DMA Magazine – RECIPROCITY AND SHARING (May – June 2014)

Editorial

Communication Encounter

and

the

Culture

of

Giuseppina Teruggi

Since May 1, 1967 to the present Sunday preceding Pentecost, the first Message on “The Means of Social Communication” promulgated by Paul VI, many World Communications Days have been celebrated. From the Messages we get a cross-section of the Church’s thinking on communication, an authoritative basis for further analysis.

The theme of the 2014 presentation seems to be a reflection on the life of Pope Francis, which presents communication as a true service of the culture of encounter. The theme touches us closely during this preparation phase for CGXXIII, which makes the report the foundation for a home that evangelizes.

“Communication is a more human conquest than technology” observes the Pope. “I like to define this power of communication as proximity. How is this closeness manifested in the use of the means of communication and in the new environment created by digital technologies? I find an answer in the parable of the Good Samaritan, which is also a parable of the communicator.

Whoever communicates, becomes close to another person” The Holy Father notes that the media has the power to make us feel closer to others, and it allows us to grasp the sense of unity of the human family in solidarity and the commitment to a more dignified life.

The cultures of encounter communication are interchangeable

and

because “communicating well helps us to be closer and to get to know one another better, to be more united.” The walls that divide us can be overcome only if we are ready to listen to one another and to learn from one another”, ready not only to give, but also to receive.

Pope Francis also proposes the icon of the disciples of Emmaus: we, too, are called to take part in the dialogue with the men and women of today, to share expectations, doubts, and hopes, andto offer the Good News that is Jesus.

“The challenge requires depth, attention to life, spiritual sensitivity.

Dialoguing means being convinced that the other person has something of value to communicate, making space for his/her point of view, and proposals.

Dialoguing does not mean renouncing one’s own ideas and traditions, but the pretence that they are unique and absolute.

Finally, the Pope hopes that “our communication may be like perfumed oil for pain, and good wine for cheerfulness”, and that our brightness “does not come from tricks or special effects, but from becoming close with love and tenderness to the wounded whom we meet along the way For this reason he exhorts us not to be afraid to become citizens of the digital environment. gteruggi@cgfma.org

DOSSIER Words and Gestures of Reciprocity and Sharing Gabriella Imperatore In today’s culture so strongly marked by individualism, we note a profound need for interpersonal relationships, for real communication that allows us to overcome isolation and to establish a constructive meeting with others.

This need is expressed not only as a being with others or being for others, but also in the growing awareness of being a thank you for others.

It is an attitude that requires decentralizing self, of placing self on the side of the other person, in a situation of real, not merely nominal equality that makes a true encounter possible in which one asks not that the other person change, but makes us ready to change. It is the principle of reciprocity where each person is called to give and to receive, to construct self in the relationship of mutual self-giving, in , sharing and of free interdependence for love.

Reciprocal Relationship The vocation to reciprocity, and therefore to sharing, begins with the recognition of the original and complementary diversity recognized as richness. It is one of the keys for all to live in a better way. Every day. The lack of reciprocity makes us live badly. Today we speak with more and more frequency of the ethic of reciprocity, especially in relation to women; however, unfortunately this is not always put into practice.

The theme of reciprocity invests the dimension of relationships on all levels, but not with all in the same way: reciprocal relationships between men and women, among siblings, colleagues, lay and religious; it also defines as “educational reciprocity� the relationship between parent

and child, educators and children, boys and girls and young people.

In daily relationships one finds, at times, is poor living because of the lack of reciprocity: one might be available, and generous, but without reciprocity. One lives in a state of continual frustration, lack of esteem, and seemingly is dependent on the whims of others. Insecurity builds, and one cannot understand why others do not share. One feels cheated, misunderstood, and the quality of the relationship crumbles, removing serenity, the possibility of good feelings, of gratification and positivity.

Enzo Bianchi, founder of the Bose community, wrote: “True gift does not claim reciprocity”. The conversation on reciprocity certainly does not begin with the idea of a balance sheet between persons (give and take), and does not presuppose a continual monitoring of these ideal accounts, but it requires questioning ourselves: how is our relationship with others? What do we mean by ‘love’? Reciprocity, by definition, means “giving something good into the hands of another person without receiving something in return”.

There is a word spoken by Jesus-not reported in the Gospel but recalled by the Apostle Paul in his discourse at Miletus referred to in the Acts of the Apostles-that is most eloquent: “There is more joy in giving than in receiving”. The act of selfgiving gives us joy, even if the other person remains indifferent, or, even more, presumptuous; however, it is always the person who perceives self as hope of communion.

In self-giving, which goes beyond justice, there is space for love inspired by superabundance as declared by Benedict XVI in his encyclical “Caritas in Veritate” and brings with itself the “good

debt of love”. Self-giving (that can manifest itself as care, presence, sharing…) does not ask for and is not subject to the hope of restitution, however, it launches a call, raises a responsibility, inspires and creates a bond.

Will it become reciprocity?

Perhaps in time, but even were it not to become explicitly reciprocal, the person knows how discover in the heart of the other, and knows how to receive from the other, that goodness, truth and beauty and will treasure it in their being. Thus there will grow in the other person the “debt of love” that is proper to a person, because every human life has its origin in a debt of love.

Not on all days will one know how to share this freedom and openness of heart, but it is important that it the conviction that the conviction never lessens that reciprocity built in every person, is a goal, an objective, even though slong term.

Don Bosco and Mother Maria Domenica: a Reciprocal Relationship of Founders From the beginning a reciprocal relationship characterized the rapport between Don Bosco and the first Daughters of Mary help of Christians at Mornese. The relationship between Don Bosco and Mother Mazzarello was original because it was not only one of spiritual direction, but rather, it was guided toward the educational mission. The reciprocal rapport that drew the Founders together was marked by selflessness, sharing, and communion. In the years 1862-1869, Don Bosco intuitively felt the value of the person, and the spiritual significance and moral value of the group, while on Mother Maria Domenica’s part there was highlighted the meaningful intuition of Don’s Bosco’s humanity and sanctity as well as his educational mission.

We read in the Cronistoria: “Don Bosco arrived at Mornese with his young people in

1864 to open a collegio for the boys of the area. Maria looked at him and exclaimed: “Don Bosco is a saint, and I feel it”. Don Bosco visited the little workroom of the Daughters of the Immaculate and was very impressed by it”. With the passing of years (1869-1876) there was an exchange of the “sense”: of viewpoint, proposals, acceptance, sharing, collaboration for the rise and consolidation of a new reality toward which there was convergence of the two “poles” of the relationship, “corresponding” not only psychologically and spiritually, but also historically. During the years from 1876-1881, they arrived at the highest and most expressive manifestation of the reciprocity Not only was there convergence of thought, viewpoints, goals, ideals, but of affection, will, inner gift.

This convergence “created” the nascent Institute.

The reciprocal relationship was developed and consolidated thanks to the attitude of the two Founders. Maria Domenica, in fact, was for Don Bosco a real “help” precisely because of her understanding and feminine intuition of the Salesian charism, and for her complete and absolute commitment in bringing to completion a providential design.

Her contribution in the foundation of the Institute was, therefore, substantial.

Don Bosco, instead, trusted in Mother Mazzarello’s capacity for animation and designated her as the guide of the Institute.

For this reason he recommended to Fr. Cagliero, spiritual director of the community, to allow her to carry out the feminine translation of the Salesian Spirit He thus recognized the enriching contribution of a different way that was completely feminine in the management of the educational work of the new Institute.

“As the Father loved me, so I have loved you”, with the same infinite, unchangeable, total, unconditional love. (cfr Jn 14; 15-16).

It was the actual attention to the person: “The young people need to feel that they are loved” recommended by Don Bosco.

Each person knew that they “were loved” with a “preferential love”, not made up of particularity, caresses, privileges, but of a smile, sincere acceptance, sharing, being listened to, forgiveness.

How was life at Mornese? The climate of Mornese was that which was witnessed to by the first Sisters who, together with Mother Mazzarello, lived in the style of closeness, of “familiarity”, of reciprocitysharing, attitudes that made explicit one of the principal preventive instances of Salesian education.

Maria Domenica was the “disciple of Don Bosco because of her intelligent docility by which she intuited, understood, welcomed, and brought to completion the original inspiration of the Founder, in which there was present, like a seed, the whole being of the Institute and its dynamic expansion throughout the course of history. She was, therefore, “an authentic disciple”, in a free and total following, with the risk and daring of a presence and a mission that were prolonged in time and space. Don Bosco, for his part, was the source of inspiration, collaborator, and guide of Maria Domenica and the nascent Institute through his discreet, intelligent and prudent presence, availing himself of the mediations, applying the Preventive System as a criterion for discernment. In conclusion, we may say that the style of reciprocity lived by our Founders is still an example to imitate, a relations paradigm against which to compare and inspire ourselves.

