Help from older friends

The Courses are also a wonderful opportunity to involve some of our older friends. They can explain the topics of their speciality clearly and succinctly, and with their competence direct the discussion afterwards.

Exchanges of views: avoidance of controversy

I want to remind you here that, as always, the discussions are not meant to be a critical analysis of the subject matter that has been explained, and less still an occasion for heated argument; they are a period of calm study. Their purpose is to clarify the genuine doubts that participants want to resolve, or to provide explanations or clarifications on points of detail, so they can afterwards explain things effectively to others. To achieve this, it is useful for the Numeraries and the friends who attend the classes to help the person in charge direct the discussion in an orderly fashion.

Bear in mind that if it seems that a passionate argument is going to break out, it is best to advise people to write out what they want to say as briefly and exactly as possible. Afterwards it can be taken up orally with that person alone, unless it happens to be useful for the whole class.

Professional orientation

It would be good to get those friends of ours who take part in this activity to try to help the best students of the Professional Courses in the area of their profession. With their experience and maturity they can guide and advise those students effectively.

Moreover, very often these friends will discover that those young persons – professionally select – end up being good collaborators in their own work. In this way they will have an opportunity to maintain contact with them and to prolong, as I said earlier, the apostolic contact and thereby help them to keep on the right path: servans semitas iustitiae, et vias sanctorum custodiens;¹³ helping them to keep to the path.