ADMA FAMILIES FROM MARY S HOME TO OUR HOMES

Transcription

1 ADMA FAMILIES FROM MARY S HOME TO OUR HOMES There are a lot of challenges that families have to face every day. And we want to make our little contribution too suggesting an experience among many that the Holy Spirit inspires the Church: that of the families of the Association of Mary Help of Christians (ADMA). We are thankful to Jesus and Mary for the beautiful gift they are giving to our families: a daily and concrete experience that is neither a theory nor an ideology.

2 A PATH FIT FOR FAMILIES A path of Christian formation fit for families, with particular regard to the young ones. This experience was born inside the Salesian Family, following Don Bosco s footsteps. It is a proposal to live to the full the call to be spouses and parents, brothers and sisters, finding in everyday life time to pray, to dialogue, to forgive and to charity. We want to imitate the familiar style of loving kindness of the Salesian charism, the style of the oratory. Under the eye of Jesus and Mary, we try to live every moment, even the toughest ones, without losing hope and in mutual mercy. FAMILY OF FAMILIES Today, no family can be left alone. The most beautiful evidence consists of seeing Eucharist and Mary help of the Christians as they truly become the pillars of our life, the reference points in everyday difficulties. And Don Bosco s dream becomes the heart of the path of ADMA families. A too hedonistic and disorienting culture, the loneliness that often characterizes the lifestyle, makes necessary the creation of settings where you can deepen and cultivate Christian values. We walk together to be a Family of families where we can share joys and burdens. A place where you pray for the others and the help and the solidarity want to be concrete actions.

3 FORMATION Religion, reason and loving kindness, the roots of the Preventive System of don Bosco, together with the experience of everyday life, are the inspiring springs of the topics we face. Religion: the spirit that blows from Mary s home makes the homes a cenacle where the prayer is the real glue that firms up and restores the family relationships. A real Christian path can t take it for granted a living and deep relation with the Lord of the life. It is important to learn how to pray, devote some of our time to prayer in our frenetic pace of today s life and often approach the Sacraments of Eucharist and Penance. At the same time is important to know and let our children know the experience of the saints too, because with their example they help us lead our life towards the Good. other. Reason: The Spirit of God that blows from the home of Mary and gives strength to cultivate the dimensions of being spouses and parents to live strongly and deeply how to be a family. We are trying to offer insights on how to learn to live as a couple through a real dialogue based on acceptance, mutual obedience, forgiveness, mercy, sacrifice for the We are underlining the importance of sharing our parenthood with the tough educative duty we have been called to. We are learning to understand how a man and a woman are part of the Big design of the love of God Trinity, the Love that helps us live with more awareness our vocation, to witness first of all with our life being Christian spouses.

4 Loving Kindness: the Spirit that blows from the house of Mary creates a marital love lived as a gift in the reciprocity and complementarity of a man and a woman, based on the grace and God s fidelity. We are cultivating a lifestyle which is welcoming and conscious of the others. The aim is not only to love, but having the other feel to be loved. For us, the primacy of mercy has the shape of loving each other in the familiar spirit of the oratory. This spirit is made of loving kindness, welcoming, simplicity and joy. A familiar style of supporting typical of the salesian pedagogy: each family meets the others with whom they do the walk of life. A support that gradually leads to anchor the life of the spouses and the children to the two pillars: Jesus Eucharist and Mary help of the Christians. Each family, is welcome in every moment of their life. We propose a path based on charity, without imposing anything. And the gesture want to be witnesses. THE PROGRAMME Our proposal is for all the family, both parents and children. It s organised in periodical appointments to attend with freedom and graduality, according to the family rhythm: The Commemoration of Mary help of the Christians on 24 th of each month: we meet to pray together the Rosary. The meeting at Valdocco lasts about one hour, and follows a well proven form: a brief formative introduction taken from ADMA online, followed by the meditated Rosary and Eucharistic Adoration. At the same time you may confess, if you d like to. In local groups the Rosary is sometimes rayed in a church, sometimes in a family, maybe followed by a

5 communal dining. The 24 th is often a weekday, so the meeting can take place the following weekend. This may be the first proposal to start a group. The contents are those of Adma online you can find at Monthly retreats A Sunday a month, a retreat takes place where it is given space to a Lectio Divina about the Word, to formation, prayer and couple talk. The children find counselors (they themselves are often children of Adma families and come from the path of ADMA Youth) that look after them with a Christian path fit for the different ages to let their parents live these moments in peace. Then we have lunch together, a communal moment and the Holy Mass. the adults. Annual spiritual exercises It is a summer week fit for families in a beautiful mountain place. We spent the first three days in reflection and prayer, on the fourth one we have a longer period of silence, and the last ones spending time together experiencing the joy of fraternity and friendship. The children live their week of animation in the same place followed by the counselors who are often the older children so that they can share the experience with Families in a family Here is a nice opportunity to deepen the fraternity and the beauty of staying together. In the evening, different families meet, pray the Rosary, share their life experiences and have dinner together. These occasions are useful for the children too because they let the people know each other and grow beautiful friendships..

6 PASTORAL CARE OF FAMILIES AND YOUTH PASTORAL Not only the ADMA families path is a project for parents, because it involves all the family. It s a thread that intertwines the parents path with that of the children in embroidery. Over time, from this warp, our children have formed a Young ADMA group by involving other friends which, in turn, have brought their parents to ADMA. Three young couples, a priest and often a FMA (Daughter of Mary Help of Christians) salesian sister take care of the young group. The presence of all the different vocations is the most beautiful evidence that our children can receive in a world that questions every definitive choice of life. In this regard, we have experienced that the Pastoral Care of Families and the Youth Pastoral must be open each other and walk together. Families are the primary source of education and breeding ground for Christian growth. To suggest a Christian path to the young, today, we must cooperate with their families and support them. As far as our experience, the path of the families fosters that of the young that grow up inside of them. Giving young families and consecrated persons the responsibility of the young turned to be a very providential choice, because they have become an important model and a point of reference for our kids. So, they can find answers and suggestions to help them design and realize their life in fullness. This synergy can cover all affective life long and the family experience: the education of teenagers and young to love, preparation of fiances to Christian Matrimony, support to the young couples and parents, with special regard to

7 the families with relationship s difficulties and irregular situations, the marital and familial spirituality in the perspective of the salesian spirituality. EDUCATIONAL ALLIANCE The priest is a gift for the spouses and for the parents. The spouses are wealth in life and daily prayer exchanges for priests and the consecrated people. The educational alliance is an important and characteristic feature of our experience. Alliance between spouses, between different families and between states of life to learn to live together and to build educating communities, in a style of communion that allows everyone to share their gifts with each other.. LIKE A SALESIAN FAMILY The path if Adma families is a path of a Salesian family like don Bosco wanted. Mary Help of Christians is the lovely mother we welcome to our homes and to our lives, secure guide of our path.

8 ADMA Primaria Via Maria Ausiliatrice Torino (Italia)