From their rapport we can understand how every person, beginning from their own vocation, is called to integrate themselves in harmony with others.

That is further confirmed, also by our anthropological structure (the one-dual dimension of the human being), from theological reflection (we are created in the image of God Trinity, the communion of persons who reciprocally love), from the Preventive System as a spirituality and educational method. In fact, in order for the “family Spirit” that must permeate our Salesian environments to be realized, there must be the integration of different figures of reference, especially those of educators who know how to recreate the climate of a natural family through reciprocal relationships.

The Document “in preparation for GC XXIII” emphasizes: “The educating community is configured as a ‘place of encounter and reciprocity, where one educates and is educated, in attention to everyday events in order to glimpse the signs of God’s presence’. Young people do not arrive at God, to the encounter with Jesus if we only speak of Him, but if they can touch him, have the experience of a community that lives and witnesses, if we offer them the conditions so that they may become agents for transformation and evangelization in their environment. Even the presence of several generations causes and enriches life and intergenerational dialogue and is the expression of a family where all have a voice and each brings a specific contribution to community harmony.”

Reciprocity of the evangelization today!

Church

and

For the Church, the choice of the preferential option for the poor is not just one possibility among many, but is a mandatory element of its form and a place of particular emergency of reciprocity. This ecclesial choice finds its foundation in the correspondence to the lifestyle of God, recalled with the brief but very efficacious treatise of Pope Francis in the Lenten Message for 2014.

“God does not reveal Himself through the means of power and wealth of the world, but through those of weakness and poverty.

‘From being rich, He became poor for you”.

Christ, the eternal Son of God, equal in power and glory with the Father, became poor, descended in our midst, became close to each of us; He was stripped, ‘emptied’, to make Himself similar to us in all things. (cfr Phil 2, 7; Heb 4, 15). This is the great mystery of God’s incarnation!

But the reason for all this is divine love, a love that is grace, generosity, desire for closeness, and He did not hesitate to give and sacrifice Himself for His beloved creatures. Charity, love means sharing in all the fate of the beloved. Love makes us similar, creates equality, breaks down walls and eliminates distance. God did all this for us. Jesus, in fact, worked with human hands, thought with a human mind, acted by human choice and loved with a human heart. By being born of the Virgin Mary, he became truly one of us, like us in all things except sin.”

These statements support the affirmation of the preferential option for the poor incumbent upon everyone and constitute a point of no return in the ecclesial conscience that wants to be formed by the Gospel.

The Christian community safeguards the memory of the unconditional dedication of God who gives a full life to all his children and has compassion especially on the most needy, because His gift comes through the most radical inequality. It therefore allows itself to be challenged and to be converted, in acting and speaking, by the revelation of the Abba-God in Jesus and finds in its dialogue with the Spirit the necessary creativity to return the gift living reciprocity in the care and closeness to all, especially those who still today suffer from the many faces of poverty for meaning, positive relationships, for hope. The attitude of reciprocity stems from the awareness that every person is poor, radically in need of mercy, marked by the desire for fulfillment that exceeds it and that can only be received in offering; in one way or another each of us carries the visible signs of poverty, the wounds of failures that can only be forgiven by grace.

In the logic of reciprocity, it is not enough to work for the poor. We deal rather with what Pope Francis emphasized, living in friendship with them.

A Christian community capable of reciprocity, which is to be an “environment of communicative faith”, is constantly open to new members, new requests and challenges above all from the poor.

In the Apostolic Exhortation Evangelii Gaudium, Pope Francis writes: “For the Church the option for the poor is theological category before one that is cultural,

sociological, political, or philosophical. God concedes to them “his first mercy”.

This option – as Benedict XVI taught- is implicit in the Christological faith in that God who became poor for us, to enrich us through his poverty. For this reason I desire wanted a poor Church for the poor. They have much to teach us.

Aside from participating in the sensus fidei, through their own suffering they know the suffering Christ. It is necessary that we all allow ourselves to be evangelized by them.The new evangelization is an invitation to recognize the salvific strength of their existence and to place them at the center of the journey of the Church. We are called to discover Christ in them, to lend them our voice in their cause, but also to be their friends and to listen to them, to understand them and to welcome the mysterious wisdom that God wants to communicate to us through them.”

When the Christian community focuses on the poor in the gratuitousness of love, brotherhood, sharing, freedom and care, it implements a reciprocity by which the good donated is given back to it, in that mysterious exchange that many persons have been able to experience with the surprise of “having received more than they have given”. When one experiences true sharing with the poor, reciprocity is realized in a surprising form and the bond with the poor becomes a providential grace for the individual and for the community. The good donated is mysteriously returned as a “blessing”, returning to the giver as strength and life received from the poor person.

What urges the believer is the love received from God, which moves freedom to the compassion for every person, especially when they are found themselves in indigence: “one died for all” and all, without exclusion, are called to become new creatures in Christ ((cfr. 2Cor 5, 1) in a good and happy life together.

The Church proclaims to the poor the Good News with words and works, because no one should think themselves excluded from the unconditional dedication of God. With the poor-as with enemies-love is easily stripped of the rewards that equal responsibility can offer, and asks to activate mainly the register of gratuity. However, mysteriously, in the relationship with the poor, reciprocity is implemented in an unheard of way, the grace of blessing flowing from the bond with them.

In the Angelus of January 27, 2014, Pope Francis said: “The poor are privileged teachers of our knowledge of God; their fragility and simplicity unmask our egoism, our false security, our pretexts of selfsufficiency, and guide us to the experience and tenderness of God, to receive His love in our lives, his fatherly mercy which, with discretion and patience trust, cares for us, all of us.

Christian communities should be truly places of welcome, of reciprocity and sharing! The Church must go out of itself.

Where?

Toward existential outskirts, whatever these may be, but it must go out!

‘Go out to the whole world! Go! Preach!

Witness to the Gospel!’”

(Mk 16, 15).

Reciprocity and sharing in a pluralistic world In the Apostolic Exhortati Evangelii Gaudium, Pope Francis wrote: “The Church, guided by the Gospel of mercy and love for the human being, listens to the cry for justice and seeks to respond to it with all its strength.” In this framework one can understand the request of Jesus addressed to his Disciples: “You give them something to eat” (Mk 6, 37), and this implies both the collaboration in resolving the structural causes of poverty and in promoting the integral development of the poor, and by the most simple and ordinary gestures of solidarity in the face of the actual misery that we encounter”.

In order to promote the values of social cohesion, reciprocity and solidarity, the Nazareth Social Co-operative with headquarters in Cremona, a little provincial city, began by listening to a real need: the presence of homeless minors and the fragility of their situation, which could be a threat or a resource for the community.

From this fact that challenged the city it implemented a first attempt to understand the phenomenon, i.e., “Why are there so many homeless minors here?” and beginning from what emerged and, thanks to the presence of kinship or friendship network, it activated group and inclusive responses to the present challenges.

The idea was simple but powerful: to activate a network of foster homes, with the possibility of providing a home, affection, and education to foreign minors who were homeless, drawing from among the families of migrants who were already established in the city, drawing even from among those who had already lived the type of

experience. They made use of the capacity for welcome that was not welfare, to produce values and bonds with the energy that came from two fundamental sources: reciprocity and gratuity.

womb” for so many other fragile stories as they once told.

This daily practice contributes toward making the families themselves aware of their bond of reciprocity and appreciation of resources

The first, contrary to a common feeling that was somewhat condescending, had to do with the dimension of hospitality. This comes from “hostis” a Latin term that signifies “foreigner” as well as “enemy”, and to which they add the ending “-pa” that indicated “caring for”. The foreigner, from the enemy “hostis”, became the “guest”, one who was given hospitality.

The other powerful force is that of gratuity.

It is difficult to share what has not been received, to know and make one’s own what has not been experienced. This was the case of a young man from Senegal, a former homeless minor, who in turn welcomed another homeless boy. In a world in which all is “contracted”, the gratuity received, which is transformed into a gift, represents a disruptive force, one of “more” with respect to that which is due and there circulates a new energy and excess that mobilizes resources when joined together.

It was precisely the “caring for” that neutralized the threat potential of the “foreigner” and transformed him/her from a possible enemy into a “guest”. This was a category of reciprocity that was defined by the bond that changed persons giving them a new identity.

This was the experience of the “solidarity condominium” as a dividend that was multiplied according to the paradoxical logic of surplus, so that the encounter of fragility was not necessarily a sum of growing criticisms, but a way to reduce and contain it. To put together in the same house single women with children, homeless minors, former minors who were homeless, even because of the precariousness of finding resources, with a coordination of unemployed volunteers generated, a viable welcoming context where a dignified life was experienced in the reciprocity and sharing of one’s own fragility.

