FORMATION FOR CONSECRATED LIFE

IN A PERIOD OF CHANGE

It has often been said and many times repeated that both the present and future of our life
and mission depend on the formation we receive and the formation we give. In fact, formation is the
key that opens the door toward a meaningful life and mission. Without a suitable formation to the
demands of today, the risk of repeating ourselves, of standing up, and losing the sense of who we
are and what we do is more than just a working hypothesis.

In the seminar we held recently on the Theology of Religious Life we did not speak directly
of formation. The topics addressed within the overall theme of the seminar, entitled, Theology of
Consecrated Life: Identity and Significance of Apostolic Religious Life, were very rich and varied.
All of them were suggested by some situations which Consecrated Apostolic Life is going through,
especially in the western world with issues such as identity, aging, lack of vocations, difficulty in
managing work, activism, and community fragmentation – just to name a few. Such situations can
lead Religious Life to an identity crisis with the consequent loss of credibility, significance, and
visibility.

Those of us who participated in this seminar can attest that it was a rich experience of
fellowship born of careful listening and respectful acceptance of differences. These differences,
moreover, were like epiphanies of a God who makes all things new and of a Spirit who is not in
crisis, as was often repeated during the celebration of the Seminar. In this context of communion
which knew how to embrace the differences and live with them, the Seminar cast a benevolent and
hopeful eye toward the present and future of Apostolic Religious Life.

Once it concluded, the Seminar felt the need that those reflections should crystallize into the
daily lives of our Orders and Institutes. This requires, however, the mediation of initial and ongoing
formation. Bearing this workshop in mind, then, the challenges launched by Vita Consecrata and
those that we come up against today from the very situation of Religious Life, I will attempt (and
this is what I have been asked mainly to do), to underscore some formative pointers that can help us
to come up with a concrete answer to the challenges we face, thus strengthening our identity as
Religious.

Some prior convictions

Before directly addressing the issue, I want to emphasize some convictions which I consider
important to take into account when we talk about formation:

1.- This one has to do with both initial and ongoing formation. And if I had to give
preference to one of them, it would be to ongoing formation. For this, I rely on the document,
Starting Afresh from Christ, the first text of the Church in which ongoing formation is dealt with
before those of pastoral care of vocations and initial formation. In this way, we put aside that order
we call "chronological order", placing the emphasis on formation for all, which can be gauged from
a careful reading of Vita Consecrata. 1

2.- This conviction leads me to another very important point, that is, formation on a
journey, but a journey that lasts a lifetime. Formation does not refer only, as the document, Walking

1
Cf. Juan Pablo II, Exhortacion Post synodal sobre Vita Consecrata (=VC), (Post-Synodal Exhortation on Consecrated
Life) Rome 1996, 15.
Afresh from Christ2 expressly state, during the years in which we prepare for first profession or the
final consecration. Rather, being formed is not that, but something that never ends, or better yet,
something that starts with the first call of the Lord and ends with the visit of "sister bodily death."
That is why it is necessary to speak of a "formation that never ends."

The Magisterium of the Church has for years convey this idea. The document entitled,
Essential Elements of the Doctrine of the Church on Religious Life in 1983 stated that "Life is in a
constant process of development. It is not stable. The Religious is neither called nor consecrated
once and that’s it. The call of God and consecration to him continue throughout life, able to deeply
grow in ways that go beyond our understanding.3 "We are called to remain novices all throughout
life; to mature "progressively in us the attitude of the disciple, who always listens to the teacher, and
of the pilgrim, who always follows in the right direction."4 For his part, John Paul II affirms,
"Precisely because of its purpose of transforming the whole person, the requirements of formation
never ends. Indeed, it is necessary that Consecrated Persons be provided the opportunity to grow in
their commitment to the charism and mission of their Institute."5

3.- Another conviction that I underscore here is that formation is primarily allowing oneself
to be transformed into and configured with the Master; allowing the Spirit to conform us with Him.
A fundamental attitude that must constantly be maintained by those both in initial and ongoing
formation is to "open one’s whole life to the Holy Spirit."6 Formation is "conversion to the Word of
God"7; it is changing attitudes in order to better accept the Word of God, thus letting our lives be
more conformed to Christ, and not just merely be a knowing more.

