GROUP 10

96 Participants: 38 nationalities, 93 congregations

ONGOING FORMATION

FOR PERSONAL CONVERSION AND COLLECTIVE TRANSFORMATION

We began by clarifying some premises. In the first instance the belief that ongoing formation (OF) means above all the active readiness of the spiritual man and woman to be formed by life throughout their lifetime. The condition for authentic OF, then, is the inner attitude of the consecrated person, free in heart and mind, who has learned how to learn from life, above all from God the true author of formation, from his word, from his mystery, from the liturgy which s/he celebrates and from the richness of the charism; but from others too, from each brother and sister, holy or not so holy, from people, from the poor, from each culture, every moment of life and in any role, in success or failure; from the young and the elderly, from the healthy and the sick, letting him or herself be touched by life and gathering up the least fragment of truth and beauty wherever it may be found. And this until death, which will mark the fulfilment of each one’s OF. This is the notion of docibilitas, the true and proper condition of OF.

OF occurs at different levels. Firstly at the level of each individual, the first one responsible, since it can be delegated to no-one: then at various levels of the institution, of central authority and out on the boundaries, down to the local community. Consequently, there is an ordinary OF, managed by the individual and taking in daily matters, daily work, carried forward within one's own community: formation, then, is ongoing only if it is daily, but there is also an extraordinary OF, offered by the institution at different levels, made up of particular encounters, longer spiritual occasions, updating, recycling… The two types should normally work in together, but the antediluvian notion that OF is something extraordinary, made up of certain moments for certain people and regarding only certain areas of one’s personality – this notion is to be decisively abandoned.

This is why we have repeated that OF is the typical expression of the spiritual man/woman following the process of personal conversion, and that spirituality is by nature the element that harmonises the different environments of formation. OF also has great impact on the community and on the group, and impinges on the quality of life and witness; it is the soul of renewal and vocation animation. An institute which invests in it, invests in the future. Moreover, our life is either OF or it is an ongoing exercise in frustration. Perhaps OF is the true and only problem of VC today!

Signs of vitality

There is a strong awareness of the urgency of OF, understood as recovering the essential, as return to the sources and to an earlier love so that it becomes passion, as personally seeking God in the light of his word, as taking on one’s own responsibility (for the personal and community project).

Evident too is the attention given by superiors to looking after the spiritual growth of religious, through the institution of ad hoc commissions and the offering of varied opportunities (OF programmes, specific courses, possibility of personal accompaniment, moments for spiritual renewal, as well as intercongregational or local Church experiences: El camino de Emaùs in A.L.) To be emphasised too is the preoccupation with adequate formation of the formators.

Obstacles

At the level of the individual, one of the major obstacles is a rigid mentality, with its consequent sense of self-sufficiency, fear, closure, regressive phenomena, repetitiveness, delegating each project to the institution... There is a certain narcissism in the young, a falling off of passion in the mid-life phase, rigidity and lack of understanding in the old.

At the level of the community a certain lack of community commitment, and lack of fraternal responsibility and effective common life and growth. Besides, the excessive amount of work that takes one away from essentials is harmful and renders relationships less meaningful. It results in disorientation (burn-out). While at times there is some difficulty due to generational differences.

At the level of the institution we can highlight uncertainty in offering formative courses in OF for each age and situation (e.g. when leaving one kind of work, or in sickness or crisis) or reducing it to simple updating; also, too, the lack of superiors as animators of OF or as accompaniers. There is no continuity between initial F and OF.

There are those who say that OF costs too much.

Changing structures

Initial formation itself needs to be rethought, because often it does not seem to create in the person the conviction of needing to continue one’s formation, nor the readiness to learn from life, from each existential reality, from each person, from the little ones, the simple ones and the poor.

Besides, much emphasis is placed on re-evaluating fraternal life. There is insistence on forming community where each one feels responsible for the other and everyone together learns to use the instruments for integrating the good (community project, community discernment, collation…) and the bad (fraternal correction, review of life…) This is the passage from a model of individual holiness to that of community holiness.

But we are also dealing with restoring (or discovering) intrinsic formative values, e.g. prayer, fraternal obedience, of otherness, of “letting ourselves be touched” by others’ limits…OF is quality of life, of common life, which must be simpler, more open to everyone, more marked by warm reciprocal acceptance, more a place for sharing the same passion.

Scriptural texts

Texts on discipleship where Jesus is the teacher and formator: Mk 1:16-20 (the call on the lake), Mk 3:13-15 (the call after prayer), Lk 24 (Emmaus, Jesus explains, breaks the bread and sends them to the community), Jn 1:38-39 ("Who are you looking for?...), Jn 13 (washing of feet), Mt 11:29 (“Learn from me”).