Foreign families receive from this welcoming gesture of hospitality a new look, one of gratitude on the part of the city and institutions, and at the same time experience their ability to be a “hospitable

The circuit of gratitude was not confined to the I-You relationship, to the obligation and exchange that a gift frequently runs the risk of producing, but it was rather eccentric and vital, precisely because restitution does not proceed back to the person who has helped, but toward those who need us. The best restitution is that which restores to others, that which creates a circle of fresh, new resources. And especially when it witnesses to the human capacity for sharing and attention for others seen as brothers and sisters. It is precisely that “I care” which rightly Fr. Milani had placed at the center of his own educational action as an antidote to “Who cares”!

gimperatore@cgfma.org

Missionary Spirituality

See How They... Love !

Maike Loes

Going back to the communities of the first Christians, we read in the Acts of the Apostles that all “were assiduous in listening to the teachings of the apostles and fraternal union, in the breaking of the bread and in prayer. [...] All those who had become believers were together and had all things in common. [...]. Every day they went to the temple and broke the bread from home, joyfully eating meals in simplicity of heart, praising God and enjoying the friendliness of all the people”. (Acts 2, 4348). The first Christians were recognized and esteemed for their reciprocal love.

People said of them: “see how they love one another”, and pagans were converted because they saw the beauty and importance of their love. Love that was seen, not virtual, and was even more than real. The proclamation of the Gospel was carried out through a love that was practical, tangible and visible.

Looking at the First Mission Expedition of the FMA (Mornese-1877), we contemplate a community leaving with the only motivation of bringing God’s love to a distant land, to Patagonia “the promised land”, to a people who still did not know Jesus.

This community, guided by young Sr. Angela Vallese, had in common two trunks that contained all their wealth: two paintings of Mary Help of Christians (one “stolen” from the sacristy of Valdocco and blessed by Don Bosco, and the other-we might say-“on loan” from the Collegio of Mornese by Fr. Costamagna); in addition to the eagerness

of going to America to evangelize the indigenous people: “the joy of evangelizing…”

“The proclamation is never a personal fact”.

The proclamation is the fruit of a community that lives “gathered in the name of the Lord”, that prays and works together, sharing joy, hope, suffering…daily life.

It was within a community and with a community that Sr. Angela Vallese wrote the story of the FMA Institute on the American continent. Her community, like that of the early Christians, performed signs and wonders, aroused astonishment, shared not only bread, but also poverty, enjoyed the friendliness of the indigenous people, especially of the women and children, and to these they added that of other persons.

We think of Laura Rodriguez, the first American FMA. Laura entered the Institute at Villa Colòn (Uruguay), in a very poor house, but one that was imbued with the love of God that shone forth in the gentle, firm glance of Angela Vallese her superior.

It was May 14, 1878. “The next day, with that postulant, a tangible sign of God’s fruitful blessing on the Institute, the little community began the novena to Mary Help of Christians with the fervor of the first fruits,.

Even in America, the “living monument” was ready to establish its firm foundation. Naturally, the postulant Laura was all at the school of Mother Vallese and

her young Sisters, few words and solid witness. Laura learned to seek only God’s will in everything, and to love him in the fervor of sacrifice, in the insatiable eagerness to bring many children to His fatherly heart. She learned to make work her continual prayer, to abandon herself with trust in Mary Help of Christians, who was the tender Mother and wise Educator of the Institute.”

And what shall we say of the four orphan children of the Onas tribe brought by Monsignor Fagnano after a trip to Tierra del Fuego and entrusted to the care of Sr. Angela Vallese and the community? The children had remained alone after moments of terror and confusion: white men, guns being fired, blood, death, and flight…Among them there was little Luisa Peña whose life was calmed and transformed by the contact with Sr. Angela Vallese, the only person capable of understanding her without speaking a single word. A mere glance was enough, along with maternal patience, the protection given, the vigilant presence that calmed and instilled courage and trust.

Sr. Angela Vallese, a woman communion and community

of

Salesians and FMA arrived in Patagonia on January 20, 1880. It was daily life lived in humility and service that revealed the greatness of Sr. Angela Vallese, a consecrated woman who made of the community “not a stable dwelling place, but a springboard” to bring the “fire” of God’s love throughout Patagonia.

Fr. Giuseppe Fagnano, who left for America in 1875 and was later sent by Don Bosco to the extreme south of the world, upon arriving in Patagones, first of all unified the two parishes of Carmen and Mercedes de

Patagones that were on the banks of the Rio Negro, and founded a school for the children of the indigenous tribes.

Testimonies show that the mission was really rooted in the territory with the arrival of the FMA community animated by Sr. Angela Vallese. The Sisters instructed women and children in the school, and prepared them for Baptism. The number of students increased from year of year, and obliged the community to transfer to a larger house. In one of his studies Lino Del Valle attests to the fact the “without the Sisters... the conversion of the pampas and of Patagonia, the Salesian Mission would have followed the same fate as that of preceding missionaries…”

In a letter to Don Bosco dated August 19, 1879, Fr. Costamagna wrote among other things: “I would never have imagined that our Sisters could help us so much in a mission. Truly, so much good would never have been done for the women and girls without the help of the Sisters.

Their catechism classes have many adults in addition to the children, and all listen to them with rapt attention as they would to a preacher. In the meantime, while we priests were closed up in the confessional, the four Sisters were a certain distance away, instructing, then sending the penitents to us so well prepared that many had tears in their eyes afterward”.

Sr. Angela’s community was one that worked hard, and found time for prayer and cheerfulness and even for silence. All was lived together, simply together, without need for orders. “It is the custom of daily life, the industrious respect for the rules of obedience and poverty. This is what one lives and transmits to the children and young girls, who learn many things from

books and lessons, but especially from life at the side of their ‘white mothers’”.

On October 6, 1880, from Carmen de PatagonesS Sr. Angela wrote a letter to Don Bosco in the name of all. In it there transpired the profound life of a mission community, the desire to proclaim the Gospel, and to reach the goal of holiness.

“Before finishing this page, I would like to ask a favor, no, two of you. Recommend us in a special way to Mary Help of Christians, our most sweet Mother, so that while we have come to these far distant lands to make known our heavenly Spouse, Jesus, we may remain faithful until death. All four of us want to become holy, and we hope to succeed, if you pray for us.”

All four of us…our community…!

At this point it would be good to add what Fr. Fagnano, the director of the mission in Patagonia wrote to Don Bosco on September 5th of that year: “The Sisters will also write to you. I must say that they work with vigorous courage and are very much loved by the people.”

maike@cgfma.org

Law and Rights Rosaria Elefante Consistency and Defeat

In the process of the mystification of words, in which we are all inevitably involved and also frequently responsible, perhaps one of the most vulnerable concepts is that related to consistency. But what is consistency?

It often happens that we hear an absolutly thunderous declaration that literally catapults us on the day after and with enviable nonchalance a change or poor misinterpretation of what has been discussed . Preaching good and scratching up a different “betrayal� of what we are gradually getting used to.

What is consistency? Paradoxically, today it has become almost difficult to delineate its meaning. Respect of a conduct or the way of thinking, seeing, acting, and interpreting things, is not easy, especially if there are no criteria or values to which we can refer.

Being consistent means being always in line with the moral or ideological principles that really exist in our minds, allowing us to live serenely and tranquilly. As a consequence, consistency is that respect for the valuesprinciples-ideals each of us has, without denying or betraying them, or simply allowing them to camp out in our intimate being.

The problem (if it when consistency where the latter is disappearance of statements.

is such) comes about becomes inconsistent, clearly the lessening or all the aforementioned

It is just then, therefore that consistency becomes courage. The courage to carry out one’s ideas, to respect those values that we once chose over others. Especially in uncomfortable situations where we are asked to give an accounting and reason for the final implication of those ideas and values. There are the battles of the sensational slogans printed in the newspapers with editorials, blogs, and various comments. The endeavor of striving to maintain them is something else.

To shoot down an amazing idea that draws the consent of an audience, succeeds in dividing anyone. It makes one feel brilliant and competent, extraordinary. But only if the idea that is being defended before the proof of facts is worthy of us; and the proof of facts can never hide behind the reassuring screen of a personal computer or in a familiar cenacle!

It will force us to express our point of view when we least expect it, when we are least ready to accept it. In that moment we will see how much we believe in that idea, by how much we are ready to defend it, when we are honest with ourselves that witness becomes rigorously true..

To bring to life in an authentic way those values that we have espoused it is not enough to give them voice at the right time. It is in the daily life of witness, living the essence of those values, that rigorously makes them a reality. It does not give in to personal or family interests, does not negotiate with opportune reasoning when we finally arrive at the time when we are required to apply our convictions.

