enrichment. There were also valuable interventions from the assembly. Sr. Maria Carmen Canales, the General Councilor for Youth Pastoral spoke few words of appreciation and presented a small gift to him. The participants then went for sumptuous meal.
The afternoon session was dedicated to study and discussion on the theme: “Face to Face with the Christian Vision of Life at the Foundation of the Preventive system’. Sr. Runita gave the guidelines about the Cooperative learning as a mode of study of the above theme which was done in groups formed Sector wise.
After having lived the experience of the youth world and their challenges all came together to learn from the Divine Shepherd and the Holy Founders – “The Shepherd’s way” of caring for the modern youth.
After supper with lively recreation and sing songs the minds and hearts were refreshed and ripples of Salesian joy filled the atmosphere.
During good night Sr. Carmen Canales shared the journey of the International youth encounters and presented the statistics of the Salesian participants of the World Youth Day 2011. She concluded this moment with the thought on the New Evangelization, for the transmission of the Christian faith.

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1st day of the PCI Inter Sector Encounter

The first day of the Inter Sector Encounter at Lonavla, Mumbai, began with enthusiasm with the theme: The Preventive System: A response to the Cultural Challenges of today. The participants were the six provincials and 24 delegates: - a delegate for Formation, Mission, Youth Ministry and Social Communication from each province. The four General Councilors: Sr. Americo Rolim Maria (Formation), Sr. Canales M. del Carmen (Youth Ministry), Sr. Deretti Alaide (Mission), Sr. Teruggi Giuseppina (Social Communication) and Sr. Runita Borja came from Rome to animate them.

The Salient features of the day are:

We acknowledge:

- The need to create synergy between sectors (Formation-Mission-Youth Ministry-Social Communication) in order to give adequate response to the ever new challenges in education of the young people

- Education coincides with life and embraces all dimensions of the person

- The need to strengthen the on-going formation of the FMA specially the coordinators

- The need to learn from the experiences of other Provinces

- Every experience of poverty give birth to something new.

We are called to:

- Re-read, deepen and actualize the Preventive System as a spirituality that favours the evangelical quality of life and relationships

- Dialogue and respond to today’s cultural challenges

- Help the young to discover the meaning of life by encountering Jesus through us and through our educating communities

- Make brighter, more attractive and contagious the charism given by the Holy Spirit to our founders and entrusted to each one of us

- Give gospel values to the young

- Communicate to the young the Christian vision of life

- Discover in each young person the point accessible to good

- Network with Government and non-governmental organizations

- Be a presence that announces the joy of having met the Lord and be bearers of His love to all people

- As FMA India to reflect and identify some concrete steps in the area of co-ordination for Communion

- Work and share our charism with the laity

The beautiful day came to its conclusion with a good night given by Sr. Americo Rolim Maria.

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Inaugural Ceremony of FMAINDIA Inter Sector Encounter 2011

It was truly a moment to jubilate and rejoice for the marvels God has done our Institute and in FMA India. St. Mary Mazzarello Province, Mumbai (INB) was honoured to welcome the participants of the FMAINDIA Inter-Sector Encounter 2011 at St. Joseph’s Training Centre, Lonavla. Our hearts were bouncing with joy to have in our midst our dear Sr. Maria Americo Rolim, General Councillor for Formation, Sr. Maria del Carmen Canales, General Councillor for Youth Pastoral, Sr. Alaide Deretti, General Councillor for the Missions, Sr. Giuseppina Teruggi, General Councillor for Social Communications. We are glad as well to have Sr. Runita Borja.

The precious presence of the FMA Provincials of the Indian Provinces along with their delegates makes this Encounter indeed auspicious. They certainly represent the many FMA who carry out the great charism of our founders on the Indian soil.
The heart of Don Bosco’s spiritual heritage, the Preventive System, is the well being of the young person which is expressed in his famous “3Ss” - ‘Salute-Scienza-Santita: Health-Knowledge-Holiness. These catered to the human, cultural and spiritual growth of the young, enabling them to be harmoniously integrated persons. Each of the participants have one big to resemble our Founders and make Education among the young a matter of the heart.
The Welcome Ceremony conducted by the students of Auxilium Content, Lonavla was indeed splendid and the solemn inaugural Eucharistic Celebration was something wonderful.

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INB Welcomes the participants of the FMA India Inter-Sector Encounter

The Salesian Sisters of St.Mary Mazzarello Province, Mumbai (INB) along with the Provincial, Sr.Wilma De Souza are very happy to welcome all the participants of the FMAINDIA Inter-Sector Encounter 2011. The encounter is held at St.Joseph Training Centre, Lonavla. Lonavla is a beautiful hill station, the scenery is lovely and the climate is pleasant. The inaugural ceremony will be conducted by the students of Auxilium High School, Lonavla and the inaugural Eucharist will be celebrated by the Salesian Provincial, Fr.Michael Fernandes.

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About IIA-SP

L'Incontro Interambiti per le Coordinatrici di Formazione (F), Pastorale giovanile (PG), Missione ad gentes (M), Comunicazione sociale (CS) si terrà a Mumbai(India) nei giorni dal 27 aprile al 4 maggio 2011.

L’incontro si colloca nel cammino, indicato dagli ultimi Capitoli, di procedere in modo coordinato e convergente tra vari ambiti e, nel tema proposto, intende dare una risposta alle domande di formazione continua delle FMA come viene evidenziato negli Atti del Capitolo generale XXII (cfr Atti 40.3), e nella Programmazione del Consiglio generale (cfr Programmazione sessennio 2.2).

Nelle giornate di Mumbai intendiamo raggiungere in particolare questo obiettivo:

Abilitarci a rileggere e approfondire il Sistema preventivo come risposta alle sfide sempre nuove dell’educazione, esplicitandone le implicanze formative per le FMA, le laiche e i laici.

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