’Example’ texts: Acts 2:40-42 (the Jerusalem community); Paul’s journey (especially 2Cor 12:7-10), Mary’s journey (from her ‘Fiat’ to the ‘Stabat’), Peter’s, Mary Magdalen’s journey, and the formative journey of the community of Jesus’ disciples (not just of each one singly).

Deeper understanding of meaningful biblical texts at a charismatic level.

All in the light of Eph 1:13-14 (“Enliven the gift that is within you..”)

Beliefs and guidelines for the future

The content of formation is the paschal mystery, all of life then, built around the model of the Easter Triduum. The ‘how’ consequently, is represented by spirituality (read in the light of the charism), spirituality that has the charism of synthesis and allows integration of all aspects of our life: from sexuality/affectivity to contemplative ability, from virginity (which is paschal sexuality) to the freedom to answer evil with good (which is always a paschal freedom.)

We are dealing with learning to be spiritual men and women on a constant journey towards Jerusalem.

Basically, then, re-proposing the formative process as a journey of faith which by its nature never finishes, as the growth of the seed which nevertheless will remain small, needing care and attention: on the part of the prepared formator (theologically and anthropologically), of the formation team, of teachers of the faith, of fraternity, well-inserted in a reality where the Spirit of God is present and close to the poor who evangelise us.

It is important then for there to be a systematic formation for formators, as persons with a passion for that small seed (=the young person with his or her weaknesses), and able to be passionate for God and humanity.

It is also fundamental that initial formation forms to docibilitas, in the sense given above, to self-knowledge, but also to the freedom to accept in oneself the sentiments of the Son, the Servant, the Lamb.

There is a need to immediately offer an educative and formative wholistic project, addressed to the whole person and destined to last all of one’s life, just because it deals with internalising these sentiments of the Son.. Thus, formation is not just pedagogy, but a theological way of thinking about consecrated life that is in itself formation, and as a progressive birth in ourselves of the image of the Son.

It will be necessary, then, to develop in the young a relational ability, intelligent collaboration; to recover the ecclesial and intercongregational dimension (like in this Congress) as the environment for shared formation; that readies one to live in conflict and in complex situations, in secularised and apparently hostile culture, with a light and believing soul, ready to live under persecution if this is required, as an opportunity for growth and witness in a divided world full of conflict - as formation of the inner person, and as a moment of growth for the Church. Because the mission is not ours but Christ’s, the Father’s mandate!



