Assessment

Written Reflection + Essay

Module Aims

The aim of this module is to introduce learners to the theological foundations that underpin youth ministry within the Salesian tradition. The module seeks to deepen learners’ understanding of how theology informs pastoral practice with young people and to clarify the distinctive character of youth ministry in comparison with youth work. The module aims to support learners in integrating theological knowledge with reflective practice, fostering an approach to ministry that is relational, attentive, and grounded in the Salesian spiritual tradition. In doing so, it encourages learners to develop habits of reflection that inform their presence with young people and their engagement in pastoral contexts.

Learning Outcomes

• — Explain and identify the theological underpinnings of Salesian Youth Ministry.
• — Explain the pedagogical and communal dimensions of Salesian Youth Spirituality, with particular reference to the spirituality of the Salesian Preventive System.
• — Interrogate one’s own experience of youth ministry, identifying personal assumptions and comparing / contrasting these to elements of Salesian Spirituality
• — Identify and distinguish different operative images of God at work in youth ministry.
• — Discriminate between various paradigms of youth ministry, including Salesian Youth Ministry and Contemplative Youth Ministry.
• — Present theology from a youth perspective, engaging core themes of the Christian faith (e.g. creation, incarnation, redemption, Christian anthropology, Christology, soteriology, and worship) and their significance for young people.
• — Engage in informed argument about youth evangelisation today, taking account of the complexity of secularised society.

Bibliography

• — Eunan Mc Donnell SDB, Live Jesus with St Francis de Sales and St John Bosco (Malta: Salesian of Don Bosco Publications, 2022). Republished: (Bangaluru: Kristu Jyoti Publications, 2023)
• — Eunan Mc Donnell SDB, Created for Love (Stella Niagara, N.Y., DeSales Resource Center, 2019)
• — St Francis de Sales. Introduction to the Devout Life. Trans. with an introduction and notes by John K. Ryan (New York: Image Books, 1966).
• — The Nineteenth-Century Salesian Pentecost: The Salesian Family of Don Bosco, the Oblates and Oblate Sisters of St Francis de Sales, (ed.) Joseph Boenzi SDB (New York & Mahwah: Paulist Press, 2022).
• — Attard SDB, Fabio & Miguel Angel Garcia, Spiritual Accompaniment: An Educational Journey with Young People in the Way of Don Bosco (Bolton: Don Bosco Publications, 2018)
• — Burggraeve SDB, Robert, Amorevolezza, Ragione, Religione: Kindness, Reason, Religion (Bolton: Don Bosco Publications, 2022)
• — Doss, J. P, F. Sahayadas, M.C. Antonysamy, eds., Pathways to Fraternity: Educating the Young in the Light of ‘Fratelli Tutti.’ (New Delhi: AIDBES, 2021)
• — Grech SDB, Louis, Salesian Spiritual Companionship with Young People Today (Malta: Horizons, 2018)
• — Winstanley SDB, Michael T., Salesian Gospel Spirituality: An Exploration (Bolton: Don Bosco Publications, 2020)
• — Yaconelli, Mark, Contemplative Youth Ministry: Practising the Presence of Jesus with Young People (London: SPCK, 2014).