Our calling entails following, but a total following that is binding and all embracing; it is a
following that seeks to assimilate and make ones own the attitudes, values, and way of life of Jesus
of Nazareth, the Master – as suggested by a text, very important to me, i.e., Vita Consecrata, which
describes formation as a "progressive assimilation of the sentiments of Christ."8 Formation is
simply "being converted",9 transforming the mind and heart according to the mind and heart of
Christ. Formation is a dynamic process of growth in which each person opens his heart to the
Gospel in daily life, committing oneself to ongoing conversion to follow Christ with ever greater
fidelity to his charism.

This leads one to take radical life as a normal requirement for following Christ. If religious
life is to "reproduce" and "follow more closely" the Life of Jesus, then evangelical radicalism is not
optional, but an option for life.10 The theology of formation11 has surpassed the model of

2
CIVCSVA, Caminando desde Cristo (=CDC), (Walking from Christ) Rome 2002, 15.
3
CIVCSVA, Elementos esenciales de la doctrina de la Iglesia sobre la vida religiosa (Essential Elements of the
Church on Religious Life), Rome, 1983, II.8. n. 44.
4
Amadeo Cencini, La formación permanente (Ongoing Formation), Madrid 2002, 53-54.
5
VC, 65.
6
Ibid.
7
VC, 68.
8
VC, 65.
9
VC, 109.
10
In this context it is worth remembering that in the origins of consecrated life, the Gospel, the integrity of the Gospel,
and firm will to live it and to configure one’s own life to him, was the fundamental criterion of vocational discernment.
This meant that Consecrated Persons lived a radical evangelical life. It's time to walk from the Gospel, if we want to
revitalize our life and mission, and if we wish to move away from the mediocrity of life and mission. cf. Jose Rodriguez
Carballo, OFM, Consecrated Life in Europe: Commitment to An Evangelical Prophecy in USG 2'10, 86-87; also in
Truth and Life, year LXIX, n. 258, 18-20.
11
Cf. Amadeo Cencini, Formazione permanente: ci crediamo davvero? Roma 2011, pp. 21-26; "It must be said that
real formation is when Christ becomes truly the form – in the deep and pervasive sense of the term – of the personality
of the one called. He becomes the standard of life, or the footsteps in which he walks. This goes well beyond the levels
"imitation" and has deepened the model of "following" instead, which is being forged by the model
of "identification" with the sentiments of Christ. This involves both initial and ongoing formation, a
profoundly human formation that is, at the same time, evangelically demanding.

4.- A fourth conviction is this: formation is primarily accomplished in every day life in
situations experienced by the community itself, while assuming the usual things, such as joy,
fatigue, pain, success, and failure as prime moments offered by the Lord to transform our lives. In
formation, one must not ignore the most ordinary mediations through which the Lord can be
present. Being formed and to form is to embrace life as formation in itself so that "every attitude
and behavior should manifest the full and joyful belonging to God in the important moments, such
as in the ordinary circumstances of everyday life."12

5.- This conviction leads me to affirm the need to ensure learning experiences throughout
the entire process; experiences that are well prepared, accompanied, and evaluated; experiences that
lead to a before and after – if we don’t want to fall into mere experiences.

6.- Both initial and ongoing formation must "be a formation of the whole person,"13 i.e., a
well rounded formation; it takes into account the whole person, so that it his physical, mental,
moral, and intellectual qualities may develop in a harmonious way while being active in social and
community life. The formation process is to nourish the whole life and not just one dimension,
important as it may be. Therefore, care must be taken of the human, Christian, and charismatic
dimensions, and as such, must "cover" the four vital centers of the person, namely, the mind
(important concepts), the heart (to assimilate and customize concepts, but for this, feelings are
essentials), the hands (formation as practical), and the feet (formation beginning with life and
leading to life because it lives from a mission perspective).

