CHAPTER 3: PROSPECTS AND PERSPECTIVES[52] From the present context of the Church and of the relationship between SDBs and Laity, there arise certain prospects which call for a fundamental doctrine for shaping our activity, as significant openings to a future of innovations and charismatic fertility. 1. BROADENING INVOLVEMENT IN THE SPIRIT AND MISSION[53] Today the mission requires the mobilization of all the forces of the Salesian Family and of the vast Movement of persons who surround Don Bosco, to face up strategically to the present social, cultural and religious situation with its many facets through an adequate service, in the context of the local civil community and of the particular Church, which are the ordinary settings for educative activity. The relationship between SDBs and Laity makes the Salesian grow as a prophetic sign of the newness of the Kingdom: his consecration bears witness to the primacy of God, and celebrates the love of the Father in the human heart in history. The same relationship promotes in the Salesian a change of mentality and opens him to a new style of communion and sharing. With regard to the SDBs the laity express the desire to feel them nearer, more concerned about animation and coordination, more involved in their accompaniment. The same young people press the Salesian to introduce them to the problems of life and to link them up with the neighbourhood and the local Church, associating them with the mission and giving them responsibility. The presence too of the woman helps SDBs not only to interpret the feminine ethos, bet to live a more complete educative relationship: in fact the man and the woman help the boy and the girl to discover their own identity, to accept as enriching their own specific nature to be offered as a gift in reciprocity. Young confreres receive more efficacious help when, from their period of their initial formation, they are introduced to experiences of collaboration with lay people both at a directly practical level and in the process of the elaboration of the PEPS. 2. ENCOURAGEMENT OF A NEW STYLE OF COMMUNICATION AND SHARED RESPONSIBILITY[54] To be together at certain important moments, to give more time to informal meetings and to sharing, enlivens the family spirit, fosters reciprocity and intensifies collaboration. A new style of communication is needed if one is to be efficacious in facing complex challenges like inculturation, the new contexts and the youth condition. Openness to dialogue, to what is new, to the rich qualities and talents of our collaborators will increase the ability to give new responses. This new style enables the lay person to take on real responsibilities with respect to the mission. Commitment is a determining factor in some cases, especially among the young, for vocational discernment and the choice of a life of consecration. Thanks to these stimuli, the Salesian becomes aware of the primacy of God in life, of the prophecy of the Kingdom, witnessing to communion, a worker of salvation in the midst of the young, and a guide in spiritual life. Already Fr Egidio Vigaṇ, in convoking the G24, had said: "To tackle the theme of the laity means to speak of the Salesian community to itself, of the reformulation of its services and commitments, of its manner of being and working. Testimony of fidelity to God's gift, received and expressed on the part of a religious community more attentive to the requirements and shared responsibility of the laity, cannot fail to involve, from the standpoint of identity, the primacy of spirituality".1 3. DEVELOPMENT OF A PROCESS OF FORMATION IN COMMON[55] Mission, inculturation, dialogue, communication, all demand a new style of formation for facing present circumstances, for responding to the young and for sharing responsibility with lay people in the mission. The laity ask in the first place for the elaboration of a plan of formation for their spiritual and charismatic preparation. Secondly they note that formation to communion and sharing should be realized by both parties together. At the same time we have to face up to the changed youth condition; together we have to address the vast plurireligious and pluricultural contexts; together we must live the fruitfulness of the CEP and the efficacy of the PEPS; together we have to find new initiatives like the volunteer movement or other significant experiences. The conviction is also increasing that the field of daily commitment is the place for authentic growth: the web of relationships created by a lively and efficient CEP becomes a setting for intense ongoing formation, touching on human, pedagogical and Salesian aspects. These relationships are a vehicle for messages, they prepare us to use new languages, they foster a more attentive listening to what the world and youth culture are saying, especially when the CEP promotes youthful protagonism. [56] Sensitive to the provocations which reach us from our world, and especially to those of the young, in the light of God's gifts and of the vocation to which we are called we are conscious of our limitations, and so we pray: With humble hearts we confess, O Father: our inability to meet the challenges of the world of the young, and the frailty of a faith which does not dare to hope; the fading of an ardour which does not prompt us to seek new ways, and the many fears which hold us back from the mutual exchange of gifts; our tiredness and omissions and our poverty of every other kind. But with serene trust and confidence and celebrating the power of your grace we dare to ask you for: mature faith love for the young apostolic courage renewed creativity Salesian optimism the will for communion and patient charity.
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