Life of the Congregation (1) Session 2015

Next year (2015) a session on on-going formation will take place. During the meeting which was held from 8th – 12th January, the preparatory commission, appointed by the Superior General in 2012, drew up the lines according to which this special time of formation will be conducted.

The 2011 General Chapter asked specifically, concerning 0n-Going Formation that “An international session in Bethlehem should be held for religious aged over 40 years, lasting from 40 – 60 days .This session should have the following objectives:
1. “A deepening and appropriation of our charism.
2. Biblical formation for personal and spiritual renewal.
3. The Spiritual Exercises of St Ignatius.
4. Enrichment through internationality”
(General Chapter , nr. 17).

The Commission underlined the following points:
The session is meant for religious who have been in religious life for quite some time (religious aged over 40). Those who are going to be invited by their Regional and Vicariate superiors to participate will be asked for their availability to get involved. The commission preferred to speak of an on-going formation “session” rather than a teaching “course”. Although the broader outlines have already been drawn up, the course will be built after the different life experiences of each one.

It was preferable to work from a biblical image in the Prophet Hosea: “This is why I am going to seduce my spouse; I shall take her into the desert and there speak to her” (Hosea 2,16) to show how the course which we are going to follow together will unfold: in the light of the experiences of Jesus we will talk about our own life experiences, our hopes and our failures, our enthusiasms and our wounds.

We shall use the narratio fidei method. We shall try as best we can to pool our experience of God in our lives (how I came to be a believer?). How did my faith grow? What difficult times did my faith meet? When was my faith sorely tried? Here, Father Gaspar reminds us “that the narrative will help to make progress on the way of personal conversion. In the story of our faith we come to recognise the immense gift of God’s love. We thank him for all that he has done through our humanity, and we tell him also all that is lacking in us to be totally like Christ”.

Is this going to be a journey for someone facing a crisis in his vocation? Of course not! It is all about a journey planned for anyone wishing for self renewal and for refreshment after the daily fatigue. It is a journey planned for all those who do not simply exist but who want to live out the experience of their consecration and mission with joy, responsibility and enthusiasm. It is a journey for the brave, willing to challenge themselves and to profit by living an international experience.

When? The session will take place in the Holy Land (Bethlehem and Nazareth) from 28th June – 1st August 2015.

The first step is not far away! Soon Regional Superiors and Regional Vicars will be proposing some religious to be part of the session. “YES” showing availability will already be one way of wishing to realise the plans which the General Chapter is speaking about.

Graziano Sala, scj