7.- While remaining faithful to the Gospel and to one’s own charism, the formative process
should be aware of the uniqueness of the person and the mystery of God inherent in each one. That
is why we have to follow a personalized process, suitable to each person. At the same time, it
should inculturate itself in the environmental conditions and times in which it develops. This is very
important for dialogue with contemporary culture and the Gospel. For this purpose, studies must be
considered one of the essential components of formation, according to the particular gifts of each
one.

8.- Taking into account the demands of formation and the situation in which our candidates
come to us or in which our fraternities/communities find themselves, I think it is essential that
formation promote an authentic sense of discipline, directed toward honest self-understanding, self-
control, fraternal life, and apostolic and missionary service.

A determining factor and, therefore, key in vocational discernment, is being passionate,

passionate for Christ and passionate for Humanity. Being passionate is the hallmark of people in
love. The priest is called to a radical discipleship or, if desired, to a passionate discipleship. Being
passionate, in fact, is what dynamizes vocational choice. Being passionate is what moves all the
energies and places anyone who lives it in a constant attitude "of following more closely" in the

of imitation or discipleship, though placing itself in continuity with it and integrating-assuming its undoubted positive
value. It is as ever interesting and rich in meaning the fact that this invite should be an introduction to the hymn of the
kenosis, almost explaining the content of these feelings that the one being called must learn to live, and which are, in
fact, the feelings manifested in the Son who did not withhold anything for himself jealousy, in his loving self abasement
to become man, a servant, humble, and obedient unto the Cross ... Would not the hymn of the kenosis be called, then, at
this point the hymn of the feelings of the Son?" pp. 24-25.
12
VC, 65.
13
VC, 65.
footsteps of Christ, embracing the most radicals demands of discipleship. Being passionate enables
a definitive commitment for life, and places one in a constant search for creative fidelity. Being
passionate is what leads to live for others, especially the poorest; it is to give of oneself gratuitously
and living from the logic of the gift. Being passionate is what sustains the sense of belonging to
Christ and to one’s own Order or Congregation; lastly, being passionate allows us to cross over any
type of cultural barrier or geographical distance in order to "restore" the gift of the Gospel [as center
focus]. Such passion requires self-discipline. Without the latter, the former will quickly be
extinguished.

9.- Religious life is a gift in the Church and for the Church: "The profession of the
evangelical counsels belongs indisputably to the life and holiness of the Church";14 it is an
"expression of the holiness of the Church."15 That is why we cannot think or live if not in
communion with the Church. Initial formation must foster in our formandi a great love for the
Church, both universal and local; a love which ongoing formation should nourish carefully: "One
cannot contemplate the face of Christ without seeing him shine in his Church. To love Christ is to
love the Church in her people and institutions,"16 as our Founders did. It is this love which will
allow Religious Life to fulfill its prophetic mission at all times by both proclaiming and denouncing
– as circumstances require.

10.- All this should take shape in a Project of Formation or Ratio Formationis, which can be
either provincial or general. The Project of Formation or Ratio must respond to the demands of
formation, which in addition to what has already been said, should be gradual and organic. To this
end, general and specific objectives should be clearly included in such a Project just as the means to
achieve these goals should be included in each formative stage. At the same time, it should provide
the basic criteria for vocational discernment in order to move from one stage to the other. The
Project must be evaluated periodically. Having a project, in fact, guards us against personalisms for
the sake of the community, improvisations with an air of clarity of principles, objectives, means,
and of measuring effectiveness merely based on numbers to scale the art of formation, thus
prioritizing evangelical quality.

Finding the Essentials

Finding what is essential is the main and most urgent challenge today for the Church, for the
human person, and, of course, for Religious Life. Time, routine, the usual ... are filling us with
accidental things that seem to be essential and indispensable. That is why we have to halt from time
to time along the way to ask what is essential, necessary, indispensable ... and what is accidental,
contingent, and even superfluous in our lives. We must be silent from time to time to identify what
constitutes the essence of Religious Life in its very depths. Today more than ever we are being
impelled – while transcending the peripheral aspects – to go back to the very heart of our Christian
and religious option. This is the great task religious life has up ahead today, namely, to identify the
indispensable elements of this project of life. And it is precisely in the indispensable elements that
formation has to focus and concentrate on, both in its initial and ongoing phase.

