SUMMARY OF THE PERMANENT FORMATION JOURNEY
We offer a synthesis of the most important contributions that have come from the various Provinces on the theme of MISSION. (The complete text in Italian can be found in the Annex with the title 'The journey of PF')
Starting from October 2020, when the idea of reflecting as a community in the Congregation on the theme of mission was launched, we have made these proposals:
-. 16/10/2020: Newsletter 'The Guanellian mission in the Church and for the world'
-. 23/10/2020: Letter from the Superior General in which he invited everyone to reflect on the changes that Religious Life must face ...
-. 19/11/2020: Dispatch of the 3rd Permanent Formation Notebook. THE MISSION
20/12/2020: Guanella News in which various themes on the mission are touched upon
These requests were followed by the responses from the Provinces which we summarize here.
-. From the 'Divine Providence' Province, a three-day P F was organized through the ZOOM platform in which we wanted to deepen the three fundamental themes for our Guanellian formation. Charism, Spirit and Mission.
Subsequently, also for the temporary professed confreres, of the DPP and of the Delegation 'Stella Maris', a series of formative meetings on the theme of interculturality was organized on the theme of INTERCULTURALITY which was highlighted as a key theme today for the mission of the Congregation.
-. From the 'Sacred Heart' Province.
The theme that much more requires reflection was indicated that of the Institute also in view of taking an important decisions after the Third Sector Law was approved in Italy ....
-. Also the Roman Province, through the Guidelines for the year 2021, indicates among the priorities that of reflecting on "new managerial and organizational models to reposition ourselves in the Works/Institute while safeguarding a healthy relationship with the our qualified workers
-. From the European Delegation. The contribution of reflection from the Superior of this Delegation has arrived, highlighting some problems that concern precisely the theme of mission.
-. From the Theological Seminary of Rome.
The Community reflected on the 3rd Notebook sent by the General Council, taking into consideration the various themes of the document. These are the main points:
... the importance of taking care of the community project in the pastoral and evangelizing aspect of our mission;
... to be open to new situations of poverty, especially the most hidden ones
... unite the forces of the whole Guanellian Family for a common mission.
... as far as we SdC are concerned, we consider it is necessary to value more the vocation of the religious Brothers and to open ourselves to the vocation of the permanent diaconate
... greater preparation to the mission for young confreres so that they can properly prepare themselves in the specific areas of our mission.
... The distribution of the Congregation in different cultures requires always more preparation for interculturality of the confreres and the governance of the Congregation itself should take into account this intercultural reality.
THE COMMENT/REMARK
Willing to collect/pick up the main contributions of this first period of reflection on the theme of the Guanellian mission today, it seems appropriate to highlight some more significant points which evidences the challenges that we are called to face at the level of the Congregation.
*.In the first place we should put the awareness that there is in the congregation of the great potential that there is in the congregation as an international and intercultural body. This is certainly an aspect that can give new vitality of expression to the Guanellian charism and mission.
At the same time we must say that this gift must be particularly taken care of in sensitizing and forming the confreres in interculturality.
From one side, it seems easier to reach a good level of integration and harmony in our religious communities, which are already largely composed by confreres of different cultures. For this we have many charismatic and spiritual resources at our disposal: the bond of charity, the sense of belonging, as well as unity of direction and, in general, a good spirituality which is appropriately guanellian.
On the other side, to keep in mind the complexity of managing our activities that does not make it east this integration; and it is at this point that we should make a greater effort of reflection, as on the other hand we are indicated by our superiors. While recognizing that the religious must not be considered only in terms of mission, certainly the actual abundance of vocations can make possible greater creativity in expressing our mission ...
*. Therefore in the second place of our period of reflection we must place the need of deepening the theme of the activities with all that they entail: planning of our activities, quality services, administrative management, relations with civil society, etc.
In this regard, many questions and even preoccupations arise that refer particularly how to understand and design the presence and action (role) of the religious community and of individual confreres, because our Activities they are true apostolic and evangelizing works and not only capable of offering a good social service.
Then there are specific issues such as:
- What collaboration to ask the laity involved in the project of our Houses or in the territory. (The Superior General also mentioned this theme in his report in the recent Consultation with the Provincials).
- How to adapt the organization of our educational and charitable services according to the various local laws. Here the issue is particularly raised by the Italian situation with the new Third Sector Law. (It is convenient that we all follow the evolution of this decision which brings about a real change not only in terms of the organization of the activities, but also of our religious communities).
*. As a third point there is the common conviction not to stop at the good we can do in our activities but to open ourselves first of all to the local Church and the territory. In this way we will be able to demonstrate in many ways our solidarity with the poor to whom the Lord has sent us. Also from the part of the Church, and concretely from the Pope Francis, there comes the continuous stimulus to open new horizons, even with a more integral vision of human ecology.
In this regard, these months of pandemic situation have taught and stimulated us to go out and take care of those in particular need ...
Conclusion. To continue our reflection, before preparing the new theme, reviewing this summary (and possibly the complete text in Italian that you find attached) we await suggestions from all of you.
***** As recommended reading on the topic you can find the 2009-2010 pastoral plan translated into various languages on the SITE www.operadonguanella.it
ON-LINE PERMANENT FORMATION PROPOSAL
As announced in the Guanella News at the end of September, this is the proposal for Ongoing Formation (OF) for all the confreres for the period October 2020 - June 2021.
THE theme will be THE MISSION
The proposal will be realized with these steps:
1. Sending to all confreres VIA E-MAIL of a NEWSLETTER in 4 languages, with the text on which to reflect personally or in the Community.
2. Possibility to send the reflections or questions raised by the text to the e-mail address: formazionepermanente@guanelliani.it In order to spark dialogue between us on the subject.
3. In the general Curia the reflections will be elaborated and collected in such a way as to be able to summarize them and share them among all, while the questions will be answered.
4. This is the scheme that will be proposed:
a. A first sending in October to INTRODUCE THE THEME on MISSION.
b. The second sending before Advent with the 3rd Book of Ongoing Formation on the theme of MISSION with the aid of the Lectio Divina on Advent.
c. A third sending before Lent and then a fourth after Easter in which some concrete themes concerning the Mission will be deepened (your proposals or questions can help us to choose these themes ...).
5. After sending the Newsletter and clicking on "Read More...", you will be redirected to the page of the Congregation website where it will be possible to read and print the complete text, or download the attachment (at the bottom of the page) in pdf to be able to read it off-line. For explanations or technical problems send an email to: centro.comunicazione@guanelliani.it.