The capacity to model ourselves on the ideas we profess in the span of a lifetime is a quality that every free citizen ought to cultivate especially in his/her own “garden, before further pretending that the same rigorous attitude be applied to subjects who act in the public sphere, and in whom each of us chooses to invest our own representation.

Consistency and respect for those values that have been freely chosen, are not an innate quality that ends up being a satisfying character trait.

Anything but.

Consistency is a daily obstinate, stubborn

exercise, capable of putting us “in crisis”. To escape this means abdicating one’s life the and the determination to conform to the values and ideas of others, in other words, “to live and let live”.Consistency requires a strong ethic, one that is not fanaticism.

Even for those who are always ready and open to compromise, inclined to smoothing the rough edges of others, and ready to retrace steps taken, he/she must, at least once in a lifetime, defend a value in which they strongly believe to the extreme consequences, no matter what the cost!

Even defeat will give them great honor.

History has taught us that it is far more rewarding to lose with honor than to win through cowardice.

Then, in an era of values in balance and threatened at the root, the exhortation and at the same time the provocation that one feels in conscience to make is that everyone, even once in life will have the courage to be consistent to the point of defeat without fear. At the final moment one will enjoy the true essence of freedom. rosaria.elefante@virgilio.it

Ecological Culture Interdependence and Reciprocity Martha Séïde “The degradation of nature is closely connected to the culture that shapes human coexistence, so when 'human ecology' is respected within society, environmental ecology also benefits ".

This affirmation in the encyclical Caritas in Veritate would be sufficient to justify our title insofar as human ecology and the ecology of the environment are so closely connected by a rapport of interdependence and reciprocity. In fact, it is becoming more and more evident that the crucial problems of our times, scarcity of water, environmental pollution, deforestation, climate change, food and financial security cannot be understood separately, because they are systemic problems, i.e., interconnected and interdependent (cf C. Social Doctrine,C8). It deals with understanding, in the most profound sense, in what human ecology consists.

For an authentic human ecology In describing human ecology, the Jesuit Cely G. Galindo proposes three complementary elements: the reconciliation of man with himself (ecology of the mind), the harmonious coexistence with other human beings (social ecology) and the sustainable balance with nature ( environmental ecology).

This definition allows us to perceive that human ecology is a global and holistic term.

In fact, if the ecology implies a system of relationships and interactions, maintaining the proper balance of our natural environment is possible only when we are able to promote authentic human ecology, that is, when we promote human relationships and interactions that respect the dignity of people, the common good, and nature itself.

Respecting the grammar of creation In Caritas in Veritate we read: "When we take care of creation, we are able to recognize that God, through creation, cares for us." From this logic of reciprocity, we are invited not to be afraid to identify the ‘grammar of creation’. This implies the awareness of the internal order of creation and respect for the balance of the ecosystems by recognizing the creating hand of God. Rather, through collaboration and dialogue, the person is called to understand in an ever better way his/her role of guardian and responsible administrator of the created. The natural environment is not material to be used at will, but “an admirable work of the Creator, embodying in self a grammar that sets forth goals and criteria for its wise use, not for reckless exploitation. Today much harm is done by the development coming precisely from these distorted concepts” (n 48), such as those that reduce nature to a simple fact or consider it more important than the human person.

Learning the principles of ecology To cultivate an authentic human ecology it is necessary to know and respect basic ecological principles. The physical ecologist Fritjof Capra, human ecology Nobel Prize recipient for 2013, proposes the teaching of the principles of ecology as the most

important task of education in the twentyfirst century.

He describes five: -

-

-

-

-

interdipendence: all members are interconnected in an vast, intricate network of relationships; they derive their essential properties and their very existence from relationships with other members. cyclicality: being open systems, all the organisms of an ecosystem produce trash, but the waste material of one species is food for another, so it is that the waste is completely recycled and the ecosystem as a whole remains free of debris. cooperation: the cyclical exchange of energy and of resources in an ecosystem are supported by widespread cooperation. The tendency to associate, to establish links, to live inside one another is characteristic of living systems flexibility: the tendency to bring the system back into balance whenever there is a deviation from the norm due to changing environmental conditions within the limits of their tolerance of each ecosystem. diversity: a heterogeneous ecological community is resilient, capable of resisting and adapting itself to disturbances since it contains many species whose ecological functions overlap and complement one another.

According to the author, the setting of our society and our economy betrays this wisdom of nature and creates the imbalance of ecosystems. To remedy this, the learning of these principles as the essential ecological literacy is proposed as the way to a sustainable society.

Adopting new lifestyles

From the time of Paul VI the Magisterium of the Church has given a prominent place to the ecological theme and has stressed the urgency of a new mentality that will result in adopting new lifestyles “in which the quest for truth, beauty, goodness and communion with others for the sake of common growth are the factors that will determine consumer choices, savings, and investments”.

Such lifestyles must be inspired by sobriety, sharing, and self-limitation, aspiring to a more sustainable life, i.e., a style that does not seek so much the consumption of goods as the maintaining of good relationships with the environment as a whole. It is in this context that Pope Francis, continuing in the line of his predecessor, tackles the theme of environmental ecology , connecting it to that of human ecology and warning us against the “culture of waste”, and exhorting us to cultivate solidarity that is inter and intragenerational.

It is a particular commitment to educate ourselves and others to ecological responsibility so as to insure a sustainable future for the new generations.

Educating ourselves and ecological responsibility

others

to

 Reflect on the implications of

ecological principles in real life .  What is the contribution of the

educating community to a style of sustainable life?  What do we have to change in our

life so that things may truly improve? mseide@yahoo.com

Arianna’s Line Co-Responsibility Giusy Fortuna The evolution of today's unexpected and often contradictory socio-cultural context raises educational challenges that call out with the same force and intensity in both Catholic and secular communities, within which there are numerous educational agencies, first of all the family, and numerous centers and socialization, that daily offer the challenge of transmitting values and rules to future generations .Heretofore unseen realities and horizons stand out before our very eyes pushing educators not only to new educational goals, but also to the structure of different questions. We educators, in fact, have grown up in a world of rules, solidarity, and families that were (at least in appearance) united, of a “do good” and or respectful society while today the new generations live a daily life made up of individualism, moral relativism, of families that are broken or separated, of a society that seems to always assume the role of “big brother”. It is one that controls, scrutinizes and publicizes that slice of private life within digital containers such as Facebook and Twitter.

The world of today’s young people is characterized by the lack of homogeneousness and harmony, by an affective-emotional instability that influences their choices and can drag them toward experiences that are dangerous for their psycho-physical health ,inasmuch as without values and morals. In this cultural framework we adults are called to be a guide and example and, therefore, it is our

duty to know in depth the reality of young people today even if this means moving beyond what is known and reassuring to us . If we, as adults, do not commit ourselves to understanding young people, they will always experience the feeling of being a misunderstood satellite that moves ahead in solitude.

This educational project can be realized only by persons who are profoundly motivated and who recognize in personal and community commitment those key principles that are at the foundation of the interpersonal relationship between educator and recipient, such as respect for the other person, active listening, non invasive support, absence of judgment, acceptance of diversity. However, efficacy is lost when implementing this educational project apart from an operative synergy with the other lay components It is necessary to have a global and diverse viewpoint in which each person, with respect to personal life experience, can become witnesses for the young people. So it is, as Benedict XVI stated, that the Church grows by the testimony of witness and not by proselytizing.

The possibility for the new generations to observe life from a plurality of viewpoints, thanks to the formative contribution of consecrated persons together with the laity, would provide the opportunity to grasp the different nuances of life choices.

The laity on the one hand, living a mix of family and social relationships especially close to those of the young people, can promote the psychological openness of the youngest in transitional stages or difficulties

being experienced, cooperating with the FMA community, and could strengthen the relationships between the educating community and the cultural, civic, and political institutions present in the territory.

The responsible assumption on the part of every educational institution-religious or layof specific educational objectives to be reached through the shared methods at the heart of a diversity of vocations, is the first foundation on which to base the "educational revolution" of our time. The aware openness to educational coresponsibility on the part of the FMA community with the world of the laity would become a witness of fraternal communion and example of acceptance and collaboration in the educational focus towards young people.

We live in a world that is increasingly broader and more diverse, and in this sense, the communities of the Daughters of Mary Help of Christians cannot remain selfsufficient, closing themselves up in their own reality, but must go toward what is different, from the perspective of constructive dialogue and mutual enrichment Education and Reciprocity

The plurality of ideas and methods, the harmonious working together of educators from different cultural and religious contexts requires, however, a commitment to increased discernment and accompaniment. But it is precisely in the possibility of being “in communion� with the diversity of multiple educating communities that increases exponentially the potential strength of the intervention and for young people In the post-synodal Apostolic Exhortation on Consecrated Life, John Paul II wrote in N.54: One of the results of the doctrine of the Church as communion during these years was the awareness that its various components could and must unite forces in an attitude of collaboration and an exchange of gifts, in order to participate more efficaciously in the ecclesial mission.

