This motto was what St. Francis de Sales suggested to St. Joan Frances of Chantal, and it expresses well what could be defined as the spiritual theological core of the document approved by the Rector Major and his Council within the fourth chapter: "4.6 THE FOUNDATIONAL DYNAMIC OF GRACE AND FREEDOM".
This is not a dissertation on principles, but the response to one of the most pressing and painful appeals that emerged in the large-scale research on accompaniment in which more than 4,000 young people in formation and spiritual guides participated (more than a third of the Congregation ).
At number 119 all of this is summarized briefly as follows: “Our respondents have given intense attention to the overlap between personal spiritual accompaniment and authority, to the fact that in the codification of our tradition, the Rector is ordinarily also the spiritual guide (R 78), one who is proposed though not imposed (FSDB 233). This overlap is seen as less problematic in places where numbers are smaller, fraternity is high, and there is no gap between formees and formators. It is felt much more as a problem, instead, where numbers are high, formation tends to be conformation, and there is also a certain distance between formees and formators. In this case the overlap between authority and accompaniment leads to fear and conformity without deep conviction to standards and forms of expected behaviour, including that of the regular friendly talk/spiritual accompaniment.”
The 3-minute video touches on the main passages of what is found in the text from n° 119 to n° 130, strongly reaffirming what is already at the heart of Don Bosco's preventive system.“We are invited to imitate God himself who respects our freedom and is infinitely patient with us. We are invited to a formation that reaches the heart and becomes transforming. We are invited to learn to listen”.
As in the other seed-videos, Giorgio, Brandon, Anselmo, Jean Paul and Felix, who produced this video in Valdocco, conclude with some questions to foster dialogue and discussion within the communities. The last one asks: “How does the lived experience of accompaniment enable us to learn the art of listening, to recognize God's grace at work in the mystery of freedom, developing within every young person?”
The video in English will be followed by other animation materials, sent by e-mail to the communities, or which can be requested by writing to: This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.
