by Sister Giannica Selmo, SFP “I felt always, during these days, a serene atmosphere among us. I experienced communion, a living presence of God among us, and this was the greatest gift which helped us to work and realize how Mother Frances’ charism calls us even today to serve God in the youth.” These were the words of Sr. Gianna Giovannangeli concluding our Youth Ministry Workshop held in Rivotorto, Assisi (Italy) October 22-26, 2007. Her words describe with simplicity the atmosphere of sharing and multi-culturality that we all experienced during these days. The presence of so many Sisters and Associates and one collaborator, from the various Geographic Areas, enriched our sharing on a topic that our Congregation has very much at heart. In her opening remarks on the first day, Sr. Gianna, on behalf of the Congregational Council, emphasized that “The workshop is an appointment which everyone has been anticipating. This is the first time in the history of the Franciscan Sisters of the Poor that we gather in order to study, reflect, and plan together for our Youth Ministry. This is a challenge that stems from our need to create and in some cases, to re-create positive, concrete and real relationships with the world of youth. We cannot envision a vocation ministry unless we first come to know and discover carefully and deeply who the youth are and what richness and challenges they carry within.” During our workshop, we had the opportunity to discuss several topics. Sr. Marilyn Trowbridge helped us focus on the reasons for our “passion” for the youth, bringing us back to the roots of our charism and encouraging our reflection on the fundamental values which guided Mother Frances’ life. In the intense agenda we had during these days, there were also times for dialogue within the larger group, but also within smaller language groups.
This time of group work was precious and helped process the content offered by the speakers and identify the attitudes, values, and skills that we need to have in our ministry. “During these days, I had the impression that young people were saying to us: ‘More than words, we need to see your own witness.’ I therefore feel the desire to strip myself in order to be more human and the wish to remain young in order to better understand the youth.” (Sr. Paola Zaccaria) “Paolo Freire’s words, ‘no one educates anyone by him/herself’ reminds me that it is important that the youth themselves be the ones to educate us. I feel that I have much to learn from our youth. I feel that there is much I need to do in order to give them love and journey with them.” (Associate Lúcia Helena da Silva Santos)
“The need to be loved that youth have is also my need. Therefore, if I experienced God’s freely given and unconditional love, I cannot simply talk. I need to make sure that the youth may experience that love through the relationship with me as a mediator.” (Sr. Marina Triglia) “We need to look at the young people in their eyes in order to understand them, not just to educate them, but to let ourselves be educated by them.” (Sr. Anne Claire Kabore)
“It is essential that we build a bridge among generations. This is a responsibility that the former generations have toward the new ones. This is what we have tried to build during these days. The joy and intelligence in our sharing created a bridge among the different generations. For us, this was enriching, and so it will be also for the youth.” (Associate Leah Curtin) These impressions give a sense of the intensity of our workshop, but also the powerful and honest wish of each one to enter into a relationship with the youth. At the end of the workshop, a document was written to express the guidelines of our Congregational Youth Ministry. A first step, which requires further thinking, describes in the guidelines our wish to live “with” and “for” the youth. “A fire of holy love for my neighbor burned within me. I felt a great desire to seek out and love the Lord in the poor, the sick, and the unfortunate.” These are the words of Mother Frances that guided our reflection. These are the words which describe our commitment as we go back to our Areas, where we will continue to reflect and write out how to concretely implement our guidelines. We feel a burning love in our hearts and wish to welcome the challenges and riches that the youth will offer to us as we share daily our lives with them.
Photos by Sr. Giannica Selmo © Franciscan Sisters of the Poor |