Since Vatican II to the present day, Religious Life has done a serious process of discernment
as much at the level of each Order or Congregation as that of Religious Life itself. The theological
reflection in this regard has been an important dynamic element to identify and – when necessary –
to return to the essential and indispensable. As John Paul II recognized himself, it is about a

14
Lumen Gentium, 44; cf. VC 29
15
VC, 32.
16
CdC, 32
"sensitive and difficult period [...], a time rich in hopes, projects, and innovating proposals." All
these efforts have been made with the aim of greater fidelity to those essential items. Unfortunately,
they "have not always been crowned with positive results", thus leading many to discouragement.
It's time, nonetheless, to continue that work with "new momentum".17

Consequently, the current theological reflection, as shown in the seminar on Theology of

Consecrated Life: Identity and Significance of Apostolic Religious Life, held in Rome in 2011, and
previously at the First International Congress of Consecrated Life, also in Rome in 2004, must
continue to pursue these essential and indispensable elements of Religious Life which are part of its
identity, "i.e., those elements without which there can be neither a radical Christian life nor a radical
following of Christ."18 Without these elements, the identity will be a "liquid identity", losing
cohesion, and the limits of the "I" run the risk of being, every day, too excessively flexible.

Because we are faced with an identity crisis that has certainly affected Religious Life in the
post-Conciliar era, it is urgent to clarify such an identity and base it on a relationship-model rather
than a contraposition-model of strong identities – as it happened not long ago. The task is as
urgently needed as arduous, for it is not easy to stay faithful to our identity and, at the same time, be
opened to integration with the other. A clear and open identity plays a fundamental role both in
initial and ongoing formation.

The aforesaid International Congress of Consecrated Life as well as the Seminar on

Theology of Religious Life both have identified three elements that are characteristic of Religious
Life at this historical moment we are living, namely, spirituality, fraternal life in community, and
mission. Benedict XVI insisted on these same elements at an audience granted to Superiors General
on November 26, 2010.19 These are the key elements of the identity of Consecrated Life which each
Order or Institute, in my view, must add what characterizes his own charismatic choice. Formation,
therefore, must insist on these three elements at this time.

The Spiritual Dimension of Religious Life. You Are Everything:20

Rooted and Built Up in Jesus Christ, Firm in the Faith (Col 2, 7)

Point of Departure

This is the first theological foundation of religious life. On it we must re-establish and re-
found Consecrated Life. "Religious life consists in being completely seduced by the living God."21
The experience of the Religious is that of the prophet who said, "O LORD, you have duped me, and
I was duped; you art stronger than I, and you have prevailed" (Jer. 20: 7) or even that of the
Apostle, who stated having been chosen from birth and have been called by his sheer grace (cf. Gal
1: 15).
God is the only truly necessary one; the truly central One in the life of a Religious.22
Religious life cannot be understood except from the experience of being called, seduced, and drawn

17
Cf. VC, 13.
18
Felicísimo Martínez, Situación actual y desafíos de la vida religiosa (Current Situation and Challenges of Religious
Life), in Frontera 44, 55, Vitoria 2004.
19
Cf. Discourse of the Holy Father Benedict XVI to the participants at the General Assembly of the Union of Superiors
General (USG) and the International Union of Superiors General (UISG) at the Clementine Hall on Friday Nov. 26,
2010.
20
San Francisco de Asís, Alabanzas al Dios altísimo (St. Francis of Assisi, Praises to God Most High), 3.
21
Mary Maher, Llamados y enviados. Reflexiones sobre la Teología de la Vida Religiosa (Called and Sent. Reflections
on the Theology of Religious Life), CONFER, n. 190, 2011, 55.
22
“Every Christian is called to the perfection of charity and to put Christ at the center of his existence, saying: 'You
alone are the Lord' ... The baptized with a marriage vocation makes the radical choice for Christ by accepting first
by the living and true God, and from the radical following of Christ "in a community of disciples to
serve and do ministry in His name."23 Its mission is none other than affirming with life itself, the
absolute primacy of God.24 His strength and apostolic fruitfulness lie in intimate union with Christ
and in the configuration with Him, expressed and realized through the profession of the
evangelicals counsels.25 We read in Vita Consecrata that "the more one lives in Christ, the better
one can serve him in others, going even to the furthest missionary outposts and facing the greatest
dangers."26 This configuration with Christ makes Religious Life "a living memorial of Jesus' way of
living and acting...a living tradition of the Savior’s life and message."27

