A word from the Superior General

This is the title of Chapter VI of Pastores Dabo Vobis the apostolic exhortation which addresses the theme of the ongoing formation of priests. The quote is from the 2Timothy 1: 6-7: “Therefore I remind you to rekindle the gift of God that is within you through the laying on of my hands. This is not a spirit of fear that God has given us, but a spirit of power and love and self-control. “

Meditating on Evangelii Gaudium we all feel moved by the enthusiasm, dynamism and the joy of being missionary disciples of Jesus, as well as alerted by the temptations that the Pope flags up. Indeed, in each of us, a struggle will take place between living for oneself and for others. And even without any ill intent on our part, we start by devoting ourselves to others but eventually return to ourselves. Without being aware of it, we think we are doing good but in fact we are looking after ourselves. The missionary dynamic of the encounter with the other turns into a dissipation of our own energy. Thus our growth in humanity and faith affects community life that we are committed to serve. Here are some quotes from the Pope Francis:

Spirit-filled evangelization is not the same as a set of tasks dutifully carried out despite one’s own personal inclinations and wishes (EG. 261).

Unless we see [Jesus] present at the heart of our missionary commitment, our enthusiasm soon wanes and we are no longer sure of what it is that we are handing on; we lack vigour and passion. A person who is not convinced, enthusiastic, certain and in love, will convince nobody. (EG. 266).

We have to regard ourselves as sealed, even branded, by this mission of bringing light, blessing, enlivening, raising up, healing and freeing... But once we separate our work from our private lives, everything turns grey and we will always be seeking recognition or asserting our needs. We stop being a people. (EG. 273).

This is why we must always live by discerning in the light of the Word of God the motivations of our missionary task; Scripture exposes the contradictions and invites us to an ongoing conversion. Anything that can help us do that, day by day, is a source of ongoing formation: an examination of conscience, lectio divina, Eucharist, frequent confession, spiritual direction, the faithful performance of our duty and our missionary activity, service and community prayer meetings as well as meetings of Congregation or the diocese, preparing sermons, study, reading, personal relationships and the annual retreat. These are the means in everyday life that help us to protect, cultivate and purify our human balance and our vocation.

But there are times in life where all the resources are scarce and we need to take a longer and deeper time for ourselves, because we are tired, because we have been hurt by a relationship, or because we experience a pastoral failure, a disappointment, because routine controls us, or because after many years, we are experiencing a change of place of mission.

We need the time and space that allow us to deepen our self-knowledge, and the blockages that unintentionally, get us bogged down and prevent us from developing the best of ourselves to continue to grow in our personality and our vocation; this path of growth, of maturity and wholeness, is the very thing that guides our relationship with Jesus, our Master, with the Father and with our brothers. It releases the secret spring of love spoken of by Saint Michael Garicoïts, otherwise something keeps us bound and made us lose our enthusiasm, dynamism and faithfulness to life.

In these situations, it is not enough to attend classes, or read a few books. It is not enough to take a vacation or a long journey of several days. It is important to return to the fundamental experiences of our lives, the motivations that guide the way we live, and the point of who we are and what we do: the encounter with the person of Jesus, who gave a direction to our lives, which for some reason have become a burden.

Sometimes I do not understand why some brothers of our religious family put up such resistance to taking time to renew themselves with the help of experts in spirituality and psychology.

Certainly some (brothers) are tired and weary, and this weariness in turn wears down communities instead of animating them. They have already given the communities everything they had, they feel too drained and refuse any proposed change or ongoing formation; thus these communities are prevented from becoming enriched by new approaches from a renewed pastor or even a new pastor.

The General Chapter of Bethlehem 2011 had called for a formation session in 2015 for religious over 40 years, based on the elements described, in our houses of Bethlehem and Nazareth. The commission, we have appointed to prepare this session, has worked on it these last three years and now everything is ready. It is not intended that it be a sightseeing trip or even a simple pilgrimage. The goal is to match the discovery of the holy places with the active interior search, so that everyone may be assisted to overcome the resistances and obstacles that stand in the way of our full commitment to follow Christ, who first loved us and sends us to love our brothers.

Gaspar Fernández Pérez, scj
Superior General