This contributes toward presenting a more articulated and complete image of the Church itself, in addition to making more efficacious the response of the great challenges of our time, thanks to the group contribution of diverse gifts.These are the connecting relationships through which the teacher intervenes with the young people from the point of view of cooperation and reciprocity. One cannot expect, in fact, to educate through an ideological tug of war in which the adult, the repository of

hypothetical wisdom, imparts duties from on high without a thousand understandable explanations for young people.

“Those who work with young people cannot stop at saying things that are too ordered and structured as in a treatise, because these things slip off the backs of young people. We need a new language, a new way of saying things”, said Pope Francis in his conversation with the Superiors General in January of last year. This requires that educators be willing to commit to formation and ongoing self-formation in relation to a choice of cultural values and life, to be made present in the educational communityToday’s educators must undertake a profound work on themselves that will lead them to be aware that the Other, the student, is a subject of experience who lives feelings and emotions , acts according to volition and cognitive factors, as does the educator. Therefore, understanding, beginning from self, what the young person thinks, feels and wants, is an indispensible element to reach tangible educational objectives. Understanding the other person, even in the guise of suffering, allows one to profoundly accept the concept that the human is a condition of plurality, in which the adult person who teaches the young person who learns does not exist, but rather there is a journey of reciprocity in which the educator and the student evolve together, in which the adult does not ask the young person alone to change but is also personally available Education, therefore, is a process in which the adult takes his/her place, without giving up the educational role, in a welcoming symmetry where there is equal dignity, in which he/she is not with the other or for the other, but grace for the other.

This educational channel was already used by Don Bosco in the middle of

the 1800’s. He welcomed young people of any social condition, making them feel understood and respected. He did not address this educational challenge in solitude, but sought the differentiated support of more people, even those who were most distant from the Church. This was because all those who live responsibly are called to the education of the new generations, an education made up of relationships, a "matter of the heart."

Leadership in Coordination for Communion The educational revolution of our time must surely be born within the heart of every educator, lay and consecrated, but to have a significant social impact it is necessary that the leadership of the communities of the Daughters of Mary Help of Christians be open to some changes.

Pope Francis, observing consecrated life through a magnifying glass, stressed that it is characterized by a certain self-referencing and clericalism. By this we mean that today, many educating communities, through a closed and pragmatic ideology, do not draw close to people, but rather distance them. To encourage, instead, a cooperative movement in the name of coresponsibility between the laity and consecrated, it is necessary that the community activate the processes of listening and being open to what is "new".

Without listening it is difficult to cultivate meaningful relationships and empathize with people and with the world. For this reason we are asked to gain greater flexibility and openness to ideas and proposals that come from the secular world, avoiding being closed up in rigid thought patterns that often result in a shift away from the social context . giusyfortuna@gmail.com

SGS-Culture

Witnesses to the God of Life Salesian Spirituality leads to an encounter with the living God. The encounter results in personal actions punctuated by the criterion of love, that which gives life and makes one able to face any hardship and suffering. The testimony of the living God needs style: humility, gentleness, kindness, trust The whole Bible is fraught with a deep sense of life in all its forms. The Israelite perceives God as an active force. God is never a problem to be solved nor the answer to our questions. On the contrary, it is He who questions us and from whom every initiative begins. In the Gospels the God who touches and transforms the lives of those who encounter him, has the face of Jesus, a very human God, the “God with us”.

Jesus revealed that God is at the center of our lives. His Spirit is at work and forms people, gestures, and situations to himself.

Men and women become "spiritual" persons when they know how to decide for themselves to make this mysterious and allencompassing presence the meaning of their life, the reason of reference for every choice, the foundation of hope. The fullness of life coincides with the gift: the Father gives his beloved Son, and the Son gives himself, for love, to his brothers and sisters. Herein lies the Salesian educational characteristic of love: a universal and personal love. This conviction

allows us to recognize that Don Bosco has entrusted to us a plan of spirituality. He is the teacher of youth spirituality because he

knew how to make the Gospel come alive for young people, welcoming their expectations and desire for life (Juvenum patris 5).

In the image of the love of God and of the mercy of Jesus that rejectedthe exclusive categories of “good” and “bad”, the love of Don Bosco did not exclude anyone.

At Valdocco, each of his boys was aware that he was known and loved. Many felt that they were his "favorite". He looked upon and treated every young person as a unique being, redeemed by Christ, with his own particular vocation that needed help to be discovered.

An Educational Spirituality Don Bosco strongly believed that even on the simply human level each person had hidden resources, lively strength, especially during that flexible period that is youth. He had at heart that the experience of a way of living Christian life should be capable of unifying one’s whole existence. It is enough to remember the affirmation of St. Paul, that he quoted often: "Whether you eat or drink or whatever you do, do all for the glory of God" (1 Cor 10:31).

Salesian spirituality is an educational spirituality that believes deeply in the human person, even if wounded. It is a spirituality that is committed to fight so that it broadens the boundaries of life against those of death. Life is the building of a fraternal community, filial communion with God, justice and fairness for all. Death is the opposite. Generating life means returning to each person the awareness of each

person's dignity, alienation.

against

all

forms

of

Simply Live I have lived in different communities and have been able to experience the serenity of daily life centered on the power of the Word of God, the Eucharist, and woven with attention sincere dialogue among us , the FMA, and mutual forgiveness. In some communities, Sisters who were older gave me actual witness of faith and gratuitous gift. I have seen Sisters put at the disposal for the community the mission, for the mission among the poorest young people, their gifts especially their love and dedication.

For me this testimony was and is a strong motivation for me to be more open, more attentive to respond to what the Lord sends

everyday, to seek His will in the little things and to act accordingly. Fraternal and family relationships have helped me to grow as a person, to feel the trust of those who lived beside me, sharing joys, hopes, and concerns, and the responsible participation in the community project.

Despite the hard work that the mission required, despite the difference in age, education, culture and mentality, thinking back over my experience I see clearly that I have lived in communities where activities and prayer, work and fraternal sharing, apostolic passion and education are harmonized.I have also learned much from relationships with the young people. I was the assistant to the orphan girls in a boarding school and a teacher in a school.

In the boarding school I understood how much spiritual strength the assistance required. Living full time with the girls helped me to perceive the beauty of the educational mission, notwithstanding the inevitable fatigue. My identity as a woman, educator, and mother was strengthened.

I think back with joy to the many times of listening, and personal conversation, to the seeking of what to do to respond to the needs of the girls of different ages and in diverse situations, to the formative times lived with the girls, to the little experiences proposed to have them live the evangelical values of loyalty, purity, service. I learned together with the girls to see difficulties as opportunities, as a stimulus to move forward, avoiding judgment and pessimism.

I understood clearly that I am called to be a witness in the midst of the girls,of the God of Life who loves us with eternal love.

Verdiana Samissone Armando, Mozambico mara@cgfma.org

Pastoral-ly

Youth, Faith, and the Church Emilia Di Massimo, Palma Lionetti Young people of little faith! Why on the one hand do young people in their Facebook profiles assign to themselves a designation of atheist or agnostic while on the other there are web sites where they “leave” a prayer, “light” a candle “pause” for a moment of peaceful reflection? This should make us as educators question ourselves on the relationship between young people and the faith.

Listening to them is equal to being aware that young people have not become deaf to the reasoning of their heart, that their spiritual horizon is not closed to the transcendent and that they are not incredulous and indifferent, especially in meeting with the religious world, and more specifically, the Church.

Seeking to understand the attitude that they assume when they place themselves in confrontation with the Church means understanding, through their eyes, how religious sentiment is changing. It asks, therefore, that educators not only have a different view in regard to young people, but also in confrontation with themselves to avoid running the risk of speaking two different languages.

Who are the young people and what do they want?

The challenge that they today launch to the Church is radical, because it asks for a profound re-definition of the idea, often too entrenched, that the institution should come before the person, the response before the question, the law before the conscience,

obedience before freedom. Educators are asked, as Pope Francis has said often, not so much to want the young people to return to the Church, but that the Church should go toward the young, allowing them to speak and leaving them space for their leadership, in a way that they are not a generation without prerogatives and may live, at least for some moments, “the island that does not exist”, but is coming. “ In a rapidly changing historical and cultural context”, Pope Francis said in the audience to the Congregation for Catholic Education, “it is necessary to grasp the educational challenge and to commit the best resources, reawakening the passion, and patiently setting out on a journey with the young people. Educating is an act of love, a great open workshop, and one of the most important challenges of the Church”.