In Formation special attention must given to the experience of God, so that one can develop
the ability and sensitivity to capture the language of God, feel his presence, and his loving manner
of acting in everyday life. It is the experience of God that leads us to say with Job: "Before I knew
by reputation, now my eyes have seen you" (Job 42: 5-6).

Experience always marks a before and an after, even in a personal relationship with God.
The experience of God is always disruptive, producing the effect of an interior earthquake, to the
point that what was bitter before becomes afterwards "sweetness of soul and body".28 Without the
after, "the experience is consumed, but not really consumed."29 One cannot confuse the experience
of God by consuming prayers and pious exercises even though they are necessary. The
consummated experience generates attitudes, behaviors, and, ultimately, a new life, a life of those
who feel and live as a disciple. The experience of God, more than anything else, forges one’s own
existence because it transforms it into an "icon" of the Lord.

Formed in order to form in the primacy of God

In times of winter, strong winds, and storms like the one we are experiencing, it is urgent to
found or re-found Religious Life on the rock that is Christ, the bedrock of radical faith, on the
experience of God. If we do not want to build on quicksand, then we must foster in both ongoing
and initial formation a true experience of God, an experience that leads us to open ourselves to Him,
and accept Him unconditionally. It should be an experience that results in an irreversible movement
directed toward conversion and a strong identity that becomes a mission. It should be an experience
that involves a process such that one can say, “he was there! I did not see, hear, or touch him, but he
was there.” The path of faith begins from this confession.

The experience of God we are talking about is, first of all, to be formed and to form in a
radical faith and in the experience of the Absolute who relativizes everything else. It is radical faith
or theological experience that gives meaning and flavor to the project of life of a Religious. Radical
faith is what leads the believer, the Religious, to trustful surrender to the providence of God, even
before it translates into religious or historical commitments. Radical faith is what leads us into the

his/her spouse and afterwards his children ...; the 'you alone' they direct to Christ cannot be effective without a 'you
alone' directed also to his/her spouse. Those called to religious life, however, make a radical choice for Christ without
either a spouse or offspring; they say to Christ, 'You alone' without another 'you alone'. Sylvie Robert, La teología de
los consejos evangélicos en la Vida Consagrada Apostólica [The Theology of Evangelical Counsels in the Apostolic
Consecrated Life], in CONFER, vol 50, n. 190, 75-76.
23
Idem.
24
Cf. Consecrated Life (=CV), 85.
25
Cf. VC 30.
26
CV, 76.
27
CV, 22.
28
St. Francis of Assisi, Testament, 3.
29
Lola Arieta, Itinerarios en la formación. Pista para el camino del seguimiento de Jesús [Itineraries in Formation.
Pointers for Following Jesus],Vitoria 2007, in Frontera, 56, 48.
contemplative dimension and is nourished by it. Having a radical faith is what envelopes the whole
person and becomes the source of true joy, unfailing hope, and witness in the world.

It is clear, then, that radical faith is not to be confused with mere knowledge or theological
reflection, repetition of formulas or an ideological system of voluntarist conviction. It is not to be
confused with mere religious feelings or expended in the world of emotions, or even an emotional
experience of moments of prayer. The radical faith that we are talking about is not reduced to the
moments of prayer as such, even when it is nourished by them. Rather, radical faith is a finding, a
gradual and living act of welcoming the reality of God and man in the light of Jesus Christ. Radical
faith is, above all, an experience of trust in the Lord as shown by Peter when he stated, "relying on
your word I will lower the nets" (Lk 5, 5). It is a trust that goes beyond all reason, all human
guarantees, all strength, reasons, and lights. This trust is what sustains fidelity, even in the most
trying moments. Radical faith, therefore, introduces us in the way of discipleship till we "have the
same sentiments of Christ" (Phil 2, 5).

