CONCON DAY THREE REPORT: 27TH JULY, 2016 AT “SYALOM” RETREAT HOUSE IN BANDUNGAN.

The day started with the celebration of the Holy Eucharist animated by Chile Province. At 8.30am after the preliminaries, the provincial groups presented their reports on their discussions held the previous day to conclude the recollection exercise.  

Bro. Raphael, the facilitator for the day, then introduced the topic for the first session “Formation for Consecrated Life”. This presentation was a recap of the presentation at the Formators Congress in Rome by Msgr Jose R Gabello, he said. He stressed the importance of silence as an essential tool in Religious Life which our formees should be introduced to. He briefly explained the three dimensions of Religious Life which must be focused on as the Spiritual dimension, the Fraternal /Community dimension and the Mission dimension.

He touched on Jesus’ lifestyle of Formation as the most basic model. He said even though the formation of Peter (Mk8:29, 32-33) seemed problematic, inconsistent and unstable, there was a continuous formation going on in him. Formation is a process that goes on in everyday life; in our joys, pains, successes and failures. Formees should therefore be advised never to ignore the ordinary “moments” of their lives.

The formator ought to know who he is, what he does and what he says. He ought to learn how to discern in the formees the presence of conflicts and immaturity, and help the formee to resolve his personal difficulties and take responsibility for them. The Formator he stressed, is not a “Superman” but simply an older Brother in faith and discipleship. 

Some basic attitudes of Formators he outlined included: Listening more than talking, hospitality, being conscious of your own fragility, having passion for Jesus, discerning what is from God and what is not, and becoming a person of communion. 

On the part of Formation of Formators, he stressed on the competence and specific preparation at both anthropological and spiritual levels, considering well experience Brothers and Brothers who know how to point out obstacles and mistakes. A formator should be a bridge builder, receives adequate training in human sciences, and is free in personal relationship.

Some questions were handed to the provincial groups for discussion and reporting in the plenary session later in the afternoon.

The afternoon session started at 4.00pm with the topic, “Models of Formation in a holistic approach”. Bro. Raphael gave brief explanation on three models of Formation and extensively explained a fourth one. These models are; perfection, self-realization/self acceptance, common observance and integration/re-establishing all things in Christ, respectively. 

Some announcements were given by Bro. Martinus after which the curtains were drawn for the close of the day.

By Bro. Alpitio Kog