DMA Magazine - Poverty and Justice (N. 5/6 May-June 2010)

Contents

Pastoral-ly Learning Together

Editorial The House of Communications

By Giuseppina Teruggi

Women in the Context Hands kneaded with justice

Encounters Poverty and Justice

Key Words The Ecumenical Vocation

Why Teresa The Grace of Unity

Face to Face Communicating in Community

Roots of the Future Fr. Michael Rua and the FMA Institute

Communicating the Faith Communications Pastoral

For a relationship of Justice and Charity Love and Truth

Book The Wings of Freedom

Ariannaâ€&#x;s Line Relationships,Identity, Sanctity

Camilla www.heavenhelp us. Com

Culture The Myth: in search of the Land Without Evil

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The House of Communication Giuseppina Teruggi The International Commission on Communication was established in Rome last March. It has the aim of creating a process for research and confrontation with the culture of communication.

The group reaffirmed the awareness that life is saturated with communication; we have become an environment made up not only of means and instruments, but also with a new sensitivity, a different mentality in which young people especially can be found. They are the so-called “digital natives.”

The virtual and the real are not two opposing or separate concepts; we live in a virtual reality, in a reality constructed of digital media, by which we surpass time and space. Social networks have become living spaces inhabited by a growing number of young and not so young people.

As Salesian educators we cannot stand idly by, looking at this culture that is becoming more and more known as a networking culture, in a generic way. It is important to be able to move from the ' network ' to a deeper ' being ' network to accompany young people in the transition from virtual to real, from connection to relationship.

“The development of new technologies and, in its overall dimension, the whole digital world of media, represents a great resource for humanity as a whole and for the person in the singularity of his/her being. It is a stimulus for meeting and dialogue” said Benedict XVI in the message for the 2010 World Day of Social Communications

In this issue, DMA proposes a reflection on poverty and justice. It is a theme that shakes us up and cannot leave us indifferent.

Even the field of communications is marked by the unfair idea called the “digital divide. A poor experience, the impossibility of being able to use the new technologies, are a source of discrimination by those who enjoy media resources. Despite various statements by the United Nations, not only does the problem exist on the operative level, but it is far from being resolved, and the gap is widening.

One phenomenon could exist even on the local level where at times new “powers” are created to the greater or lesser use of the most recent discoveries of technology.

Olivier Turquet tells us that “There can be no progress unless it is by all and for all.”

The house of communications-as each educating community should be known-is called to become an ever-greater open space of life and expression for each person who lives there. No one must be considered to be a stranger, a foreigner, or someone who is excluded. gteruggi@cgfma.org

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Poverty and Justice Julia Arciniegas, Maria Antonia Chinello

We do speak of justice, but on different levels and in different forms. It is a primary problem for all that has already reached global proportions. We are facing such a stark reality that it has been even condemned in Caritas in Veritate: “ Global wealth grows in absolute terms, but the disparity continues.” In wealthy nations social categories take on new poverties.

In poorer areas, some groups enjoy a type of dissipating, consumer based overdevelopment that contrasts in unacceptable ways with continuing dehumanizing. situations (CIV 22).

It is not so much the inefficiency of the phenomenon of globalization but rather the ineffective, unjust distribution of wealth, of “economic, social and political systems that have bound the freedom of persons of economic, social systems, and politicians who have violated the freedom of persons and social bodies, and precisely for this reason they have not been able to ensure the promised justice. (CIV) Since the Great Jubilee, some countries have undertaken to give a response to the question of international debt. This is an essential tool in the fight against poverty but it is not enough.

It is ever more necessary that there be an efficacious, rapid mobilization of financial resources toward impoverished countries that gives preference to the social interventions sector.

These solutions are being more frequently underwritten by prestigious international groups and rebounding to the drumbeat of the media world, seem until now

to have had only a semblance of promises.

John Paul II outlines the necessity and urgency of a widespread educational work to modify the habits and lifestyles both of consumers and producers. “ If economic, social and political development is to be authentically human”, he said,” it needs to have a place for the principle of gratuity and an expression of fraternity.” (n. 34). The basic question, therefore is that of structural and social change. It is a complex issue that requires long times and, last but not least, a certain boldness even in the decisions of politicians, in particular „the great ones of the world‟, for justice in the present and hope for the future.

The Christian difference According to a traditional definition, justice is the moral virtue that consists in the constant, firm will to give to God and neighbor what is due to them.

Growing globalization has increased the social value of the virtue of justice that calls for global solutions on the social, political and economic levels.

Efforts to build justice on earth must begin with the examination and transformation of unjust structures projected in a more universal dimension. It is a commitment that appeals to the responsible freedom of people in the awareness that structures and institutions are means of human freedom . (Cf. CIV 17, 42, 78).

Paraphrasing the classical definition of “justice” we could say that social justice is the constant and firm

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It is not, in fact a simple human convention, because that which is just is not originally determined by law, but by the profound identity of the person, of the transcendent vocation. In this sense, and taking into account the role of love in human development, it is necessary that justice be accompanied and enlivened by charity. Justice is the first, absolutely indispensible step, however, it is insufficient to build society in the measure of the person.

will to favor the common good as a social condition for authentic, integral human development.

Justice cannot remain in the purely legalpositive sector; it is necessary that it sinks its roots into anthropology, so that the value of the person, of dignity and rights are not understood merely in terms of usefulness and of possessing.

In Christian anthropology, justice assumes a full, meaningful significance.

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The Feminine Voice of Justice An interview with FlaminiaGiovanelli, Undersecretary of the Pontifical Council for Justice and Peace Flaminia Giovanelli is the first woman to fill the post of Undersecretary of the Pontifical Council for Justice and Peace. She was born in Rome on May 24, 1948 and is a past pupil of the Daughters of Mary Help of Christians. She graduated from the l‟Ecole Européenne de Bruxelles, has a degree in Political Science from the University of Studies in Rome and graduated from the Gregorian Pontifical University. She has been working on the Pontifical Council of Justice and Peace especially with regard to topics relative to development, poverty, and labor in view of the social doctrine of the Church.

In accepting the nomination as undersecretary she said that her work, more than a job, is a vocation “because it is at the service of humankind and of the person. It is at the service of the Church and working relationships.”

economies and institutions more fragile and are less able to handle them.

For this reason, along with the provisions taken by individual governments to re-launch occupations such as the undertaking of public works with a wider employment of work at hand, improving services or favoring the professional retraining of workers, even the international community promoted some important initiatives.

International Organization for Work (ILO) adopted the Global Pact for Occupation in the perspective of the “decent work” strategy also encouraged by John Paul II as he reminded us in Caritas in Veritate n. 63.

Still further, it supported the credit of small and mid-size enterprises, supporting cooperatives, increasing further investment in infrastructures of research and development, and even in ”green production” as important means of creating jobs, favoring the passage of informal work to formal economy. Together with all of this, however, one must not neglect the need, especially of poor countries, to build a system of social protection that is effectively capable of assisting the weakest.

Your experience on the Pontifical Council allowed you to come into contact with many realities.

What do you see is the crucial problem that must be faced to escape the present financialeconomic crisis?

The world of work is the main victim in the financial and economic crisis which, in the long run, impacts workers in a persistent way.

What is most serious in the case of the crisis that exploded in 2008 which originated in developed countries, beyond having heavy consequences on the working world in these same countries, it had even more on the workers of the poorer countries, those whose

Can we speak of the poorest among the poor?

It is a given fact that during the last decades, from more areas and even on the international level, there has been a restored centrality on 6

from the external and not responding to real exigencies or their correct application. All of this goes without saying that many poor countries do not yet have any system of social protection. Finally, in this list which is by no means exhaustive, there are serious obstacles that make it difficult, if not impossible, to carry out normal social and economic activity.

