Report on Monday, July 10, 2023, Formators’ Meeting 

reported by: Bro. Agustinus Suparno

Today, Monday, July 10, 2023, marks the fourth day of the FIC formators meeting at Roncalli Retreat House, Salatiga. Bro. Antonius Teguh Nugroho began the day with a morning worship using the Breviary. In general, the natural situation in Salatiga is quite sunny in the morning, although a bit hot. A few days earlier, there was a little bit of rain, and the weather became quite cloudy. But today it is sunny.

During the first session, Bro. Martin Handoko invited the Formators to deal with the topic of Psychological Assessment. Various methods were discussed, with a focus on the importance of obtaining accurate results to benefit the formator in providing further assistance to the candidates. The ultimate goal is to identify suitable candidates for any organization/institution but especially for religious life. There are several methods available for evaluating candidates, including interviews, behavioral observations, and psychological tests that cover various content areas. We were enriched by some methods of Psychological Assessment which helps formators assess candidates.

In the second session, Br. Petrus Anjar shared his experience related to healing of hurtful memories. Various methods that can be used include psychodynamic, SEFT ( Spiritual Emotional Freedom Technique) method, hypnotherapy, and AMR (Awareness, Meditation, Relaxation). The healing process needs to be carried out continuously throughout the course of human life. Our task is to recognize the negative past wounds or experiences in our lives and try to reduce the impact they have on our lives as religious, whether in area of community life, faithful living, or apostolate. In his conclusion, he stressed that “The healing process needs to be undertaken continuously throughout our lives. Our task is to recognize the impact of past hurtful experiences, and try to reduce the negative impact these experiences may have on the community life, the vows, or apostolic life. Hopefully, with the various exercises, we become more joyful people and are able to share with others”.

Later in the afternoon session, Br. Raphael gave an input on basic skills in counseling that a formator needs to help his candidates who may be going through basic challenges in life. As leaders and formators, we may find ourselves in the role of a counsellor without having a true understanding of the concept of counselling or what the role of the professional counsellor entails. We can use these basic skills to guide our candidates in their growth as religious. 

Counselling is a learning-oriented process, which occurs usually in an interactive. relationship, with the aim of helping a person learn more about the self, and to use such understanding to enable the person to become an effective member of society according to UNESCO. He concluded by enumerating the benefits of counselling, among others,  that people feel more connected to others, especially those who are close to us, such as our community members, fellow brothers or friends. Counselling also reduces stress in community, in the workplace, or in relationships. It helps people understand their own thoughts and feelings, and also understand people better, e. g. our mates, friends and relatives. 

In the last session of the day, Br. Johan Muijtjens gave a similar input on skills in spiritual guidance, which is requirement for candidates in formation. In spiritual guidance three persons are involved, namely God, the self and the spiritual guide, thus the image of the three chairs.  God is the main guide in this exercise. In his presentation, he explained the aim of Spiritual guidance: It is primarily about the relationship of the guided person with God. It is a kind of help somebody needs to develop his relationship with God.

The task of the spiritual guide is first of all to be a COMPANION on that path: becoming ever deeply aware of God’s loving presence in your life. The guide is only someone who wants to walk with you in your spiritual life – opening, listening, like Jesus who walks with the disciples on their way to Emmaus. He trusts that the client can find the most precious treasures precisely in himself/herself. It is not so much receiving information, advice, or help from other persons. The real guide is the Holy Spirit. The human guide has a very modest role and yet an important role. He is like a midwife who helps a mother to give birth to a new child. 

After some minutes of break, we conclude the day’s activities with the evening eucharistic celebration led by Fr. Robert SVD.