LAY PARTICIPATION IN THE ASSOCIATION

The seventh chapter of the formation process which the Primary ADMA in Turin-Valdocco proposes to the aspirants, refers to articles 10 and 11 of the Regulations that speak of the active and co-responsible participation of each member in the life of the Association.

The Association lives on the commitment and involvement of each member: it is necessary to choose to concretely live the membership of ADMA, felt as one’s own choice, with an active participation in all its expressions. The call to join ADMA demands a free and motivated response, matured under the action of the Spirit and with the help of Mary Help of Christians, with the accompaniment of those in charge. Each person is expected to participate with a spirit of communion and collaboration in the meetings and in the various activities and to offer their availability for the commitments and responsibilities to which they are called.

All baptised Catholics, 18 years and above, can request to belong to the Association. Each local group takes particular care in identifying and accompanying those who may be called to become member of ADMA. The preparation process must be followed in a special way so that membership may be something convinced and desired and not just formal or superficial. The required year of preparation should be lived with intensity and fidelity in the knowledge of the spirit and the Rules, cultivating such a path as a personal and committed response to a gift and a call from Mary Help of Christians. The manifestation of adherence to ADMA, during a celebration in honour of Mary Help of Christians, is only the beginning of a journey. Constant commitment is required, which is the expression of a choice of life in the Salesian spirit and mission.

The local Association takes care of the ongoing formation of its members and organises activities and initiatives locally in accordance with the Rules, nourishing the sense of belonging and stimulating the spiritual and apostolic commitment of each one. Each member, in turn, contributes to the growth of the Association.

In the course of the year, several special moments of belonging are proposed, open to all: monthly meetings for doctrinal formation, prayer and Eucharistic celebration or adoration, if possible, on the 24th of each month, the day of the commemoration of Mary Help of Christians; an annual Marian Day; participation in moments of celebration or meeting of the Salesian Family; spiritual exercises; processions, pilgrimages, retreat days; other meetings according to local programming.

Each meeting has three characteristics:

1) Fraternity through moments of communion, exchange, sharing;

2) Growth in the faith through formation itineraries;

3) Eucharistic-Marian prayer with the celebration of the Eucharist, adoration of the Blessed Sacrament and recitation of the Rosary.

Precisely because of the popular character of the Association, every meeting is open to anyone who wishes to participate. This fact also emphasises the value of being ‘leaven’, especially for those who want to open themselves up to a deeper experience of faith or for those in search of the meaning of life.

The annual practice of spiritual exercises constitutes an intense moment of renewal, listening to and meditation on the Word, purification of the heart and spiritual discernment.

A very important aspect of ADMA is that it is an Association of lay people. The Regulations of ADMA contain in the appendix some criteria which St. John Paul II indicated to all lay Associations in order to be partakers in the communion and mission of the Church. In summary, they are as follows:

Ø the primacy of every Christian’s vocation to holiness;

Ø the responsibility to confess the Catholic faith, accepting and proclaiming the truth about Christ, in obedience to the Church;

Ø the witness of a firm and convinced communion, in filial relationship with the Pope and the Bishop of the particular Church, in mutual esteem among all the forms of apostolate in the Church

Ø conformity and participation in the Church’s apostolic goal, i.e. ‘the evangelisation and sanctification of people and the Christian formation of their conscience;

Ø the commitment to a presence in human society that, in the light of the Church’s social doctrine, places itself at the service of man’s integral dignity.

Adherence to these criteria of ecclesiality bears concrete fruits that accompany the life and works of the various forms of Association: the renewed taste for prayer, contemplation, liturgical and sacramental life, the animation for the flourishing of vocations; the readiness to participate in the programmes and activities of the Church; the catechetical commitment and pedagogical capacity in forming Christians; the impulse for a Christian presence in the different environments of social life and the creation and animation of charitable, cultural and spiritual works; the spirit of detachment and evangelical poverty for a more generous charity towards all; the conversion to Christian life or the return to communion of baptised people who are ‘far away’.

This call to the Association’s secularity must be kept in mind at every level, particularly at the local level. In fact, on the one hand, there is still a tendency to identify the Church with the hierarchy, forgetting the common responsibility and mission of the People of God. On the other hand, there is also a tendency to conceive of the People of God according to a purely sociological or political idea, forgetting the novelty and the specificity of people who become so only in communion with Christ.

It is necessary that, while respecting the vocations and roles of consecrated persons and the laity, the co-responsibility of all members of the People of God be gradually promoted. This calls for a change of mentality concerning the laity in particular, recognising them not only as ‘co-workers’, but truly ‘co-responsible’ for the Church’s identity and action, so as to foster the consolidation of a mature and committed laity. The first responsibility of the Association therefore lies with the members of ADMA themselves.

They will be the protagonists of a qualified and effective animation which will help them to fully express their lay vocation.

Gian Luca and Mariangela Spesso