There are wars and the corruption of those responsible on various levels. However, along with the obstacles we must keep in mind the extraordinary possibilities that our times offer.

the question of poverty and the poor.

It is necessary to identify the poorest, but more than doing so with regard to categorieswomen, children, elderly, invalids, etc- we must insist on the idea of “moral poverty” that we need to see as being connected to those commonly used: poverty as privation and vulnerability, poverty as lack of the resources necessary to satisfy basic needs and as a lack of basic human capacity, reduced hope in life, the poor health of mothers, etc. By “moral poverty” we mean the absence of moral reference and the generalized degradation of values that are translated into behavior and the mentality contrary to good, particularly corruption, the exploitation of minors, the political manipulation of ethnic groups, bad governance.

One among many is that of the new technologies that could allow for giant steps in various sectors.

The youn g, in which the poor countries are fortunatel y rich, assume them quickl y.

From this we see the importance of formation as a strategic way.

Which are the main obstacles to development in Third World Nations?

The situation is complex and variegated because there are more than a few nations that just a few years ago were considered to be part of the socalled Third World , and today are emerging, even though, sad to say, their “emerging” is manifested in lack of equality. There are many fundamental obstacles, such as the scarcity of educational opportunities (the number of illiterate persons is still about 700-800 million), the difficulty of access to some benefits without which health deteriorates, for example, from clean water to medicine. However, there could be an impediment also in the area of inadequate sanitary systems, unfair distribution of land and also the inadequate infrastructures, transportation, or public administration which, more often than not is still at the initial stages, transportation, electrical and telephone networks that are completely insufficient, especially in the outskirts or countryside or public administration that is still at the initial stage.

What can the more industrialized countries do that they are not doing?

Even here we have a very complex problem.

Undoubtedly, the wealth y nationions must find wa ys to dedicate greater quotas of their GDP (gross domestic product) to the aid for development-a suggestion that has also come from CIV,#60, and which , to me, seems to be the most efficacious because it is the most human, and is often capable of creating “fraternal” relationships, the counting on and empowering the so-called “fiscal solidarity” taking the incentive of forms of social solidarity from the bottom up, as has alwa ys been suggested by Pope Benedict XVI. How many of us, in fact, adopt children from a distance, or are members of an NGO for development enjo ying the relative tax ex empt benefits.

Another set of problems, then, is bound to the choices of political economy, at times imposed

Which solutions does the Church 7

foresee for a solidarity development on the level of a global society?

The problem consists in an unfair and inefficacious distribution of resources due, among other things to governance that is inadequate, and also because it is incapable of adapting at the same speed to the rapidly changing rhythms of toda y‟s society.

Already forty years ago the Church had indicated this weakness in the international s ystem. From this point of view, the situation is so grave as to be considered one of the causes of the so called syndrome of the “tired giver”.

For the rest, there cannot be development without good government, i.e., a State that functions well, both on the central level and on the local (regions, municipalities…)or sectors (polic y, justice, health, education…);that function well in the sense of efficiency and especially well in the sense of honest y.

In the words of Galbraith: “Nothing is more important for the economic development and the human condition of a stable, trustworthy, competent than an honest government.”

connected to the technological progress connected to the wealthy countries who have them to the poor nations (Cf. CA, n. 32).

If we think that the greater part of the latter are found in tropical areas in which the median age is approximately 50 years and if we keep present that in the world more than 861 million, of which 2/3 are women, there is no access to literacy and more than 113 million children do not go to school we understand that education and health measures are an absolute priority.

The 2009 Report of the United Nations Development Program cites the following as negative factors in the worldwide crisis: Finance and Economy 

Reduces Growth Stocks



Increased Unemployment



Decreased investment assistance €

Food and Oil 

Possible widespread malnutrition



Possible civil disruption and instability

 Which concrete initiative is it po ssible to offer to give shape to global solidarity?

Increased prices, which hinders living standards 

Restore equity in international trade by breaking down barriers of p r o t e c t i o n i s m . It is necessary that there be greater efforts to assure all trade partners the opportunity to draw greater benefit from the open market and from the free circulation of good s, services and capital.

Furthermore, today it is universally recognized that the key to development in general , and that of sustainable development in particular , resides in science and technology and in this sector the principle problems are the obstacles relevant to the “k now how”

Children leaving school to go to work Climate Change  Decrease in agricultural production 

Increase the risk of disruption of natural caused by climatic conditions



Increase in tropical diseases

j.arciniegas@cgfma.org mac@cgfma.org

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The Grace of Unity Graziella Curti In front of the monastery of the Incarnation in Avila, there is a beautiful statue of Teresa in a dynamic pose, as though she was walking. She holds a pilgrim staff in her left hand and her gaze is fixed on distant horizons. The statue is a reproduction of the terms attributed to Teresa throughout her history: In fact, this woman called to the cloister, knew how to join contemplation and action, resting place and activity, with exquisite balance, always with one sole aim: God.

if her sister did not help? We feed the Lord when we do all possible to help Him gain many souls, who, by saving themselves, praise Him eternally.”

And she adds: Let us desire and practice prayer not to rejoice in but to have the strength to serve the Lord.”

For, Teresa different from the traditional exegesis, even when Martha comes after Mary,she expresses her appreciation for the sister who sets to welcome Jesus in a good way, and brings out her virtues (humility, hospitality, availability) indicating her as an example of attention to the Divine Guest.

Like Martha and Mary In entrusting the renewed Constitutions (1982) Mother Rosetta Marchese wrote that the presentation made by don Bosco on the virtues proper to the FMA, culminates in what we today would call the grace of unity: “In the Daughters of Mary Help of Christians this must be in step with active and contemplative life, move together, portraying Martha and Mary, the life of the Apostles and that of the angels.

Another element that links our founder to Teresa is the sense of profound freedom and simplicity that is attributed to her person-the inner journey. The Carmelite saint says that the road to interiority cannot be forced, because the energies of the soul are to be gently directed Contemplative in Action Teresa‟s writing frequently sends us back to the inner journey. The Saint places much attention to have her daughters consider Jesus as the center of their life and predisposes where it could become His stable dwelling place. The conditions to realize the intimate union with the spouse are the seeking of silence and fidelity to the time established for the direct appointments with heaven. This, however, also brings

In the same way, the paradigm chosen

by St. Teresa to describe this dialogue of operative love is that of Martha and Mary, symbolizing the harmony between action and contemplation. “Believe me, to give hospitality to the Lord, to have Him with us always”, she writes, “treating Him well and offering Him food it is necessary that Martha and Mary get along. In what way could Mary, remaining seated at his feet, feed Him

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In a letter to the Jesuit Father Avila, she emphasizes: “When I think of the grace that the Lord gives me by keeping me always in His presence, notwithstanding the great number of things that pass through my hands I am more and more convinced that not even the crosses and most serious persecutions can disturb me…” (Letter 235) Through the various phases of her prayer, Teresa had reached “not allowing the soul to have any other occupation than to entertain Him who is present …”

And then, many words are not needed.

“God and the soul understand one another like two friends, without need for words or any other external sign, manifesting reciprocal affection. It is a little like here on earth, when two persons love each other very much…they succeed in understanding one another without need to exchange signs, but only by looking at one another.” What is important in prayer is being present to God in profound attention

with it the need for much attention and responsibility The concrete reality of daily life is integrated in the inner journey of each person and creates that unity, of the ora et labora, that is at the base of Christian spirituality.

Educator and Mother?

In the presentation of her doctoral thesis on Teresa the educator” Sr. Sylwia Ciezkowska, a Polish FMA, concludes by saying: The vertical relationship of Teresa with God (prayer) and the horizontal relationship with the community (exhortation) suggest that she has every right to the title of mother because she coherently educated to prayer, by praying. She taught to love by loving and showed how to serve by serving. These words recall the observation of Cardinal Gabriel-Marie Garrone about the letters of Mary Domenica Mazzarello, who also had the characteristics of educator and mother: “These letters”, he said, help us to clearly understand the temperament of her spiritual maternity, inspired by God She did not discuss, did not reason about it, but lived and communicated life.”