	GROUP 10 96 Participants: 38 nationalities, 93 congregations ONGOING FORMATION FOR PERSONAL CONVERSION AND COLLECTIVE TRANSFORMATION We began by clarifying some premises. In the first instance the belief that ongoing formation (OF) means above all the active readiness of the spiritual man and woman to be formed by life throughout their lifetime. The condition for authentic OF, then, is the inner attitude of the consecrated person, free in heart and mind, who has learned how to learn from life, above all from God the true author of formation, from his word, from his mystery, from the liturgy which s/he celebrates and from the richness of the charism; but from others too, from each brother and sister, holy or not so holy, from people, from the poor, from each culture, every moment of life and in any role, in success or failure; from the young and the elderly, from the healthy and the sick, letting him or herself be touched by life and gathering up the least fragment of truth and beauty wherever it may be found. And this until death, which will mark the fulfilment of each one’s OF. This is the notion of docibilitas, the true and proper condition of OF. OF occurs at different levels. Firstly at the level of each individual, the first one responsible, since it can be delegated to no-one: then at various levels of the institution, of central authority and out on the boundaries, down to the local community. Consequently, there is an ordinary OF, managed by the individual and taking in daily matters, daily work, carried forward within one's own community: formation, then, is ongoing only if it is daily, but there is also an extraordinary OF, offered by the institution at different levels, made up of particular encounters, longer spiritual occasions, updating, recycling… The two types should normally work in together, but the antediluvian notion that OF is something extraordinary, made up of certain moments for certain people and regarding only certain areas of one’s personality – this notion is to be decisively abandoned. This is why we have repeated that OF is the typical expression of the spiritual man/woman following the process of personal conversion, and that spirituality is by nature the element that harmonises the different environments of formation. OF also has great impact on the community and on the group, and impinges on the quality of life and witness; it is the soul of renewal and vocation animation. An institute which invests in it, invests in the future. Moreover, our life is either OF or it is an ongoing exercise in frustration. Perhaps OF is the true and only problem of VC today! Signs of vitality There is a strong awareness of the urgency of OF, understood as recovering the essential, as return to the sources and to an earlier love so that it becomes passion, as personally seeking God in the light of his word, as taking on one’s own responsibility (for the personal and community project). Evident too is the attention given by superiors to looking after the spiritual growth of religious, through the institution of ad hoc commissions and the offering of varied opportunities (OF programmes, specific courses, possibility of personal accompaniment, moments for spiritual renewal, as well as intercongregational or local Church experiences: El camino de Emaùs in A.L.) To be emphasised too is the preoccupation with adequate formation of the formators. Obstacles At the level of the individual, one of the major obstacles is a rigid mentality, with its consequent sense of self-sufficiency, fear, closure, regressive phenomena, repetitiveness, delegating each project to the institution... There is a certain narcissism in the young, a falling off of passion in the mid-life phase, rigidity and lack of understanding in the old. At the level of the community a certain lack of community commitment, and lack of fraternal responsibility and effective common life and growth. Besides, the excessive amount of work that takes one away from essentials is harmful and renders relationships less meaningful. It results in disorientation (burn-out). While at times there is some difficulty due to generational differences. At the level of the institution we can highlight uncertainty in offering formative courses in OF for each age and situation (e.g. when leaving one kind of work, or in sickness or crisis) or reducing it to simple updating; also, too, the lack of superiors as animators of OF or as accompaniers. There is no continuity between initial F and OF. There are those who say that OF costs too much. Changing structures Initial formation itself needs to be rethought, because often it does not seem to create in the person the conviction of needing to continue one’s formation, nor the readiness to learn from life, from each existential reality, from each person, from the little ones, the simple ones and the poor. Besides, much emphasis is placed on re-evaluating fraternal life. There is insistence on forming community where each one feels responsible for the other and everyone together learns to use the instruments for integrating the good (community project, community discernment, collation…) and the bad (fraternal correction, review of life…) This is the passage from a model of individual holiness to that of community holiness. But we are also dealing with restoring (or discovering) intrinsic formative values, e.g. prayer, fraternal obedience, of otherness, of “letting ourselves be touched” by others’ limits…OF is quality of life, of common life, which must be simpler, more open to everyone, more marked by warm reciprocal acceptance, more a place for sharing the same passion. Scriptural texts Texts on discipleship where Jesus is the teacher and formator: Mk 1:16-20 (the call on the lake), Mk 3:13-15 (the call after prayer), Lk 24 (Emmaus, Jesus explains, breaks the bread and sends them to the community), Jn 1:38-39 ("Who are you looking for?...), Jn 13 (washing of feet), Mt 11:29 (“Learn from me”). ’Example’ texts: Acts 2:40-42 (the Jerusalem community); Paul’s journey (especially 2Cor 12:7-10), Mary’s journey (from her ‘Fiat’ to the ‘Stabat’), Peter’s, Mary Magdalen’s journey, and the formative journey of the community of Jesus’ disciples (not just of each one singly). Deeper understanding of meaningful biblical texts at a charismatic level. All in the light of Eph 1:13-14 (“Enliven the gift that is within you..”) Beliefs and guidelines for the future The content of formation is the paschal mystery, all of life then, built around the model of the Easter Triduum. The ‘how’ consequently, is represented by spirituality (read in the light of the charism), spirituality that has the charism of synthesis and allows integration of all aspects of our life: from sexuality/affectivity to contemplative ability, from virginity (which is paschal sexuality) to the freedom to answer evil with good (which is always a paschal freedom.) We are dealing with learning to be spiritual men and women on a constant journey towards Jerusalem. Basically, then, re-proposing the formative process as a journey of faith which by its nature never finishes, as the growth of the seed which nevertheless will remain small, needing care and attention: on the part of the prepared formator (theologically and anthropologically), of the formation team, of teachers of the faith, of fraternity, well-inserted in a reality where the Spirit of God is present and close to the poor who evangelise us. It is important then for there to be a systematic formation for formators, as persons with a passion for that small seed (=the young person with his or her weaknesses), and able to be passionate for God and humanity. It is also fundamental that initial formation forms to docibilitas, in the sense given above, to self-knowledge, but also to the freedom to accept in oneself the sentiments of the Son, the Servant, the Lamb. There is a need to immediately offer an educative and formative wholistic project, addressed to the whole person and destined to last all of one’s life, just because it deals with internalising these sentiments of the Son.. Thus, formation is not just pedagogy, but a theological way of thinking about consecrated life that is in itself formation, and as a progressive birth in ourselves of the image of the Son. It will be necessary, then, to develop in the young a relational ability, intelligent collaboration; to recover the ecclesial and intercongregational dimension (like in this Congress) as the environment for shared formation; that readies one to live in conflict and in complex situations, in secularised and apparently hostile culture, with a light and believing soul, ready to live under persecution if this is required, as an opportunity for growth and witness in a divided world full of conflict - as formation of the inner person, and as a moment of growth for the Church. Because the mission is not ours but Christ’s, the Father’s mandate!