To have this experience, it is not enough merely to return to regular observance or extend
times for prayer and meditation, or multiply liturgical and devotional practices of each religious
family. To have this experience we must go beyond the mere ritual and observance. It is necessary
to pray for it insistently; receive it with meekness because it is a gift of the Spirit; and consistently
exercise it through an intense personal prayer through the daily listening to the Word of God and
the celebration of the sacraments of both the Eucharist and Reconciliation.

If there is a serious problem in religious life today, then it would be on the issue of
spirituality and radical faith. Likewise, if ongoing and initial formation should pay special attention
to something today, it would be on the experience God and educating in the radical faith. Without
Him we can do nothing (cf. Jn 15: 5). Faith, freely accepted, is the only solid foundation on which
to build a life of prayer, chastity, fraternity, poverty, and service.

Of course, when we speak of spirituality, we are talking about:

- A unified spirituality to make us children of heaven and earth, in which the world, far
from being an obstacle to an encounter with God, becomes a normal way through which God
manifest himself.
- A spirituality in dynamic tension that makes mystics and prophets of us and leads us to
live passionately for God and humanity at the same time.
- A spirituality of presence to transform us into disciples and witnesses.30

Among the Formative Mediations to experience God, I underscore the following:

1. God can only be spoken of from experience and not from hearsay. And if this is true, and I
personally am quite convinced of that, then we are entering into a critical area with regard to
formation, that is, the need for spiritual masters and true spiritual guidance. In initial
formation this requires the presence of formators who are on the path of this process, people
who are credible for their life of faith and true masters of the spirit. For its part, ongoing
formation stands in need of masters who, having quenched their thirst for God, like the
Samaritan woman, become witnesses and teachers in search of the waters of life (cf. Jn 4,

30
Alvaro Rodríguez Echeverría, Profecía de la existencia y presencia amorosa de Dios en la vida consagrada
[Prophecy of Existence and Loving Presence in Consecrated Life], in Theós. Identidad y profecía. Teología de la Vida
Consagrada hoy in Theos [Identity and Prophecy. Theology of Consecrated Life]. USG, Roma 2011, 79ss.
 1ff). I think this should be a real priority in both ongoing and initial formation because, in
my view, there is a large gap right now in Religious Life and, perhaps, also in the Church.

2. On the other hand, particularly in the homes of initial formation, it is necessary to foster an
atmosphere of silence,31 intense prayer, deep spiritual exchanges, places in which faith is
assessed constantly without fear. Only then will young people in initial formation and adults
in ongoing formation will be able to witness in their own search, that God lives, that Jesus is
Lord, and the Spirit is the force that enlivens. Then the fraternities/communities will be
shining places of faith, places of prayer and Gospel reference for the religious themselves as
well as for men and women searching for meaning in their lives. This is an urgency felt in
religious life and felt by those in formation; they feel the need for formation houses that are
"schools of prayer".32 This is a response which many lay people expect of us, Religious, that
is, to form communities where life of prayer is lived out as an obvious priority. This, in fact,
is a means of evangelization which cannot be forgotten – if we wish to respond
appropriately to so many expectations that come to us from our society, so deeply
secularized, but also in search of meaning.

3. Other formative mediations to enhance the experience of God are: formation to an authentic
liturgical spirit; introduction to the study and prayerful reading of the Word of God,33
authentic Marian devotion, retreats, and hermitages.

Also important is a suitable education/formation that enables reading one’s life and history
with the eyes of faith, the contemplation of Christ in the poor, the evangelical hierarchy of values
and activities, proper use time, taking into account the requirements of fraternal life in community,
the needs of the people, mission, and the discreet use of means of communication.34

Fraternal Life in Community. From life in common to communion of life

Starting point

Jesus inaugurates a type of family that is based on listening to the Word and the bonds of
faith (cf. Acts 2, 42ss). This family is called to transform the bonds of flesh and blood (cf. Mk 10,
22, Mt 19, 29).