In her book the Interior Castle when Saint Teresa speaks of the Seventh Mansion, the final phase, the summit of baptismal grace there, where one lives the most intense clarity of the Holy Spirit, she describes the activity: -as full unity of contemplation and action, -as the maximum interior life linked to the maximum height. The conquest of interiority, notes Teresa, brings with it the the greatest openness to one‟s neighbor Friend God In her autobiography Teresa says: “For me, prayer is nothing more than a relationship of friendship, a finding oneself frequently alone with the One who we know loves us.”

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Fr. Michael Rua and the FMA Institute Piera Cavaglia’ We have just begun the historical research on the relationship of Don Bosco‟s first successor with the FMA Institute.

The recent publication of letters and circulars of Fr. Rua to the FMA and the International Congress that took place on October 2009 in Turin offer precious contributions on the specific and original contribution given by him to the Institute.

The FMA of the early generations listened to expressions such as this: “The Daughters of Mary Help of Christians, no matter where they are, merit and have all of my solicitude.

How great a part they have in Don Bosco‟s inspired works!” (Letter 4-11-1890). These works were not mere rhetoric, the reality is evident to their eyes. Fr.Rua, in fact, had followed the early steps of the Institute from the time of the establishment of the first community at Mornese. In November 1875, at the departure of Fr. John Cagliero for Argentina, he had been named as Director General of the FMA Institute and the following year Spiritual Director of the Feminine Oratory at Torino, Valdocco.

When in 1888 he was called to direct the Salesian Congregation, Fr. Rua already had sufficient knowledge of the Institute of the FMA from the time of its genesis.

He was solicitous in caring for the organizational structure of the Institute, he accompanied the process of juridical autonomy with prudence and discretion, promoted the establishment of provinces and the formation of educators, preparing them to assume the historical- cultural challenges of the times.

This was shown, in addition, by the attention with which he accompanied the Superiors of the General Council and the individual Sisters, in his circular letters, the introduction to the Deliberations of the General Chapter, the presentation of the Prayer book, and of the first General Directories of the Institute.

After what biographers called a year of mourning at the death of Don Bosco, it is interesting to note that Fr. Rua made his first trip out of Turin going to the Motherhouse of the FMA at Nizza Monferrato where he remained from May 31 to June 5, 1888.€

He devoted himself with his typical wisdom and acumen to promote the spiritual cultural, missionary development and to revive the spirit of Don Bosco in relationship with the Sisters and the girls whom they educated in their oratories and schools.

In the 22 years during which he governed the

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Salesian Congregation (1888-1910), Fr. Rua made countless visits to the FMA communities both in Italy and abroad. His last visit to the house of Nizza is dated March, 1909. Every encounter was an opportunity for awareness and animation that strengthened the bonds of the religious family animated by the same spirit.

In his visits to the FMA houses, Fr. Rua met not only with the community but with individuals.

He knew the link to find the depth of the soul, and his simple, familiar, discreet relational style, his capacity for listening was appreciated by all.

The respect and veneration for the Superior did not impede confidence. The many testimonies of FMA about Don Rua, of which we have the documentation, attest to how profound was the esteem and affection that they had for Don Bosco‟s successor. He, too, cultivated a sincere affection for them and, in every intervention, oral or written, he was moved by the explicit intention of seeking their good on the institutional and individual level.

all the help they needed for their human and Christian formation and invited them to cultivate religious vocations in all the environments.

He was convinced that even while the communities could have different physiognomies, they had to have “the same imprint” that he identified as “charity and cheerfulness” (Circular 12-31-1901).

Referring to the practice of the Preventive System, Fr. Rua recommended that a climate of charity should be created in the educational environments: “Charity in words, work and affections”.

It was a climate characterized by patience and gentleness of manner, of overcoming every form of repression or permissiveness.

For the opening of new communities or for the growth of the mission, Fr. Rua generally did not give directions, but he discreetly indicated the criteria to be followed.

He recommended fidelity to Don Bosco‟s spirit and invited all to prefer the areas most in need or at risk, to promote works among the people in need so as to counter the advance of secularism and to increase the social openness of the Institute.

Fr. Rua allowed himself to be challenged by the incipient industrialization that also involved women and he promoted the opening of boarding schools for workers. He recommended to Mother Catherine Daghero not to refuse offers to direct boarding establishments for young workers, rather, he held it to be a new mission that the Lord deigned to entrust to the FMA at the beginning of the new century.

In the works of animation and government, Fr. Rua promoted fidelity to the spirit of Don Bosco, unity in the Institute and the sense of belonging to a large family during a time when there was a strong urge for expansion in various countries and continents.

Reading Fr. Rua‟s letters we are struck by the fact that in addressing himself to the FMA, he always kept present the educational mission that they carry out. He rejoices for the fruitful apostolic work that they carry out in various countries; sends greetings and feast day wishes to the girls. He always shows himself interested in the growth of the educational works, rather he stimulates superiors and sisters to empower enterprise and creativity. He encouraged the FMA to provide the students and oratorians with

As Fr. Pascual Chavez wrote: “He who had seen the birth of the Institute and had followed the gradual development, took care of it as a sacred inheritance left by Don Bosco and was profuse in lavishing upon it the richness of his own thought and heart.” pcavaglia@cgfma.org

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For a Relationship of Justice and Charity Julia Arciniegas, Martha Séïde

Dom Helder Camara, Brazilian bishop, witness to justice and charity, received thirty degrees “honoris causae”, from the Sorbonne and Harvard and forty international awards; he was also recognized “ as an Artisan of Peace” € His last dream was “Jubilee 2000”, a world without misery .And yet he was sadly called “the red bishop” by some.

But he himself said: “When I give food to the poor they call me a saint. When I ask why the poor do not have food, they say that I am a revolutionary.”

“I do not need Marxism; I believe in the Gospel. Are people heavy on you at time? Carry them in your heart!”

The love of God took on face and word in Jesus of Nazareth, He, the Son given to humanity, became for us wisdom, justice, sanctification and redemption (1 Cor 1,30).

The answer to this love of God, which saves us by means of Christ, is expressed in giving our lives to Him in love and service to others. However, love implies an absolute need for justice in the recognition of the dignity and rights of one‟s neighbor, while justice finds its fullness only in charity, in love. The encyclical Caritas in Veritate again proposes this inseparable relationship as a principle that must illumine the life of the community and every person.

Let us Re-Read the Encyclical 

Love, caritas, an extraordinary force, urges us to commit ourselves with courage and generosity in the field of justice and peace(n.1).

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Charity surpasses justice and completes it in the logic of gift and forgiveness (n.6).

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Desiring the common good and working for it, is a requirement of justice and charity( n.7).

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The importance of the Gospel for the building up of society according to freedom and justice (n.13).

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The dignity of the person and the requirements of justice require economic choices (n.32).

We ask ourselves 

Postmodern culture gives great importance to self-realization according to the imperative to be one’s self always and everywhere, without being preoccupied with the meaning. Has the educating community noted the commitment to overcome individualism and give primacy to the love that seeks justice and peace for all ?



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Consumer pressure, in the broadest sense, consumption of things, time, opportunities, tends to separate the public and private sphere, the collective sector and individual life. In what measure is this gap present in our Institution?

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 Consumer pressure, in the broadest sense, consumption of things, time, opportunities, tends to separate the public and private sphere, the collective sector and individual life. In what measure is this gap present in our Institution?

Let us review our daily life from this perspective and propose some initiatives to reinforce the commitment of all in seeking the common good.