Therefore it is necessary to reflect on the value of dialogue, a dialogue in every environment, formal and informal, with non Christians and non believers, with contemporary culture. To offer an educational-Christian proposal to all, in full respect of the freedom of each individual, one that could be summed up in this way: Jesus Christ is the meaning of life. The offering of this proposal requires educators who are competent, and skilled, especially because, as Pope Francis said, "Education is aimed at a generation that is changing, and so every educator - and the whole Church that is a an educating mother - is called upon to change in the sense of being

able to communicate with the young people who stand before her”.

who are involved, who accompany, bear fruit, and celebrate

The educator must have a high level of professionalism, but the quality of his/her preparation would be neither complete nor effective if it were not full of humanity, capable of being with young people with a pedagogical style, sharing their existence, in order to promote their human and spiritual growth. The wealth of humanity is born from a personal life of constant, daily prayer, without which there can be no proclamation and/or witness.

Reaching out, seeking those who are far away and arriving at a crossroads to invite those who are excluded. Living a neverending desire to offer mercy, the result of having experienced the infinite mercy of God and his all-present strength. We dare a little more taking the initiative “(Evangelii Gaudium, 24

Today’s young people are particularly sensitive to educators who are deeply human, able to be gratuitously close to them, combining firmness and kindness; it is this way of "being" that inevitably opens the heart to the question of Jesus of Nazareth.

That is how it expresses a living presence of the Gospel and is not divorced from contemporary reality, but able to enter boldly into the Areopagus of current cultures and establish dialogue. .A Church that is “in & out”.

Being young in the time in which we are living is becoming increasingly more difficult, with regard to becoming adults.

Within this reality, we can ask ourselves what place does faith and the Church have in the everyday life of a young person, and what is necessary for a young person to have faith and to live in the Church.

Legitimate questions for an educator, but if we really want to take a new look at the questions, it is necessary to remember that the pastoral needs of a conversion are wellreflected in what Francis Pope wrote in the Apostolic Exhortation Evangelii Gaudium: "The ‘emerging’ Church is the community of missionary disciples who take the initiative,

A Church that involves itself, that bends down to join with the existence of others, no matter what it may be, going beyond any division, will tell the young person what meaning the encounter with Jesus Christ can have in his/her life. It would seem that there are no other ways for young people to have their antennas tuned in to God. We know that throughout history the Christian faith has undergone a process of opacity, and has been unconvincing in its ability to humanize,to make the person more of a person. There has been noted an inability to grasp the ultimate meaning of faith, beginning, from an authentic guarantee that the pursuit of happiness dwells in the hearts of everyone Many people today believe that happiness is to be found somewhere else than in the Christian religion. This is shown in their daily lives, their existential decisions, the reasons that they give for moving forward.

And if Christianity does not lead to happiness of what use is it? The men and women of our time are no longer attracted to the gospel of Jesus, although it is presented to them in a thousand ways, a thousand shades in a thousand colors.

They will return to experience the fascination with the Teacher of Nazareth, his invitation to a beautiful life, worthy to be called human, only if they meet educators

who are happy and credible because they essentially give love and compassion. We are convinced, also based on experience, that only this wayGod will not disappear from the horizon of the human heart. Our charism calls us to live the 'loving-kindness, the “cutting edge" of the Preventive System of Don Bosco.

“Which values do you hold to be absolutely more important?”

Love emerges in first place in the in the list of values expressed in a sample survey of 1,000 young Europeans. To the question: "What value do you believe is absolutely most important?” 99% of the thousand young people interviewed said: "Love. Love is that value which alone is worth my effort in life.”

Augustine, a boy of Arese who died tragically at age 16, wrote in the form of prayer: "They also say that love is a test of your (God's) existence. Maybe that's why I have not met you: I have never been loved in such a way as to feel your presence ...

"When an educator is able to bring to life the experience of love, then even faith and the Church can begin to have a positive value in the life of a young person.And, as the Holy Father wrote some time ago, this happens when you get over "the temptation to focus more on the values of the mind than the heart." I wonder if we, who have engraved in our educational DNA the phrase "education is a matter of heart," would succeed in giving this beautiful contribution to ordinary educational practice and to education to the faith that “only the heart can unite and integrate”. Reason without compassion tends to divide. The heart combines the idea with reality, time, with space, life with death and with eternity. "(Pope Francis. Discipline and Passion.

Challenges today for those who must educate, Ed Simon and Schuster

emiliadimassimo@libero.it palmalionetti@gmail.com

A Glance at the World A Different Path Anna Rita Cristaino The memories of the trip to Korea are so many. Seoul is difficult to explain. It is a modern metropolis, a city of the present, but focused on the future. There are many of young people who flock to the streets, the economy is growing, the transportation is among the most efficient in Asia. It is a dynamic city, a multicultural vocation.

It is a fast-paced city that does not want to waste time, in which everything flows, almost like its river that runs through it like an artery.

The traditional image of Korea refers us back to the tea ceremony, the silence and the slow pace of pouring water and serving the guests. One thinks of a land of smiles, the result of Eastern spirituality that invites us to look beyond the obvious.

But now it seems that all those roads are blended into a vortex of lights, sounds, smells.

Where is the heart of the city? Where can one feel its beat? Perhaps it is a city with more souls, perhaps it was built and transformed too quickly. Surely, it is an optimistic city.

In many of the testimonies heard, one in particular struck us. It is the story of Hyemin Gi, a girl who very bravely shared part of her life, perhaps the most painful, but certainly one that gives hope to those who decide to rise up and begin again. " Where should I begin to speak of myself ?

I did not get along with my parents, I did not live with my biological mother and I could not bear it, I was also abused by her. I remained at home with my stepmother until I finished high school. My father told me I should be patient with her, but it was hard, every time she saw me, she scolded me, saying things that made me understand that

I was not pleasing to her at all, and for this reason I left home when I turned 18.

I managed to run away but I had no money and no place to go. Then I started using the chat rooms . It was a way to make money. I did not know where to find a job nor a place where I could stay.

So I met a man I had met online. I spent three days with him between the motel and the internet cafe. Eventually he left me. I was alone again and had no money. I walked around everywhere, but I did not know what to do. I tried to look for a job and a place to stay, but no one wanted a girl of 18. Nobody would listen to me and so I met another man who told me that he would try to find me a job and a place to stay. I knew I should not believe him, because I had already been abandoned once, but I followed him just the same. I was very tired.

I had a relations with him and he paid me.

With that money I came to Seoul to look for a house that I found on the internet for girls who had run away. But the man with whom I had to stay already had another girl so he introduced me to a friend so that I could live with him. I was there for a year, not thinking about anything, trying to have fun. He did not tell me to leave, and not knowing how long I would stay with him, I met other men and went to bed with them, I did not have good relations with them. I was there a year and a half, and then someone told me about Main House and I decided to stop what I was doing and come here. " The FMA working in the community Main House say that prostitution is now pleasure industry, it is illegal and is fought by the police. The girls who enter this trade struggle to get out of it. They are trapped.

When they manage to escape they find themselves in a lot of difficulty in solving legal problems, and are in need of medical

treatment. The police and counseling centers provided information on the FMA house. The first assistance that is offered to them is to put in place their position before the law, thanks to the help of professionals.

The girls who live in the community of Main House are between 19-24 years of age.

The FMA offer them a year of formation at Café Main, not far from Main House, so that they will be able to enter the world of work. In addition, these girls are preparing for the State exams for their studies or professional certification. They also take part in therapy sessions and counseling Pakk Ha Na Rosa, is one of the girls who works at Cafe Main and this is her experience: "I thought it was impossible for me to work in a cafe as a barista, but the sisters who run this Cafe offered me and other girls a job to help us. It was a good opportunity. In this Cafe the busiest time is during the lunch hour. But after we have time to sit down and drink tea together to ease our tiredness. It is the happiest moment because we return to work refreshed and with new energy. Working in the Café we earn some money and the Sisters help us to enter the world of work.

Younger people come to learn from us and we hope to open one, two or even three branches of Café Main. This is why we do our best and strive with all our strength to do a good job.”

The FMA are brave. They see the problems of many girls who are caught in the net of juvenile prostitution and confront them, they do not pretend that they are not there, they do not look away. They are not looking for Magdalens to be saved. They are there because each person has a treasure within and the right to a dignified life. They give these young people the key to understand themselves and their lives.

When a young person has received what

she needs, she has the opportunity to specialize in something toward which she feels aninclination, as a hairdresser, a cook, or whatever. To get a job she passes through the self support center. The girl is accompanied until she is completely autonomous.