Fraternal life in community is the second indispensable element of religious life. The ways
of living it changes according to the charism, the sociological models of religious community, the
forms of organization, and community rhythms. The essentials, however, remain, such as fraternal

31
Es el camino de los místicos: “la noche sosegada, en par de los levantes de la aurora, la música callada, la soledad
sonora, la cena que recrea y enamora [This is the path of the mystics: the quiet night at par with the lift of the dawn,
silent music, sound solitude, and supper that refreshes and deepens love” St. John of the Cross Spiritual Canticles.
32
Formation has great masters of mystical prayer, such as St. Peter of Alcantara, from the Treatise on Prayer and
Devotion, "meditation reasons with work and fruit, but contemplation does so without work and fruit. The former
searches while the latter finds; the former ruminates the food, while the latter tastes it; the former thinks and makes
considerations, while the latter is content with a simple gaze of things because it already has its love and taste; the
former is a means, while the latter is an end; lastly, the former one is a path and movement, while the latter is the end of
this path and movement”, (Chapter XII, Some advice during this exercise, eighth advice).
33
Cf. Benedict XVI, Exchortación apostólica Verbum Domini, Roma, 2010, ns. 83. 86.
34
“The media culture also carries counter values within it. And, therefore, requires a critical mind and wise
discernment”, Vera Ivanese Bonbonatto in a presentation given at a Seminar. Theological Reflections on New
Experiences of Apostolic Life.
life in community that both shows the world what Christian love is and becomes a true "family
united in Christ,"35 where each one makes his own needs known to the other and where all members
can reach fully human, Christian, and religious maturity.

What we said earlier regarding the experience of God, we can now say in rapport with
fraternal life in community, namely, that Religious Life is called to be re-founded or re-established
and, of course, revitalized, starting from a meaningful fraternal life in community – evangelically
speaking. Fraternal life in community is, in fact, one of the strongest signs of the love of the Eternal
One, but also the place where renewal of religious life becomes more credible. Fraternal life in
community is also a strategic and decisive reality, from both the spiritual and psychological as well
as from the theological and sociological standpoints. This is an aspect of religious life, which,
perhaps, is more credible today.

In a culture that coined "egotism," the primacy of self, and, consequently, the most
outrageous individualism; in a culture like ours that has weakened the primary groups, such as the
couple, family, the village, and even friendship, fraternal-life-in-community has now a great and
valuable witness to our contemporaries. It shows the most essential aspect of Christian life, namely,
brotherly love, and because of that, is, in itself, a proclamation of the Gospel. For many, it is the
first form of evangelization.36

To be formed in order to form in a meaningful fraternal life in community

Fraternal life in community is not only an essential element in Religious Life, but also one
of the most attractive for many young people who draw close to it. In fraternal life in community,
they look for a space where faith and the Word of God are shared and celebrated in common; a
space that places the person at the center, thus multiplying spaces of meeting rather than structures;
a vital space where there is a community of goods and services as well as shared mission; a space
where reconciliation and fraternal correction is lived out and where each brother accompanies the
path of fidelity of the other brothers; and a space characterized by a simple way of life37 and
openness to share with the people, especially the poorest among them.

According to these demands by many youth who come to us – which to me seem quite
reasonable – fraternal life in community signified and nourished by the Eucharist, the sacrament of
unity and charity, entails sharing in both the material and spiritual, in the search for God and Jesus,
in prayer in common, and fraternal exchanges; it also entails a continued communal discernment
that makes it possible to preserve its own charismatic identity, and guards its members from a
routine and mediocre way of life.