Is there a reciprocal appeal between the Gospel and real life, personal and social, of individuals and community. Which signs of this profound unity, of this commitment to conversion do we find in our educational environment ?

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In Action A few steps to make the study done operational: 

Alongside individual good, there is a good bound to the social living of persons: the common good. It is the good of that we-all, a good sought for the persons who are part of the social community.

Charity lived and witnessed to, permeates the building of community from within according to rights and justice. Let us seek some ways to deepen the rapport between justicecharity in our interpersonal, community, institutional …

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The realty of today‟s world requires that we go back to the causes of injustice, those that generate poverty and violence, to commit ourselves to Eradicating them. Let us plan some spaces for a reading that believes in facts and situations in which God calls us either personally or as a community. j.arciniegas@cgfma.org mseide@yahoo.com

Relationships, Identity, Sanctity Maria Rossi particular through the friendship relationship with Jesus, succeeds in being fully herself, developing a personal identity that allowed her to overcome the heavy cultural conditioning of her times, of

The process of developing personal identity is marked especially by the quality of the interpersonal relationships that an individual forms in the course of her existence. Studies and psychological theories show how relationships experienced with parents are of primary importance, however, a popular saying says us Tell me who you go with and I will tell you who you are. No less important are those whom a person chooses to be a part of their life in youth and in mature age.

A study of St. Teresa of Avila from this point of view was enlightening for me and made me want to share it with others. Now I will attempt to do so in the hope of not betraying such a versatile figure.

I met Teresa during the „60â€&#x;s when, for a mystical examination, I chose to read The Teresian Letters. While reading them , I remained happily surprised in seeing how, in the dynamic of her relationships with her confessors, the spiritual direction was more on her part than on theirs. Up until then I thought that confession and spiritual direction was an exclusive prerogative of priests and consecrated, i.e., males. Twenty years later, I rediscovered Theresa where I had never expected to do so. In order to study the problem of feminine identity during this time of profound cultural change, I began to frequent the Seminars of Diotima 1 at the University of Verona . In the seminars, to my surprise, I was able to follow reflections and original studies on the Saint. The philosophy of Diotima, in particular one of the founders, Luisa Murano, holds Teresa of Avila to be a strong reference point. They present her as a woman who, through relationships and in

not allowing herself to be intimidated and blocked by the Spanish Inquisition and by evil tongues, and by establishing with learned ecclesiastics and with others, not relationships of dependence as was the usage and obligation for the woman, but rather reciprocal interpersonal relationships and at times, also that of superiority.

In the family Interpersonal relationships with parents and family members can be glimpsed especially in the Book of her Life. In telling the story, the figure of her father predominates. Her mother, Beatriz de Ahumada, from a very well- to- do family, was married at 16 and then bore 10 children. Teresa recalls her as being very beautiful, but suffering and frequently ill. She died at 33 years of age when Teresa was 12 and, from the educational point of view, she appeared to be almost absent.

Her father, Alonso Sanchez de Cepeda had a preferential relationship with her. She attributes this to the fact of having a character that was different from that of her brothers. She describes him as a man of great virtue, honest, generous, non- authoritarian, but preoccupied more with honra, i.e., preserving reputation and with the judgment of people than with the substance of virtue.

Only once did he react firmly in dealing with his daughter, when a relationship with 15

after having experienced the suffering and anguish of being guided by confessors who were learned but without the experience of mental prayer understood as a relationship of “friendship, of finding herself frequently alone and alone with One who we know loves us”, gradually she chose from among those who had “common sense and experience and” perhaps, even learning.

Before entrusting her soul to them, she met with them for a conversation. She suggested to her Sisters that they do the same.

Teresa was always aware of the importance of confrontation and obedience and obeyed even in situations in which she was not in complete agreement. But from a certain time on, her obedience would be given not only to those who had a certain capacity to understand her, but who, after having understood, in a certain sense would have also considered her as mother. This is what happened in the encounter with St. Peter of Alcantara‟, Garcia de Toledo, Father Gracian, and John of the Cross. It was the reciprocal interdependence which is indicated as an exemplary rapport between man and woman in Mulieris Dignitatem.

And this was in 1500 when the culture went in the opposite direction. Teresa realized it and differently from today, experienced fear, anguish, and pleaded proclaiming herself obedient in meeting with confessors.

a cousin threatened to compromise the family reputation, the father decisively sent her to the cloister for a while.

Books were not lacking in the home and she had a passion for reading. Her father wanted her to read devotional and formative books, while her mother, to survive the illnesses and suffering of her short life, preferred to read adventures of chivalry, and also allowed Teresa to do so, but hidden from her father. Her relationship with her father was constant, incisive in her formation and interesting in her evolution.

Teresa learned much from him and reacted positively to being the favorite, but also criticized him for his excessive preoccupation with honra. When her father, already at an advanced age, was reduced to being debt-ridden, the relationship was reversed. She followed him with love, did not speak of his ineptitude in business, but introduced him to mental prayer, gave him the necessary books and was pleased with the progress he made in this direction. She protected him.

Her relationship with her father seems, in some way, to be characterized by the type of relationship that she established with men, especially with relatives and religious. The friendship relationship with Jesus, unifying it and giving it the capacity of grasping the true values of life, gave her the strength and authority to reverse or at least question in discussion, among other things, even the role of social and cultural subordination that the society of her time had assigned to her because she was a woman. Interesting in this respect is the relationship that she was gradually establishing with her confessors. She seeks them out, and needs them to discern how much the grace of God was working in her and not allowing her to be deceived by the devil, as people then tended to believe. She obeyed them even when they ordered the contrary to what Jesus asked in prayer. But

Process of conversion The process of reaching this point was long and perhaps it coincided with that which we call a period of conversion. The period of conversion could, in part, be seen as the arduous journey of development and a woman‟s unsatisfied personal identity due to the conditioning and constraints that the culture of the time imposed. In Chapter IX of her Book of Life Dedicated almost entirely to conversion, she describes how her decisive spiritual turn came through an

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playground wherever we seem to spend days that are apparently the same, one can live the spiritual adventure of a fruitful love.

Teresa places herself somewhat in continuity with the Magdalene both as a penitent sinner, but especially by her friendship with Jesus and her capacity of placing “everything under her feet”. Urged on by love, the Magdalene dared to break the law that forbade her to enter where she had not been invited and to touch and dry the feet of Jesus with her hair (with what it was believed to be the most impure), not to fear the criticism of those who believed that they were pure because they were observant. Reaching Jesus, becoming his friend, meant for her not only turning her back on sin, but especially on that world that wanted to nail her to an inferior image of herself. In reversed terms, the same was also true of Teresa. When she became aware that some socially accepted behavior made her a successful nun in the convent but was an obstacle to a true , deep relationship with the Divine and with the reality of her being, she turned her back on this perception of herself.

For both, the encounter and the relationship with Jesus became possible in the moment in which, autonomously presenting self to the presence of the Eternal, recognizing in Him alone there was the right of building their new, full identity. May it also be so for us, but perhaps it already is.

encounter with the wounded Christ at the feet of the Magdalene and in the reading of St. Augustine‟s Confessions.

In the encounter with the image of the wounded Christ, Teresa broke out into flowing tears.

She felt that she was the cause of so much suffering.

Prostrate at his feet and conquered by the shocking and unifying love, she succeeded in accepting in herself the limitations and impotence of a creature..

She freed herself from the pretenses of the titanic “I” and gave up the tension of not succeeding in perfection.

Like Mary Magdalene, she gave herself up to Love and remained in expectation. She yielded to the Love that unifies, liberates and allows one to enter into an intimate rapport with God, open self to others, to be fruitful.

After having established a rapport of friendship with God that not lonely made her feel that she was favored and liberated her from fear, but pushed her toward others.

