Omar Serrano Fonseca. Pastoral coordinator, Calasanz School, Bogotá.
As part of our educational mission, it is essential to work together with families, always seeking the well-being of children and young people.
Therefore, among the actions to be promoted in the different Piarist presences are training, accompaniment, and coordinated work with families, in line with the Pious Schools and in response to the Holy Father’s call in the Global Educational Pact to “recognize the family as the first and principal agent of education.”
To encourage family participation, the family integration committee was formed[1] of our school, the proposal to promote spaces for formation and accompaniment for families in their own spirituality and charism, contributing to their formation in identity as a Piarist Christian Community.
From the committee’s reflection and discussion, the idea arose to offer a space for families, similar to what the high school students were experiencing, to align with and accompany them in these pastoral spaces. The initiative was organized by the pastoral department, with the support of the local religious community and a parent’s contribution. It was a retreat focused on the school’s families.
Two objectives were set for the retreat: to offer families a space for prayer and reflection on their own knowledge and to provide a space for formation in Piarist spirituality.
The first step was to involve people. A letter was sent to the whole community, encouraging them to take part in this new space and highlighting the importance of continuing to learn about parenting. It was also presented at a parents’ meeting, and a stand was set up at the school entrance to promote and raise awareness of the initiative. Twenty-five families signed up for the first session and 18 for the second.
Next, the location was chosen and the theme selected, with the aim of finding something new that would strengthen family unity. The theme was prepared and presented to the religious community.
The families who signed up were sent emails that motivated and reminded them of the value of the space, which committed them to participate.
It is a deeply human, spiritual, relational, and Calasanctian pastoral proposal, aimed at renewing the awareness of the parental vocation as a loving, dialoguing, and formative mission, strengthened through dialogue and prayer in the style of Calasanz.
The experience revolved around the central theme of “Family, builder of communication, love, and faith.” From this core, key aspects were addressed, such as:
- The value of authentic communication in family life.
- The spiritual dimension of being parents.
- The experience of faith in the home.
- Understanding and expressing the languages of love.
- The formative mission of parents is in the emotional and spiritual accompaniment of their children.
The methodology developed sought to align with the principles of Calasanctian pedagogy: person-centered, experiential, spiritual, active, and focused on one’s own knowledge. It integrated:
- Talks with an experiential and argumentative approach. These were led by two families and the institution’s pastoral coordinator.
- Personal work: a key Calasanctian tool that allows for written, deep reflection and the naming of inner realities.
- Discussion: A space for discussion was created with some eleventh-grade students, who expressed the importance of knowing the languages of love in order to live them out in the family and contribute to communication at home.
- Prayer times at the beginning of the day, entrusting the work to be done to the Holy Spirit, reflective Bible reading, and the Eucharist of sending forth.
The experience required various elements that helped set the scene and energize the exercise.
- Technological equipment.
- Notebooks and pens for participants’ personal work.
- Kraft paper and markers for the commitment activity.
- Refreshments and lunch (included in the retreat venue logistics).
- Liturgical elements for the Eucharistic celebration.
- Reminder for participants
The retreat was led by:
- Jaime Correa and Omar Serrano: responsible for the structure, spiritual guidance, and pedagogical development of the day.
- Piarist Fathers Daniel Toro and Luis Padilla, who supported the process, contributed from their ministries to the Eucharistic experience and to all organizational aspects.
Among the achievements of this experience are the testimonies of families who recognize the importance of these spaces, their richness, and significance. Likewise, several participants joined an adult community of the Calasanz Movement, which continues to exist and follows a formation itinerary.
The retreat, in the words of one parent, was a “stop along the way” that reminded them that their mission is not only to educate but also to be a sacrament of God’s love in their children’s lives.
To build on last year’s achievement, a second part will be offered for those who have already experienced the space, and another for those attending for the first time.
[1] Committee composed of the institution’s principal, a representative from the human development team, a representative from the school government, a Piarist religious, parents, a community outreach project leader, and the pastoral coordinator.