Hyemin Gi, tells us: “They treat me well here, more than in a family. They welcomed me with warmth and affection. Even the other girls who are in this house are good to me and I am grateful to them. Now I am studying to become a nurse and to care for others.”

As Don Bosco said, there is always an accessible point of good. There is always the possibility of turning a page. This seems to be the mission of the FMA who work at the Main House but also in other places, always in favor of those who find themselves in difficulty, as in the community of the Mazzarello Center where children sent by the court are welcomed.

The Mazzarello Center is, in fact, a recovery home. The girls who are here should be in a house of correction for minors. The Sisters here try to give young people a blank page, and give them a chance to write personally of their dreams, desires, and what they want to achieve. The FMA collaborate with other institutions. The coordinated style of work is, without a doubt, the most efficient. The Mazzarello Center is very different from the prisons to which court could have sent many of the girls, but here instead the young people have much autonomy and are able to correct themselves when they make a mistake. The Sisters have realized that first of all these girls need to regain an awareness of their abilities. They learn to understand the value of the limit, which is not to be subject to forced rules, but to find the right balance between good for self and good for others. Like the rice in the fields, waiting for the best time to be out of the water, allowing the heat from the sun to warm it, and bending when it is time to be

harvested, these girls require the same passion,and patience, the same care, the same warmth.

Korea is a young nation. The FMA know that in a society where everything sparkles, where the smiles that you see painted on the walls are made of plastic, young people continue to seek happiness. They look for it within themselves. They want to find something that does not wither.

The girls we met and who have decided to give their testimony want to heal their wounds and bridge the gaps. And every day they heal. Every day is the dawn of their rebirth.

The story of the girls of Main House and Mazzarello Center is told in a DVD produced by Don Bosco Missions in collaboration with the Sector for Social Communication. There are other stories, of girls who, with the help of the FMA, have found a home, warmth, affection. They have been able to become aware of its value. Through the "warmth" of a home, through the clarity of tasks and rules, through the recognition that life is always worth living and not to be thrown away, these girls find hope, try to start over, and find the courage to walk

arcristaino@cgfma.org

Walk the Talk Experimenting Maria Antonia Chinello In communicating, as in the new evangelization, we must get in the game, get involved, walk ... Just as we learn through "trial and error" it is important not to stop trying and go forward, to change course and retrace our steps with humility and mercy Between the “continual present” and the near future” » We live in a time that is not difficult, but different from that of the ages that have gone before (EG 263). It is marked by rapid innovation and information, as well as economic and social precariousness. It is not easy to predict; and sometimes we are not able to know if the choices we make today will still be valid tomorrow, and if, above all, one will get the hoped for results.

If we consider the market fluctuations and the economic forecasts, it is almost impossible to construct future scenarios that are at least minimally certain. We move in a social context marked by growing interdependence where every local action has global repercussions.

According to Ulrich Beck we act on "global risk capitalism," where traditional points of reference are changing rapidly and deeply, in which a future that is not always foreseeable there corresponds almost a contradiction in terms, a wide range of opportunities to choose from, to select, understand and perceive in their dynamics and processes. It seems that “the only certainty we have at our disposal is uncertainty.” This does not mean that you

no longer plan anything, or that you do not look to the future. This is still to be done, but with tighter deadlines, with short-term, flexible programming.

Young people today immediately grasp these scenarios. Immersed in a "continuous present," continuously online, adept at multitasking, the younger generation is in search of different experiences, that are not necessarily consistent, and/or consequential, and find themselves to be "explorers." They experience, feel, and learn like on the open sea. They navigate, maneuvering and discovering, making decisions...

As on the Net, they are looking for links on which to land, references to cling to, values and truth to believe in, hopes to draw on.

They are looking for someone to help them and guide them to avoid falling into the false equivalence which (even in life) one interacts with the state of on/off; on/off, selected/deselected.

They look for recognizable and responsible adults, who have not the faded the profile, texture, and consistency of their own identity, Acrobats, that is, accepting the risk There is an image that we carry in our mind’s eye, that of Johnny Bosco at Becchi, balancing on a rope stretched between two trees to entertain friends and family in the small hamlet of Castelnuovo. Suspended between heaven and earth, he attempted the crossing over and over again, suspended in the air. It may be a metaphor of a pedagogical style that leaves no stone

unturned and which, with his eyes fixed forward, relying on trust and the risk of falling into the void, in order to reach the goal.

It is also what Pope Francis said in his meeting with the young people of the Jesuit schools, their teachers, and parents: “In educating there is an equilibrium to be maintained, balancing well our steps…one firm step in a safe area, but the other going toward a risky area. And when that risk becomes security, another step seeks an area of risk. One cannot educate only in the area of security…No. This prevents personalities from growing. But neither can one educate only in the area of risk. This is too dangerous.”

Our educational mission of evangelization calls us today, like yesterday, to a missionary dynamism that bring salt and light to the world, not to become paralyzed, not to put off the response to the love of God that calls us to mission and makes us complete and fruitful.As a Church and an Institute we possess “a treasure in earthen vessels”, and this conviction allows us to conserve joy in the midst of a very demanding and challenging task that takes all of our life.

It asks for all, but at the same time it offers all.Taking the initiative, getting involved, accompanying, bringing to fruition and celebrating ... there is no excuse, even in the face of great difficulties, to reduce our commitment: "it is precisely from the experience of this desert, from this void, that we can again discover the joy of believing its vital importance for us men and women.

One returns to the desert to discover the value of what is essential to life; so it is that in the contemporary world there are

innumerable signs, often manifested in an implied or negative form of the thirst for God, the ultimate meaning of life. And in the desert there is a particular in need for people of faith who, with their own lives, point the way to the Promised Land, and so keep hope alive "(Benedict XVI) Exploding Candy Candy Crush Saga is one of the most downloaded (and played) apps for iPhone, iPad and Android… but it can also be played on Facebook. It boasts forty-five million players in the world, 600 games a day, and another 30 billion games a month, more than 500,000 million users that have downloaded it on a global level and have played it more than 150 billion times. There are no age limits for players. It goes from children in primary school to young people, to retired adults.

All together with passion for one objective: to blow up as much candy as possible, grouping them according to color, shape, and type. As soon as you begin to catch on, it becomes difficult to leave the game. It is not always easy because it is based 90% on luck and 10 %( maybe less) on ability. If you want to win more easily, it is enough to buy bonus candies, magic gummy fish, extra time and moves.

But it seems that the sweetness is ending.

A story circulating in the past few weeks has swept the business behind this (and similar) applications: “King.com” the British company that publishes the game, obtained the exclusive copyright to the word “candy” with the right to use it. Those who now use the word “candy” in the title of an app will have to show that their game does not infringe on the trademark, otherwise they will have to pay heavy fines.

Women in the Context Women Who Forge Ahead with the Gospel Bernadette Sangma I have been at Vellore in the South of India during recent months because of a surprise gift from God,. Here I was able to attest to the evangelical hearts of two women capable of transforming the whole territory into an oasis of good at the particular service of the poor and marginalized.

Vellore is a semi-arid place circled by rocky peaks and in the summer months they create an enormous heat.

It is here that two women, far apart in origin, formation, and different interests, animated, however, by the same passion for God and humanity, joined forces in a providential way.

One was from the United States, and the other was Italian; one Protestant and the other Catholic, religious and an FMA; one called to work in the field of women’s health, and the other in that of women’s education. Both have sown and witnessed to the transforming power of the Gospel.

Ida Scudder, Founder of the Christian Medical College The daughter of a Christian missionary couple in the United States, Ida did not want to follow in the footsteps of her parents, but her mother's illness made her return to India in 1890. It was a return that radically changed her life It all happened one evening when a high caste Hindu Indian came to Ida asking for a doctor to help his wife with a difficult birth.

Her father was a doctor, but following the Indian costumes of the time, a man outside the immediate family could not treat a woman. The man returned home refusing the offer of help from Ida’s father, leaving his wife to die. The episode was repeated in

the same fateful manner a second and a third time with a Muslim and a Hindu.

Three women died in childbirth for lack of female doctor! The fact shook Ida deeply enough to bring about a total change in her, moving her from her refusal to live in India to decide to study medicine to help Indian women. She returned in the United States in 1895 and enrolled in the Women's Medical College in Pennsylvania. After completing her studies in 1899, she returned with a passion to change the situation.

In 1900, she began a small clinic in Vellore, and two years later she built a hospital with 40 beds. Since then the steps for the development of this medical center knew no limits.

Today, the college offers undergraduate courses and 150 medical degrees in nursing and other related disciplines. A total of 2,000 students enroll each year. The hospital has 2,000 beds and 5,000 patients in the outpatient clinic, becoming one of the most renowned hospitals in the service of the poor of the nation.