From her contact with the Source of joy and love there was born in her the decision for the Reform, so that others could reach it. It was a decision that would create for her tensions, problems of every kind, misunderstandings. But her rapport with God, allowed her to reach the highest dimension of human fullness, placed the persons in an irrepressible movement of love. Those who experienced it could not contain themselves and did everything so that others could enjoy it.

After her conversion, Teresa set aside the burden of her keeping an account of sins, good actions and holy proposals. The contact with the very Source of love and with joy, unified her and also put her into contact with her own capacity for the infinite, expanded her and pushed her in a spontaneous movement toward others.

1 Diotima is a philosophical community of women formed at the University of Verona.

It is made up of university professors, many laywomen, some who are believers, but not practicing .

They explore the problem of identity and gender difference from the philosophical point of view, and then during annual seminars, offer the fruit of their reflections to an interested public. Part of my reflection is based on what I was able to gather in these studies.

The message that Teresa gave to the Sisters and also to us is that even between the four walls of the convent or in school or on the

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A story on the struggle to grow.

Asja and Maria, two fourteen year olds as different as day and night each seeking her own identity

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Asja On rainy days as a child she played at inventing a father for herself…

At home there were no happy voices to welcome her, no snack waiting for her on the table.

There was only silence, and in the winter, darkness. Fear kept her company, was seated alongside her…finally, there was the noise of the door and her heart leapt. At least for today her mother had come home to her…

Maria Closed in her room Maria opened the door of the closet and looked in the mirror.

She looked at that image as though it were an unknown enemy Her body had changed so quickly during these past months that she almost did not recognize herself.

A whale !

Asja and the others were right;she looked like a whale… she really looked like a whale…

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Theme: How I see myself in twenty years…

Maria I would like to open a flower shop. I have always loved flowers because they accompany people in the important times of life, they make them happy in beautiful times and console them in sad times.

Then, too, I can take into my shop plants that are suffering, because plants are like people, they need to be loved and cared for.In twenty years I see myself free, driving a convertible…

Asja In twenty years I will be thirty five years old like my mother and I don’t want to become like her.

She is still young, but seems so old . My mother suffers from a horrible illness called depression.

Depression takes away your desire to live…what I want to say is that at thirty-five I will be like I am now…I will not lose my love of life…

Text taken from Camminare, correre, volare by Sabrina Rondinelli

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Myth: Seeking a Land Without Evil Edited by Mara Borsi The Guaranì are a great people who have developed around the Aquifer Guaranì (Guarani Aquifer , a great underground reservoir of sweet water) and spread throughout all of South America and the Caribbean. When the Spanish landed in the Antilles, they spoke of having met a people called Carios, the same people who would later be found in Asuncion, Paraguay. The historical narration of these ancient people tells us that Guaranì and Tupi were two brothers and that their families were growing rapidly, so much so that the place where they lived was becoming ever smaller and for this reason, the two brothers decided to separate . Tupi went with his family to the North and Guarani went to the South.

From Generation to generation they also told the founding myth of these people that explains their profound soul. The myth tells of twin brothers who were orphaned when their mother was killed. The two brothers, stolen from their mother by the evil ones, served them for a long time until they found the body of their true mother. That discovery and the attendant sorrow made the two brothers remember where they came from and they began to look for their true home the land without evil.

On the return trip to the house of the Father, they sought in every way to overcome evil; on their never-ending journey they ate the food they could get, but they thought that even on their way, there would be others who would come after them and they always left something for the successive wayfarers. This founding myth explains the continual pilgrimage of the Guaranì throughout South America “seeking the land without evil.”

Interview with Blanca Selva Ruiz Diaz Gamba.

I am an FMA from Paraguay, from the Province of St. Raphael Archangel. For nine years I worked in the missions with the Aborigines and the Paraguayans in the section of Upper Paraguay-Chaco, in the boarding school Bishop Alejo Obelar of ñu Apu‟a Before coming to Rome, I was in the House of St.Joseph for a year as infirmarian among the elderly Sisters and at the same time I was working in Youth Ministry.

Which values of your culture do you love the most?

First of all, the Guaranì language. It puts us into a relationship with our ancestors, gives us a sense of our being because every language expresses one‟s vision of the cosmos. The Paraguayans feel, imagine, reflect, and express themselves better in Guaranì. It is, therefore, the official language of Paraguay along with Spanish.

Another value is the love of nature. My people fight for the land so that it will not be exploited and polluted; they feel that they 22

are part of the land, and defend it against the companies that strip the forests and buy it for very little money, leaving so many farmers without land.

The Paraguayans frequently find God in nature and even the meaning of life at the service of others. The sense of We “ñande” and of the Other “Ore” are values that are always cultivated in the Paraguayan culture.

The help to unite us as “jopoi”, people, living the sadness and joy, moving ahead together, opening new ways.

The “ñande”,We, signifies feeling that we have the same root that invites us to go along together, listening attentively to pronounce the better word and to choose the way to be followed Another value that attracts me very much is “seeking the land without evil” the millenary heritage that the Guaranì left us and that we remember with celebrations each year during which we walk with the desire to reach the house of the Father. We are accompanied on our journey by the Virgin of Caacupe “ñande sy marane’y” i.e., “Our Mother without evil”.

the different ways of being. I find it very interesting to see similarities and differences among cultures and to understand the meaning of their origins, All this helps me to know more in depth and to put into practice the wisdom of my people, the Guaranì, and to be open to the meaning of their origins, where we can always catch a glimpse of God through the most beautiful expressions that one can imagine. All this helps me to know more in depth and to put into practice the wisdom of my people, the Guaranì, and to be open to the wisdom of other peoples.

Every culture is a world of surprises and has ways of weaving knowing and feeling, but the most beautiful thing is that there is always a thread that unites us.

Which difficulties did you experience in meeting people from other countries and cultures ?

I believe that the difficulties I found can be found also in other contexts: cultural prejudices, i.e. the exaggerated and erroneous ideas that we form about others.

There are also the labels that we place on all other cultures before, during and after relationships. It seems to me that there is a long way to go especially for what regards dialogue and reciprocal understanding between East and West, between North and South of the whole World.

We need to be open continually and to unite mind and heart to walk together. Thank you so much for this space, not only for me, but for “We”, “ñande”, i.e., for the Paraguayan people.

While living in an international culture what do you appreciate most in other cultures ?

I am having a very rich experience on the personal level. Relationships with persons of other cultures stimulates me to grow in openness to others so very different from myself, to discover a different world, to learn exercises of respect and listening.

All of the beauty that each person expresses is a gift for others, and for this reason I like to dialogue, to know, admire and learn about

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Learning Together Mara Borsi The demand for training continues to be alive and urgent. Those who plan formation for educators are aware that it is not enough to propose content on present themes: anthropological crisis, culture and languages, science and faith‌ One feels the necessity to use methods that involve the subjects to whom the formative proposal is addressed, to avoid boredom, tiredness, and lack of efficacy.

Reflecting

Educating implies the readiness to care for another and requires particular ethical dispositions such as knowing how to see in the face of another person and in their words the need for help and to be ready to respond to this appeal, putting into play oneâ€&#x;s own spiritual, cultural, and professional resources .In every challenging human practice, such as that of education, there emerge two basic conditions to be able to be faced in a valid, productive manner: a clear vision of the goal to be reached and an attentive, punctual perception of the concrete situation to be faced. If the first condition implies a conscious vision of the educational goal to be preferred, the second brings with it an attentive recognition of the life conditions of the new generations and of their most urgent needs.

At the basis of this competence, so that there does not remain only a potential not effectively exercised, there must be strongly rooted the desire to respond to the appeal for help that comes from children, preadolescents, adolescents, and young people. In a recent study Michael Pellerey said that in order to promote educational competence, in the first place it is necessary to nourish love for the young generations, loving them not in a generic, sentimental sense, but rather in one that is concrete and active. For this reason educators are called to acquire a basic knowledge and the ability for an explorative and interpretive ability, with the aim of responding to the educational requests that individuals and groups carry deep within themselves.

