Spain – "Embracing our roots": assembly of Salesian Cooperators of Mary Help of Christians Province

30 March 2022

(ANS - Seville) - In the journey of life and of the Christian vocation, it is often necessary for one to stop for a moment to see where one is going and if the path taken is following the right spiritual direction; this necessity has become a real urgency after a pandemic that has so upset the life of every person and group. For this reason, during the weekend of 26th-27th March, more than 200 Salesian Cooperators from the Spanish Province of Mary Help of Christians (including the centers of Andalusia, Canary Islands, and Extremadura) gathered in Assembly to listen, learn, reflect, pray, and above all grow together.

The main theme of the activities was the return to the origins of one's own spiritual life. For this reason, in the first formative intervention offered on Saturday morning, Fr Fabio Attard SDB, Coordinator of Formation of Salesians and Laity in Europe, spoke enthusiastically about “Our Salesian Roots, as Don Bosco's Dream continues through people who are alive and active today and Salesian Cooperators are called to ‘work it’ with hope together with young people, starting from loving-kindness and together with educational communities.”

The second reflection was presented by Sister Carmen Víllora, a religious of the Daughters of Mary Help of Christians (FMA) who belongs to the community that animates the Center for Higher Education (CES) "Don Bosco" of Madrid. With her speech entitled "Our roots in Mornese", she highlighted the message, the figure and the spirituality of Mother Mazzarello, claiming the modernity and current relevance of a woman ahead of her time, who knew how to discover the needs of young girls at the end of the 19th century, and who still has much to say to the laity of the 21st century. In conclusion, Sister Víllora invited people to get to know and deepen their knowledge of Mother Mazzarello's pedagogy, which can be seen in particular through her Letters.

In the afternoon there was another presentation of great depth, that of the Salesian Cardinal Cristóbal López SDB, Archbishop of Rabat, in Morocco, and former Provincial of the Province "Spain-Mary Help of Christians" (SMX) between 2014 and 2017 (until he was appointed bishop), who offered a broader view of "our Christian roots", those that concern all God's children, brothers, and sisters in Christ, apostles of the Holy Spirit. With his characteristic humor, the cardinal stressed the enormous importance of being rooted in Christ through the Word, and the role of the laity to be leaven, light, and model of life, committed as builders of peace between cultures, races, religions, and peoples.

After the formative part, Saturday was completed with a moment of conviviality and celebration, which was animated through a concert-prayer of the group "El árbol de Zaqueo"; and, subsequently, with the celebration of the Mass, during which an aspiring candidate made his promise as Salesian Cooperator and five members received a significant tribute.

Finally, Sunday was marked by the pilgrimage to Valverde del Camino to visit the Salesian house where Blessed Sister Eusebia Palomino, FMA, is venerated.

"We have received an inheritance and now we have the responsibility to make it bear fruit responsibly, without losing sight of the sources that give us freshness, fidelity, and authenticity, to continue to be what Don Bosco asks of us every day: 'Good Christians and upright citizens'," commented, Maribel Merina Jaén, one of the participants, at the end of the two days together.

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