Dear friends,

it is a great joy to be here after a long and fruitful year. We thank God and don Bosco for these next days in which we will share time, work, discussion, projects, ideas for our Association and above all, friendship.

With don Bosco’s feast we celebrated, just few days ago, not only our beloved Father and Teacher, but I would like to widen with you his great actuality.

I highlight three principal objects :

• He was able to go out himself, just like Pope Francis invites us to do nowadays. He went along Turin streets to meet poor young people, offering them a complete educational experience. Pope Francis invited Salesian Family « to move », to be the promoters of ideas and projects, so many other people will join us for the good of boys and girls.
• Don Bosco took the initiative and his activities liked so much to men, women, priests and lay people. So was born our Association.
• He gave his boys not only the daily bread, but also a program for the future teaching a job, giving a spiritual path, an exciting project of life. At last he gave them a « HOME », a FAMILY, the family they didn’t have or they have lost.

So Pope Francis’ words are fully realized and we have a great heritage, right for present days.

Speaking about Salesian Houses, is speaking about the interesting Strenna of this year. The Rector Major gave us a salesian reading of « Amoris Laetitia ». He underlines the richness of every family, but also the « FAMILY SPIRIT » which is the essential element of our pastoral action for and with families.

The 31 branches of the great salesian tree are a family and the consciousness to belong to this reality is important to work together, to built net.

Now some words about the past year. After the work of the World Coucil, we completed the approved documents translations and their print. Our hope is that these documents can improve the associative life of the local centers.

With joy I can say that our Association grows in many parts of the world : there is a new center in Libreville (Gabon) and, after an interesting visit in Kaunas, a new center is born also in Lituania. Here, FMA and SSCC work together in a high School with the salesian method.

We found a rich reality also in Lviv (Ukraina) where the SSCC work very well.

In Belgium North we met many Cooperators who work a lot being witnesses in a laicised society.

Very interesting was the experience in Vietnam and South Philippines where the SSCC work with the poor boys and girls giving them school, spiritual life, joy and hope for the future. Working with SDB and FMA really they make “good christians and honest citizens”.

These animation meetings are moments full of God’s Grace for me because I can see how the Association is lively and messenger of life. Obviously there are the difficulties, but the salesian charism is beloved and the devotion to Go dis the rock on which the centers live.

In the Regions there were provincial and national Congresses that I followed with interest and prayer sending virtual greetings. I think that this technological world allow us to be in union and it is very important to use correctly these media.

In these next months we will have the Regional Congresses : I know you are very busy in organizing these events ! They will be moments of discussion, exchange, dialogue to grow and study together the way to be more incisive in our society.

I invite you to bring an opening heart, the empathy which the Rector Major suggests us in the Strenna. We must not solve all the problems of the families we meet : we have to be understanding, empathetic, merciful with whom suffers crisis and difficulties. We have to be travel companions like Jesus was with Emmaus Disciples. We have to creat bridge where is discord and cure the pains and the hurts.

And now a little words on the plan.

A very large space is for your contributions to know better the lights and the shadows of your own Regions. Together we will study the best way to go further and don’t disappoint young people expectations.

Then Fr. Casti will give us an indepth analysis and we will work and study together on it.

On Friday we will receive a SC who live a rich experience as Director of a Family House in Rome. He and his wife have chosen this apostolate many years ago and we can say that they live as « family for families ».

On Saturday morning we will leave to St. Paul’s Basilica to admire another masterpiece in Rome.

As you can see, it’s a very rich program and I wish that in these days we will share friendship, dialogue, spiritual richness for our own growth and for the goodness of the Association.

Mary Help of Christians, Don Bosco and all the SalesianSaints bless and guide our work.

Noemi Bertola