In the context of a culture that is fragmented, individualistic, and plural, it becomes decisive that those who occupy themselves with education favor reflection. Reflection is a central need in the educational action and in every formative method of educators. It is linked to the capacity of modifying an action to adapt it to the specific circumstances and individual person. We deal with working through formation to promote and support a reflective individual and group conversation on the experience in act, a conversation characterized by an interpretive and problematic reading of the actual data, which puts into a relationship experience and previous knowledge and the emerging situation to reach a prospected action that responds to the present appeal. In the contemporary context we are seeing as a formative modality the practical community, a formative experience centered on reflection, involvement and participation.

New Ways

Practical communities are groups being constituted to respond to find shared responses to problems inherent to the exercise of their own work. They appear to be characterized by being spontaneous, able to generate organized learning and to favor processes of identification. The members of

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a practical community share ways of acting and interpreting reality, and are, together, an informal organization within a broader formal organization, that is articulated and complex. By their support and contribution the participants in the activities of this community increase their professional identity and create a network that could lead to real processes of renewal. The practical communities are, in fact, an efficacious resource for updating professional competence. The efficacy comes from the fact that the content discussed in the community satisfies the needs for action, timeliness and contextualizing learning.

Through the activities conducted in the environment of the practical community in time they will build a shared repertory of resources, developing a common language, styles of convergent actions, and model themselves on the common recurrent modalities (routine) of thinking and acting.

Sharing thought and action in the community, they assume new models for interpretation of the reality and the structuring of unexpected , new practices, that live the contribution of individual creativity, but in such a way as to modify the thought and action of the entire community and they have, therefore, a strong potential for innovation.

The person who manages a practical community is called to facilitate and articulate the activities of communication, negotiation, and documentation with means that promote relational systems of a reticular type.

In this way the processes of collaborative learning reduce, on the formative level, the continual recourse to the expert.

Don Bosco efficaciously faced the pedagogical thought of his time and in the same way today, the educating communities are called to use different models and proposals to make the formative activity efficacious. The practical communities are, without doubt, an excellent stimulus to a progressive improvement of the action

Each member, utilizing what is placed at the disposition by other participants, can develop personal journeys for research and study and processes of “self-learning�, can ask help from the other members of the community to reach some objectives.

mara@cgfma.org

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Hands Kneaded with Justice courageously to the situation as never before, the prophetic role of AMRSP was brought out and was effective in the promotion of the moral conscience of people” The Association supported the cause of farmers who had been denied justice by an agrarian reform that had never been concluded; she was at the side of the indigenous people who had been evacuated and distanced from their own land by the government that had made a contract with the international mineral companies and with the migrants who were victims of irregular and illegal migration.

Paola Pignatelli, Bernadette Sangma We often see the icon of a blindfolded woman holding a scale in one hand and sword in the other to symbolize justice.

It leads us to question ourselves on the fact that the figures representing justice are always feminine even though , in the reality of life, the administration of this Virtue has been for centuries and continues to this day, a masculine dominion.

Seeking to find the relationship between the binomial women and justice from daily experience, we could consider how, often in all cultures and world contexts, women are denied justice and yet, women are ever more involved in the struggle for justice, not only for themselves, but for the whole of society.

In her book Women and Justice. The Family as a Political Problem,Susan Moller Okin states that ít does not mean creating ghettos of protection for women, or attributing to them undeserved advantages in public life, but only eliminating the injustice of the private world, i.e., making of it a question to be resolved politically, that there will be a possible realization of a just that is neither male, nor female, but human.”

Among the activities it is important to recall the AMRSP Sanctuary Program for which Sr.Estrella was responsible. It is a program for the protection of the lives of witnesses who fight against injustice and corruption.

There was a case in which, because of security reasons, four brothers had to be moved every two week and there were about twenty Congregations that offered them refuge, among which were also FMA houses.

In another case of threatened life, eleven Sisters from three female congregations offered accompaniment and protection with a condemnation through the media and Senate testimony. The protection of the life of this person saw two religious who remained with her in jail for a good 10 days, taking turns to protect her!

Sr. Estrella Castalone, an FMA in the Philippines, has worked for six years as the executive secretary of the Association of Major Superiors of the Philippines (AMRSP). In this responsibility she has been the daring protagonist in the defense of justice, denouncing corruption and injustice in government institutions. The executive Council of AMRSP stated: “Thanks to the capacity of Sr. Estrella responding 26

In a 2009 press release, in the AMRSP said: "We feel the hand of God in the struggles of our people… With renewed courage we confirm our commitment to continue to be the voice of those who have none, companions of those who have been abused, to become living witnesses of truth, justice and peace. "

Though she had a complete formation, from Civil Rights to Criminal Law, her origins led her to become passionate about immigration rights and, more in particular, to the problems relative to integration of foreigners into the Italian reality.

We asked her about this : “My experience on the topic and “women and justice” led me often to assist at very grave injustices, especially with regard to the burden borne by the woman migrant. Frequently, in fact, the immigrant women enters Italy to re-join her family, so it is, in effect, that her condition and status depend on her husband who maintains her and provides for her. The

Marila Nsunda Nimi, a young lawyer from Turin is another “working person” in whom we rejoice! She is a witness to the richness of mixed race, the child of an Italian mother and a Congolese father, she herself probably lived the exhausting road to earn respect and integration, and the recognition of her own worth on the part of a society that was shortsighted and mistrusting of every form of diversity, to the point of choosing the law as her mission.

situation of subjugation of the woman to the € man, typical in many ethnic groups, together with the lack of legislation, or that which is rarely acknowledged, for example, the abused woman is rejected, to be allowed to remain “autonomously” there, where her sojourn would be linked to that of the husband, this brings great harm to this figure who, precisely for this reason, frequently does not hold her own rights and/or condemns the violence to which she is subjected, even on a daily basis.

For this reason I hold that she, the immigrant woman, must be integrated seeking work and learning the language, without being, -as frequently happens-being deprived of her own identity and being content with whatever her husband offers her.”

How do the FMA mould justice in everyday life?

Paola pignatelli@hotmail.com b.sangma@cgfma.org

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The Ecumenical Vocation Bruna Grassini “Your Holiness, the days we spent together raised in our hearts sentiments of profound spiritual joy…

We felt that we were in a communion of love and hope, united in the same charity.

Your presence and words, Holiness, enriched us and consoled us much.

For us it is a duty of the heart to express the immense gratitude for the time that God has given us to share in prayer, in praise to the Holy Trinity, in fraternal dialogue and the bonds of affection that we strongly hope will grow.”

But the question of unity must disturb us, must burn within us.”

Pope John Paul II committed the Catholic Church in an “irreversible” manner to undertake the way of ecumenism, faithful to listening to the Holy Spirit. Jesus‟ prayer reaches us all, in the East as well as the West. It is an imperative that imposes upon us the obligation to overcome divisions.

Pope Benedict XVI exhorts us to realize spaces of encounter, of fraternity in a climate of reciprocal trust. Trust surpasses our divisions, “aware that shared roots can be found at a much deeper level than those of our divisions.”

It is certain that ecumenism does not divide, but on the contrary, unites us in the common faith of the one God, the one Baptism and the one Church.

Cardinal Carlo Maria Martini To His Holiness Bartholomew I Ecumenical Patriarch of Constantinople (Milan June 9, 1997) The Holy Spirit that descended on the Apostles gathered in the Cenacle has called us all to unity “opening the hearts of all to love, to truth, He has placed the cornerstone of the Church.”

But the ecumenical commitment requires prayer, hope, and realism before the difficulties and obstacle that will inevitably be encountered on the way of reconciliation.

