Below is a letter written by the two General Councillors for Social Communication.
Dear sisters and confreres, friends and members of the Salesian Family,
To promote the understanding of the message of the Strenna which the Rector Major, Fr Ángel Fernández Artime, has given to the Salesian Family for 2017, the Department for Social Communication of the SDBs and the Sector for Social Communication of the FMA have decided on a joint online initiative so that every educative community and every member of the Salesian family may renew their commitment to the family, accepting the challenge issued by John Paul II to defend life through the family.
An extract from the Strenna containing a keyword on the Family and a short study guide will be published on both websites on the 25th of each month. There will also be a banner and a call to prayer, with the intention that each reader chooses personally for the month.
We are sure that the theme and the message of this year are of great social importance. We strongly urge all to follow the path proposed for the Church by Pope Francis in his Apostolic Exhortation "Amoris Laetitia". In fact, the Rector Major chose the theme of the Family to help the Salesian Family to journey in harmony with the Church.
We invite you, therefore, to stay on the net, like a large virtual community, and to promote a united group between SDB, FMA and Salesian Family. We ask you to spread each month in your websites and blogs this proposed study of the 2017 Strenna. By the very fact that we are so many, sharing the theme of the Family and continuously reflecting and praying from our hearts, we will become a transforming leaven capable of influencing culture on behalf of the family.
This collaboration together is also in preparation for the International Meeting on "Youth and Family" which will be celebrated in Madrid in late November 2017.
Greetings to all and a fruitful preparation for Easter.
Maria Helena Moreira, FMA Filiberto González SDB
Sector for Communication Department for SC
