"The work of the Cooperators will extend to every country; it will spread throughout Christianity... The hand of God sustains it! The Cooperators will be the ones who foster the Catholic spirit... You may think my idea is utopian, but I stand by it nevertheless!"
-St. John Bosco-

Salesian Cooperators are Catholics who, while living their faith within the framework of their own secular condition, draw their inspiration from Don Bosco, and seek to contribute to the salvation of the young and the poor.

As a service to the Church, they live out their Christianity in the midst of their family and of the contemporary world. They communicate Gospel values to the young and poor as co-workers or co-operators with God, who loves us all.

It is a commitment that is rooted in a deep desire to follow Christ more closely. It is inspired by a generous heart that seeks to respond to God's personal call to reach out to others using the educative method and style of relationship that was the hallmark of St, John Bosco.

It is a response to God's love, a maturing of the baptismal call. It urges one to follow God more closely by living the Salesian lifestyle as a layperson in the world, without religious vows.

The Salesian commitment is simply to love others the same way that God loves us. The Cooperator seeks to bring God's loving presence into the lives of their family and friends. They seek to live their Salesian way of life within their local community and Church. In a special way the Cooperator seeks to be a sign and bearer of God's love to others, especially the young and the poor.

Thus they seek to be instruments of God's love to all. They seek to bear witness to that love by bringing it into their home, the community, the Church, their place of work, and into every situation and place that God brings them.

Here at Archbishop Shaw High School our local group of Salesian Cooperators meets in the school library the last Thursday of each month, at 7:00 pm.