“Religious pluralism”, said Cardinal Martini “is today a challenge for all religions, if we do not want to repeat old and new clashes…

grassini@libero.it

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Communicating in Community The lack of true communication in the community impedes good relationships.

God is not limited to giving man information on self, nor norms of behavior, but he has established a relationship which, through communication, generates communion

Lucy Roces At the sign of peace, Sr. Tesa closes her eyes and joins her hands “in profound prayer”.

The evening before, however, she fought with Sr.Contraria, her neighbor in chapel.

Sr. Devota is always punctual in chapel, she is more precise than any cloistered nun.

However, as soon as she is outside she grumbles because that Sister reads too loud, the other has a habit that is too short…

Sr. Angelica smiles gently all the time and has a good word for each student and Sister.

She communicates a great love for God and some girls are now interested in becoming Sisters.

From the beginning For Mother Mazzarello communication could not be separated from relationships.

Her way of communicating created a climate of serene familiar rapport. Mother Antonia Colombo reiterated this when she wrote of the first house of the FMA: “It was where that spirit of Mornese was born and what we want to characterize, even today, the face of our community ((with her) with its style of simple, profound relationships-rooted in the love of Jesus-that Maria Domenica knew how to promote and animate among the persons who lived there: Sisters and laypersons, girls and young people in formation, Salesians and family members.”

By our attitude we continually communicate something of ourselves to others and we create a climate.

The word “Communication” comes from the Latin communicare, and through the ending –atio- the word communication literally means placed in common. The ancient Greek term koinonia designated the concept of community and was absorbed into the Latin through the word communion and therefore, we have society/community. The fundamental value of the Latin adjective communis that is at the base of the verb comunicare, is reciprocity. These three words, sharing the same root, are interwoven: communication, communion, community. For us as consecrated women if one is missing the other two are also gone.

In community, communicating well is a powerful means for a psychologically healthy life, mutual support, personal growth, and vocational witness.

Words are irreversible Mother Teresa said: “Kind words are brief and easy to say, but they have an eternal echo.”

We know that our words can heal and make unity grow, or they can be cutting. Even Don Bosco was very clear about good conversation in community. In his letter of 1884 he wrote: “The thing that harms

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Mother Mazzarello wrote: “Speak little, very little with creatures, but instead, speak much with the Lord; He will make you truly wise.” This is the secret of listening: form to silence, the great ally of speech and dialogue We have in our communities healthy traditions that favor a communicative climate: the “Good Night”, the monthly private talk, personal fraternal encounters, conferences, outings, recreation. However, to face to face communication frequently there is an overlapping of communication through technology. It would be a good practice to examine our community communication: is it excellent. passable, routine, superficial or mediocre? How well do we know our Sisters? Are there times of relaxation, dialogue, recreation in community? Do we have face to face and heart to heart conversations in community?

religious community very much is murmuring directly contrary to charity…Be wary of telling a companion anything bad that someone has said of him, because at times there can come about disturbances and rancor that last for months and years…If you hear something that someone has said about a person, practice what the Holy Spirit has advised: „Have you heard a word against your neighbor? Let it die within you.‟” Actions speak We know that actions, facial expressions our eyes, express our sentiments more than our words. In the film “The Island-Ostrov” the monk Anatoly asks his confrere Father Lov: “When I die, will you cry for me?” Father Love gave him a dark look and left the room, slamming the door. There was no need for words.

Motivational incentives, a relationship of respect and sympathy sensitize people and may have more force than a million dollar advertising campaign.

amministratoreweb@cgfma.org Smartphone Take your old cell phone, your address book, your notebook, your digital camera, your video camera, your MP3 player, your GPS, hundreds of apps, e-mail, a touch display, wireless internet access, and a keyboard. Now try to mash them together and you will have a Smartphone, one of the latest technological gadgets. In effect, your cell phone already has these characteristics, what distinguishes the Smartphone from ordinary cell phones is that it has an operative mobile system, and the possibility to synchronize your e-mail and documents with the computer making it a mobile workplace.

One could think of the Smartphone as a miniature computer where you can send and receive phone calls. It is interesting, however, that while the market is flooded with the new Smartphone, many people still prefer the cell phone.

Do you hear me?

A good communicator must be, first of all, a good listener. “A heart that listens” summarizes “the whole Christian vision of the person”, emphasized Benedict XVI at the conclusion of the Spiritual Exercises this year. “The person is not perfect in self, man needs relationships, , he is a being in relation…He needs to listen, listen to another, especially the Other with a capital letter, God. Listening , emphasized the Holy Father, cannot leave aside the community dimension. “Not in the isolated „I‟ can we really listen to the Word: only in the „we‟ of the Church, in the „we‟of the communion of saints.” In a letter to Sr. Angela Vallese, animator of the house of Villa Colón,

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Pas Com: Pastoral of Communication communications that seek to guarantee a certain audience, without which this river of data would not succeed in giving meaning to our life. Only a true communication that goes well beyond the simple means that involve a formative and reflective process is capable of avoiding “non communication”.

The duty of all those who communicate would be that of simply speaking the truth, notwithstanding the fact that it could be harsh and could provoke unfavorable reactions. This is the reality that will help to change the world, freeing it from every slavery: we are all called to assume the vocation of the prophet.

Claudio Pighin “Communication among persons comes about in a relationship of dialogue. For this reason it is much more than a passing on of information . This presupposes production, transmission and reception of messages. It also requires a shared awareness of a social situation and the understanding of the language and message among those who are involved. When two persons meet for the first time, in fact, they use different codes and channels , proper to each one. For this reason they do not really interact and, there cannot be an efficient exchange of messages, and therefore there cannot be a true communication.” This is how the Brazilian Episcopal Conference expressed itself on the occasion of the Fraternity Campaign in 1989, the theme of which was “Communication and Fraternity”.

Without doubt, communication is so important in the life of persons that it becomes an essential part, promoting the relational processes insofar as they are social and ecclesial.

Those who succeed in communicating well are happier, in that they succeed in having a true life experience and learn from those who are before them.

No one, in fact, succeeds in being happy alone. For this reason the act of communicating is fundamental to life and deserves all our commitment to make it efficacious.

Every day we are literally bombarded by hundreds or even thousands of pieces of information; we are the object of disputes among the countless means of

How are we to organize PasCom? I believe that the first step is the identification of persons who are impassioned in wanting to increase the value of communication and who have the talents to be able to dedicate themselves in this sector. Then, to constitute the PasCom group it is necessary to have a place set up with a minimum of equipment so as to be able to gather and codify and decodify information and messages. It then becomes fundamental to meet with a certain constancy to be able to plan the activities of the Pastoral itself, that must always be synchronized with ecclesial activities. What is important is that each member of the team is able to integrate perfectly with the others and give the best of self, avoiding attitudes that are individualistic or to “be onstage” to stand out.

The components of the group, respecting

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Not to be excluded from this ecclesial journey is also an updated technical formation so that the Pastoral activity may be penetrating and incisive and could face today‟s communications challenges.

and appreciating the capacity of each person, must distribute the roles in such a way as to make PasCom more agile and efficacious.

Some examples of this task could be the function of coordinator, spokesperson, responsible for the area of information and informatics, audiovisual production, the celebration of events or liturgical times (to value the communications dimension in the area of the particular and worldwide Church), responsible for religious marketing, and many other tasks.

PasCom must be attentive to the signs of the times and to the events that mark the story of humanity, thus helping the Church to be ever more present and to be a life teacher.

Finally, I would like to insist on how fundamental the PasCom vocation is in helping people, and especially the young people to acquire a critical capacity regarding the messages they receive through the great means of communication. Today, more than ever, we are aware of this urgency in redeeming the freedom of the children of God from media manipulation. I remember a few years ago when, during a course with the young people of the State of Amapà (Brazil), at the conclusion of an analysis of an installment of a TV program transmitted by Brazilian TV, a girl stood and said “It seems that the scales have fallen from my eyes because I can begin to see and understand what this really is trying tell us.