It serves all without distinction, but the evangelical approach marks the environment in an unmistakable way. Selections of the Word of God echo in the paintings and posters on every wall, in the organized prayers and hymns that are sung and / or played. Several Christian denominations work together to offer spiritual care to patients, and there is an atmosphere of solidarity and support in dealing with the physical, psychological and spiritual suffering l.

Cesira Gallina, Dreamer of Auxilium College, Katpadi Cesira Gallina was born into a large family of 15 children, four of whom died as infants.

Of the remaining eleven children, three became religious among whom was an FMA missionary in Argentina. Cesarina se

change recognizing the roots and perceptions of the situation of women, where there is still discrimination and marginalization toward those who are born female. sail for India in 1929 with a group of seven missionaries and the first provincial of India, Mother Tullia Berardinis. Her early years as a missionary were spent in the areas around Vellore and in Vellore itself, working in the school, visiting the families and distributing medicine in the villages. In 1952, she was the fourth provincial of India.

While carrying out this responsibility from 1952-1959 she achieved her dream for the education of young women.

At the origin of this dream was the request from a Muslim, the district education officer.

Seeing the educational quality of the FMA schools in the area, the official asked Mother Cesarina to carry out this service with the opening of a university that could help the young women to progress in higher studies. The story of the episode tells us that while they were conversing, the official became aware that it was time for his evening prayer, and he entered the chapel, prostrated himself five times in the act of the Islamic prayer, then left smiling, telling Mother Cesira that he was sure of her positive response.

So it happened…because notwithstanding the lack of means and personnel, the dream became a reality after only two years. In 1954 the first 60 applicants registered, and there was a residence that would accept 250 students.Today, the reality of Auxilium College, Katpadi, is a world of feminine expression of intelligence, science, culture, faith, religion, art and aesthetics, creativity, and innovative ideas that led gradually to a

The heart of this feminine universe where more than three thousand young people spend their day is faith, the seed of the Gospel, and spirituality. It is enough to observe them while they pray in Church and to see how they participate in the spiritual proposals of their educators!

Keeping the Flame Alive Seeking to follow the legacy of those who keep the flame alive, I asked Sr. Arokiya Jayaceeli, FMA professor and director of the Tamil language department what Auxilium College gives to the young people of today.

She answered: ”I pray each day to Sr. Cesira Gallina so that we do not lose sight of her original vision. The context in which we live today has changed profoundly.

Globalization, political-social requirements, and other constraints force us to be satisfied with the production by the workforce to serve the operation of this same system that continues to oppress and marginalize women especially.

This is restrictive compared to what we mean by education and the empowerment of women. Going to the heart of the educational dream of Mother Cesira and Ida Scudder’s focus on the complete formation of the whole person of the young woman.

It involves the formation of women gifted with inner freedom, women who draw from the Gospel, and therefore women, leaders in social transformation.” sangmabs@gmail.com

Music and Theater Formation of Personality in Educational Theater Sara Cecilia Sierra, Wolf R端diger Wilms In this article we want to return to the question on the formative value of theatrical games, because in a context of social pedagogical work, the theater must be considered from the point of view of education.

One cannot equate formation with education. In the process of education, there are very clear roles and responsibilities; there are those who educate and those who use the educational process Faced with this, formation can be understood as the self-formation of the person in an active relationship with the life that surrounds him/her. Theatrical games take place in the formative sector, art (aesthetics) in which the subject is confronted with self and his/her own environment in an artistic context. As professors of theater it is good to create in this way the conditions for the development of students' personality in an independent and self-determined way.

The type of experience that is important to the educational theater is based on concrete sensory impressions that cannot be translated into academic language because they are part of a process of creative construction and meaning. This process must not be misunderstood in as a pure perception of education.

It would be good to attentive to all the possibilities that the theater in an

educational context can offer also as a remedy to the phenomena of individual and social crisis. Even if theater cannot do everything. In the first place the educational theater acts on a few types of behavior (social competence) such as the capacity for group and team relationships, tolerance, the communicative ability, concentration, presence, self-formation and much more.

Surely, some theatrical techniques can be learned systematically in educational theater, and can be used successfully in other areas of non-artistic activities. Equally, the elements of formation, for example of fitness or even mental formation applied in different sports can benefit inversely as a corporal work in the theater. The difference lies in the fact that an expressive sequence of movement in the theater is not the mere application of a qualified technique, like an acrobatic presentation in a circus.

In educational theater the actor brings to the scene the quality of his corporal expression and the structure of the meaning, the motives, and the emotions of the inner world or those of the role he/she is playing. For this reason the young actors must have a very clear concept of the habits, the qualities and the features of the figure that are trying to personify. At times some roles, sad to sayunfortunately often happens,are presented only in a superficial and stereotyped way, and in this way the level of personality development cannot take place in the artistic creation.

In the extended aesthetic of a large number of social areas, the notion of aesthetics is losing more and more the level of an artistic process. We see this from the care of the aesthetics of consumer goods. The look of a potential buyer for a product stops on the package. The buyer is persuaded to make his decision for the purchase of the product

starting from the package, without caring about the quality of the product itself.

In the theater the public will not believe in the actor’s interpretation of the person being presented if he/she hides behind a mask and without making it visible and tangible his part and his impulsive gesture directed by his/her inner world.

judgment of the individual and contribute so as the causes of action of a subject do not remain latent, locked in the basement structures of meaning or subconscious or fraught with prejudice. The value of the formation of this space between actor and character strengthens the faculty of judgment about the social world in which the subject being interpreted lives.

The essence of an aesthetic experience in the theater, and its significance for the formation of the personality, is the fact that the actor (and to some extent also the spectator) makes a self-experience from the perspective of a known stranger, in order to put into play not themselves, but the personage being portrayed.

To sum up:

In this process a certain inner dialogue is created and also a conflict between the actor and the personage to which the player/actor must react. The reporting and presentation of these contradictions and disparities is a central aspect in the epic theater of Bertolt Brecht. On the basis of this different perspective and their extraneous experience, the actor can create new realities in which he/she is able to use the space for new possibilities of perception of the social reality in the game The break with what is familiar, which often occurs in this context, may cause insecurity and disorder in the actor. This can and should strengthen especially the faculty of



The educational theater has its own esthetic. With this it wants to bring about something in the player/actor and/or the spectator. However, the educational theater cannot be exploited, or reduced to an accumulation of resources and remedies for targets outside the theater.

These unrealistic expectations can lead to severe disappointment.



The educational theater creates a space of experience in which actors learn to see themselves and the world in which they live, beginning with the eyes of others and later with their own eyes, in such a way that is possibly different.

Camilla EYE FOR AN EYE I have to be honest with you...for my venerable age I cannot complain about

the rather

inability to lay eyes on what directly affects her life. Farsighted eye.

flourishing health that the Lord generously grants me, however, as I imagine happens to

Sister Zoe. Her look is uniform, balanced,

many, at times my sight plays ugly tricks on me,

she knows how to put everything in the right

and for this reason I had to go to a specialist.

place ... yes, okay, sometimes she has

And-you’ll never believe this-in that office my eyes were opened!

second thoughts, but who never came back to where they started? Uncertainty? Not a

An eye for an eye ( in the truest sense of the

chance! Any judgment she forms on the

word) …it is possible to review the whole

reality needs a correction because it always

variegated world that is hidden in a religious

appears in two different views ... Moreover

community,

the good is never always on just one part!

and

while

the

eye

specialist

explained all of the sight problems that might

Astigmatic eye.

afflict a person, I saw before me the jolly crew of my sisters…

Sr. Mercedes. Her glance is active and lively, taking in all who pass her by, but only those.

Sr Addolorata. Her look is realistic, yes,

sometimes a little ‘dark’, but then there are crises everywhere and these are no longer

Her chores, her duties, her conversion, her

the good, old days ... there is no reason to

young people, her Jesus…She cannot go

be happy! Pessimism? Nothing could be

beyond these. Ill will ? Certainly not! What is

further from the truth! Over the years, the

far away (perhaps even in the province...) is so

global visual blurs reducing the excessive

blurred that it fades into nothingness. Myopic

brightness of naïve, youthful impulses.

eye.

Cataract

Sr. Vera. Her gaze is enterprising, forward-

And then there’s me, Sr. Camilla.

thinking, able to capture the traces of God

glance is…What did the doctor say? Yes,

scattered throughout the most original

certainly, it is better to take immediate

events, the most remote missions. But then

action.

it is useless to knock on her door because she does not realize that even those who live with her may need her. Hypocrisy? But

My visit is finished.

And you...Which eyes do you have?

you’re joking! She is simply unable to focus on what she has under her nose, the

Camilla’s words

My