Ingredients of Sa-Fa vocation animation 15

 Dreams and proposals to improve and expand

the scope of vocational animation

Nowadays it is becoming less and less common for families to practice the Catholic faith. Most of baptized people do not make room for God in their lives. Moreover, as the Word says: “The harvest is plentiful but the workers are few” Mt. 9. 37-38.

We are in a society in which the Brother's way of life, among young people, is "not in fashion" and therefore it is difficult to make a vocational proposal.

However, this means that the dreams to achieve more vocations do not fade, but rather give impetus to new proposals to obtain more achievements in the mission as animators.

Hope gives the impetus to dream and desire more vocational fruits of consecrated men and women and of more christians committed to the evangelical mission. In the letter to the Romans 15:13 St. Paul says: “May the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace in believing, so that you may abound in hope by the power of the Holy Spirit”.

Brother Gabriel teaches us that we should go after our dreams always trusting in divine providence, regardless of difficulties or inconveniences. The important thing is to work for those dreams with faith and hope.

We have to dream that the Lord will continue to give us the precious gift of life to continue serving Him in the mission entrusted to us, whether as consecrated persons, parents, spouses or committed lay people.

In the case of the activities in the educational institutions, we must dream of a school in a pastoral key. We must not be satisfied with carrying out some pastoral activities but that tinges the whole school with evangelical colour and where each one can improve and advance in the commitment as agents and instruments of vocational animation. That vocational promotion should not be just one area or stage of work, but the interconnection of all the areas and stages of formation of the students for vocational awakening.

We must also dream that our Congregation becomes a universal congregation, to be able to reach some places that may have a good vocational potential and to extend the scope of the call for animation to open new educational centres, where the charism continues to be sown, with more aware collaborators, more immersed in the Sa-Fa spirituality and where a vocational pastoral can be proposed welcoming all these people, even women with the vocation of Sisters or consecrated lay people in our charism.

All these dreams must not remain just that, but on the contrary, we must work to make them a reality in a spirit of permanent search, offering these vocational spaces in an attractive way.

The proposals that can be generated to improve or broaden the scope of vocations promotion are many and diverse:  

# Generating, above all, a vocational ministry centered on Christ and his Gospel, with the horizon set on the realization of the Kingdom, presenting the different types of vocations that exist in the Church and in our Sa-Fa Family as a way to follow.  At the same time to integrate our vocation animation into the Church in order to enrich it by creating a greater vocational culture.

# Analyzing and discovering the vocations that the world and the Church need, to discern the signs of the times and to pay attention to what the Holy Spirit inspires us to do.

# Spreading the charisma as a vocational option, in a reliable and attractive way, going to more remote places, as quickly as we can.

# Expanding the spaces of promotion to other schools, communities, the hostels of christian universities, parishes, other educational establishments.

# Taking into account that digital media can be used constructively for vocational promotion. 

# Encouraging young people to encounter Jesus, inviting them to know the life of a Brother, showing it with enthusiasm, closeness and as a witness of life, and accompanying them to participate in experiences of discernment for their own vocational projects.

# Presenting a vocational animation project that helps people discover that they are loved by God, who has given us gifts to give and share. And raise in them the question about what is the will of God in their lives.

# Cultivating a personal and a community attitude of permanent discernment that allows us to live our vocation with creative fidelity, encouraging the listening to God, to others and to ourselves, being in contact with the Gospel, the incarnated spiritual life and the continuous formation as a way of deepening our own vocation.

# Generating social and solidarity spaces that work on personal introspection and social commitment, inviting participation in missionary and community activities.

# Seeking a methodology of responsible and close accompaniment that involves young people and adults.

# Making the pastoral ministry of vocations at schools something essential and systematic where everyone participates, trying to teach the charism of Brother Gabriel to the whole educational community, creating a single vocational team, in which everyone be a vocational agent, without overloading  smaller groups.

# Working in connection with all Sa-Fa schools of each Province so that each promoter shares the most appropriate ways of attracting candidates and exchanging experiences.

# Training ourselves constantly in order to be in line with the current reality, creating new ways, methods and testimonial proposals for vocational promotion, linking ourselves with the people and groups that were necessary for this purpose.

We must look for people with the intention of living the Gospel and the path to holiness, whether as Brothers or committed lay people, so that they may also be sowers of the Word. We have to intend that the family spirit and the Nazarene charism be sown in each school or Sa-Fa presence in the world.  We have to adapt to today's world, to the times and customs of young people who are not the same as before, as well as to the different family models.

 

If we want to improve the scope of vocational animation, we must have hope. If we do not have hope, we will not be able to move forward. We have to know that God himself is the Master and He is in charge of guiding us in our mission. And as Brother Gabriel said: “If this work is God's, He will make it prosper”.