I would not have been able to do this before because I would never have caught certain details as I have now done. I would only have limited myself to watching.”

So that every role can be assumed with full responsibility, each participant cannot consider her task as a simple service, because it is vested with a certain professionalism. She must always nourish herself with the Word of God and the Magisterium of the Church to respond to and ethic that distinguishes the true communicator. It is therefore fundamental to be in harmony with all the other pastoral activities, with the bishops, priests and leaders so as to be able to guarantee and support the true vocation of the Church.

All of this in reality does not happen by chance. There is need for time, study and dedication. PasCom can help us.

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The Wings of Freedom Adriana Nepi to you what a spiritual gift it is for me, to hearten myself with you and among you through the faith that we share you and me”.

He cited these words often, he recalls, in many spiritual retreats, to bring out the fruitful tension that exists between one who gives and one who receives the Word. He would return continually to this reference during a long experience of pastoral activity, and all if pervaded by a long breath of faith and optimism.

The Archbishop Emeritus of Milan recalls the encounters with Pastoral Council of the Milan Diocese. It usually began like this: “We are few, we are always the same, we don‟t have the young people…etc.” And he answered: “But don‟t you have anything for which to thank God? Don‟t you understand that the mere fact of living the faith in such a pagan context is an immense gift of God?” And he then cited the words of Paul “Above all, I give thanks to my God by means of Jesus Christ for all of you…” He notes that the Apostle attests to praying unceasingly for all the Christian communities, and then he pauses to speak of intercessory prayer, of the beauty of this in embracing all of humanity, all those who suffer any kind of affliction.

If our intercession is poor and distracted, let us not forget, he exhorts all, which it is but a little stream that enters into the great river of the intercession of the Church, which, in turn, enters into the immense ocean of the intercession of Christ, who is always alive and intercedes for us.

A Spiritual retreat for priests, with the presentment that this will be the last. It is this, perhaps, that confers a tone of very human familiarity to the simple reflections of this elderly, ill man who feels that he is “actually at the point of arrival”, but has lost nothing of his authority and his inner clarity.

The introduction follows a bit along the line of a traditional retreat, But it immediately leaves the plan, saying that there are five actors in the retreat…The listeners perk up their ears…”If we ask ourselves “, he continued, “what it would be good to speak of as a last argument, a last remembrance, I believe it would be beautiful to speak of eternal life. It is the great victory of Good, definitive, irrevocable, that has as its root the death and resurrection of Jesus…

What strikes me during this last part of my life, following my frequent hospital stays, is that the Father almost took Jesus by the hand and faithfully accompanied him: „This is my Son, whom I have chosen…‟ then, gradually, it seems that this Son was abandoned by the Father…Abandoned to the depths, to the point of surrendering as pure loss…Jesus, as a model of total abandonment…this is a theme that I would willingly deal with…”

After having introduced himself in this colloquial manner that would continued to the end, the cardinal developed his reflection along the lines of a few letters addresses to the Romans. He starts with Paul‟s premise: “I have desired to see you to communicate

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anonymous letter, and a pretended religiosity, that shows a purely external observance and the vanity of seeing success, and the ostentation of fasting…

This meditation is entitled “The wrath of God and it compares the passing of an electrical charge through a dark cloud, with hail, thunder and lightning. It is for us an undecipherable mystery of evil against which there is only one salvation: The grace of Christ, accepted in faith. The negative forces of evil and the positive forces of good are in a perennial struggle within us, as they are in everyone, even in children…However, we must not be afraid.

This does not even deal with demonizing the attraction which, at times, the evil one exercises over us…The Spirit is given to sustain our weakness and to accept, if we so desire, the gift of freedom, knowing that there is no human condition that could create permanent bitterness, that every situation could open itself to the joy of the Lord.

Following then the dictate of Paul who offers an impressive list of all the forms of human wickedness concluding that it is impossible to save one‟s self without grace, the affectionate and confidential tone of the father assumes the harshness of a real indictment.

Let no one think “This does not regard me.”

All of these enormous sins have been committed in the history, not only of the world, but also in the Church the laity, priest, Sisters, religious, bishops, popes…and he opens this point to develop a merciless examination of the sins of the world and of the Church, to the point of touching with lucid penetration certain dark recesses of the soul: Why should he have that position, that promotion, and not me?

And certain conformity, certain reticence dictated by unacknowledged ambition: If I speak, as I should, won‟t I lose esteem and prestige?

Won‟t I put my career in jeopardy? Then the squalid use of the

It is precisely on joy, on inner peace that we measure our belonging to Christ, the efficacy of our presence among people, our brothers and sisters. And one last agreeable personal remembrance …”You” he told his pastors, “could make your community happy or sad…If you have a happy face, all with be infected by your joy” and he concludes: “A smile is the first duty of a bishop…”

It was not easy to present this book, modest in size, yet very rich in content. I tried to give, rather, some little taste, to attract at least someone to read it. There is a sense of serenity of a truly personal, authentic, encounter with the Word, almost as a confirmation of Paul‟s noted declaration: “The Kingdom o heaven is justice, peace, and joy in the Holy Spirit.” (Rom 15, 17).

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www.heavenhelpus!

The new illiteracy? That of the elderly !

Yes, because notwithstanding the wisdom and experience, today being today, they are not in condition to use the new technologies (especially the computer )it is as though they no longer know how to read and write. Cut off from life !

Finally, I recently read that they have invented the Silver Cellphone for those of the third age! It has a keypad to connect automatically with those closest to the person (in our case it would have to be the animator or the nurse, or perhaps Jesus Himself!), another button to be informed about topics of general interest: indications for vaccination, on how to prevent an illness, or on ways to deal with pension matters, etc. (for us it might be the schedule of the practices of piety, the arrival of Mother General‟s circular, the announcement of the deceased Sisters, or the change of houses.. ) But let‟s be serious.

All of this anxiety for technological literacy of the elderly is useless. This is not how you fill the gap of existential solitude, that is not only the way how we train memory, at our age it is not necessary to follow the style. We are in the world, but not of the world! Certainly, if God would accept registration for Paradise via the web,we might take a little thought about learning how to use it! However, I believe that God is still a good father who still uses the ways of the heart and not those of telematics! And then, for us elderly it is enough to go to church, place ourselves in silence and key in on the keyboard of the heart: www.you thinkabout it and www.heaven help us! And it is done!

This is not a problem only for us “poor” elderly Sisters. I documented it: between the elderly and technology there is a difficult rapport everywhere, in general and many are mobilizing to begin a dialogue between these two worlds.

For example it began in England with the invention of Simplicity –a computer for the elderly-the first project to approach 200,000 elderly people in the world of informatics.

In Italy there is the Internet Salon an initiative for informatics literacy, dedicated to those over 60 to fill the digital gap that separates the elderly person from the young.

And at Cagliari an 80 year old grandmother won the Woman of the Year award because to conquer depression she started a blog, an Internet diary. So it was that they held her to be an exemplary feminine figure because of her capacity to solve problems (what a discovery! For us, once upon a time, to conquer depression it was enough to go to church with faith and to entrust ourselves to God in a heart to heart conversation. It was He who gave us the award!)

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In the next issue…

ENCOUNTERS CLOSE UP IN SDEARCH OF FACE TO FACE

Poverty and safeguarding the created Why Francis The man of the serene glance Pastoral-ly Relationships with young people Communicating in educational environments

The most important thing is not to think too much but rather to love much.

For this reason, do all that urges you to love…

(Teresa of Avila)

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HYMN TO LIFE Only in God does my soul rest My hope lies in Him alone‌ (Psalm 61,6)

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