Denver D’Silva sdb
NASHIK, MARCH 15, 2010: The young clerics had a wonderful three day session on Salesian Youth Spirituality (SYS) in Nashik from March 12- 14, 2010. They were led to a self discovery of their vocation in the light of the SYS by Fr. Ajoy Fernandes and Fr. Glenn Lowe. They facilitated this as a part of the province program for training the confreres in youth spirituality.
The first day was conducted by Fr. Glenn. He gave the brothers insights on the whole aspect of understanding the youth and dealing with them. He prepared the ground for them to think in ways that they can not only identify with the youth but also be able to get them closer to themselves and be able to get optimum results from the energy they possess. Fr. Ajoy stressed on the importance of having a vision for the young and in implicit ways teaching them to realize their potentials. While doing so the Frs. helped the brothers to stretch their minds and discover the talent within them. They presented to the brothers the 12 elements of the SYS and challenged them to prepare forty minute sessions on 5 of the elements. Each session was planned to cater to the needs of different target groups. This was necessary to help the brothers understand the need to be able to adapt the one Salesian Spirit in different contexts, for example, the rural youth, urban youth and the street youth and even these were divided into different age groups.
The second and the third day were spent by the brothers in preparing and presenting the sessions. The Frs. were very helpful in giving timely insights and questioning the practicality of the sessions. The brothers were very creative in making use of not only the high tech media but also being able to make use of natural and simple tools which are the only things available in the villages. The animating group would conduct the session for the brothers treating them as their target audience and the brothers whole heartedly behaved like the target group thus further more enlivening the sessions. The sessions consisted of a starter which led to the theme and it was interspersed with songs and other aids which would be there abundantly in the target settings. This subtly kept imposing the theme and it ended with commitments being made by the youth for a betterment of their behavior and thinking.
Towards the end the Frs. conducted an evaluation of the three days and asked for suggestions for the future. The course ended with the brothers making commitments to go out in the world to do their best and be able youth ministers to the young. On the whole the SYS had a deep impact on the brothers. Many voiced out that this course had helped them to change their perception of seeing themselves not as youth workers but as youth ministers. The brothers were really grateful to the Frs. for helping them have a vision for their future apostolate.