Within this context, we can say that a fraternity or community that wishes to be defined as
formative must believe themselves called to respond to the requirements listed above; they must
also constantly strive to find appropriate means to recreate communion, intercommunication,
warmth, and truth in the members' relationships with each other. A fraternity or community that

35
Ecclesiae Sanctae, II, 25.
36
As stated in the Seminar and underscored by Fr. Mauro Johri, "the credibility of evangelization is shown in the way
fraternity is lived out", cf. M. Johri, ¡De la vida común a la comunión de vida! [From Common Life to a Communion of
Life], en Theos, Identidad y Profecía. Teología de la vida religiosa hoy [Identity and Prophecy. Theology of
Consecrated Life], USG, 2011, 88ss.
37
Vera Ivanese Bonbonatto, in the aforementioned lecture at the Seminar entitled, Theological Reflection on New
Experiences of Apostolic Life stated in this regard that, “The constant search for austerity and radicalness of life is a
hallmark of the new experiences of apostolic religious life. ... Radicalness and austerity of life are then expressed in
terms of courageous renouncement of the comfort postmodern society offers; it indicates, furthermore, a break with the
patterns of consumerism and individualism. Consequently, they are conceived as prophetic signs”.
wishes to be formative should be a prophetic community and a signal fraternity that knows how to
read the signs of the times38 and is able to incarnate the Gospel in a concrete and understandable
way for today’s culture.

A fraternity called to form, ought to know and believe itself in formation; seeking together
what pleases the Lord; accepting each other, limiting its own personal freedom for the sake of
others’ freedom; and submitting to the demands of community life and the essential structures of
the fraternity. A formative fraternity must be definitively the sacrament of transcendence and, at the
same time, both deeply human and humanizing. For this purpose, values, such as mutual friendship,
courtesy, a cheerful spirit, have to be cultivated in such a way as to be a permanent stimulus of
peace and joy with Christ always at the center.

Formative Mediations for Fraternal Life in Community

In order to be formed and to form in fraternal life in community, it is important to pay

attention to some mediations that are derived from what we have been indicating thus far. Here
below are those that, in my view, may be considered the most important:

1.- One of the first mediations is ordinary life as a school of formation. It is the everyday,
normal existence that holds the true secret of formation and makes it ongoing. To run away from
this would be a childish pretense, thus becoming for the Religious an ongoing frustration, perhaps,
with ongoing alibi.39

2.- Another important mediation is that of conflict. Apparently, it may seem a contradiction,
but conflict faced with maturity, insight, and authenticity can be an important formative element. In
the face of conflict, formation should help both youth and adults not to react by flight,
accommodation, or competition, but by collaboration instead. Collaboration, in fact, is the one that
does not shy away from conflict, but faces it and, thanks to its mainly supportive attitude, is
respectful of opposing views to his own, able to dialogue and collaborate, and honestly seek a
solution to the conflict, while questioning his own reasons.40

To have such an effect, one must have an attitude of dialogue as a on a lighted path with
one illuminates the other, thus exchanging small sparks of truth. On the other hand, in order that
dialogue may be possible two attitudes are necessary, i.e., interior intelligence and relational
capacity. By interior intelligence, we understand it to mean awareness that every relationship is a
challenge as much to one’s own maturity as to one’s immaturity. This intelligence is what leads us
to discover what each one carries in his heart. By relational capacity, we mean the ability to learn to
listen to others in humility, so as to be in tune with what the other is going thru.

3.- Very important is also interpersonal communication. This is the first step to advance in
building an authentic fraternal life in community. In order for communication to be a tool for
building fraternal life in community, it must take into account three levels: 1) what we do, 2) what
we think, and 3) what we feel. Communication is more than a simple exchange of ideas or news. A
deep quality communication occurs in a situation where people can meet. Communication is to
enter directly into relationship with the "other" whom I can definitely call "you." It is by
encountering "you" that makes "me" all the more.41

38
Cf. Gaudium et Spes, 4; CV, 81, Paul VI, Octogesima adveniens, 1965, 3.
39
Cf. Amadeo Cencini, “Guardate al futuro…” Perché ha ancora senso consacrarsi a Dio [Look to the Future…”
Why it still matters to be consecrated to God, Ed. Paoline, Milan 2010, 96.
40
Cf. Luis López Yarto, Relaciones humanas en comunidad. Instrumento de ayuda. Frontera 54, Vitoria 2006, 63ss.
41
Cf. Martín Buber, Yo y Tú [You and I], Buenos Aires, 1974
 One aspect that I do not think to be secondary is that in order to believe in a mature
communication, where there are heterogeneous communities, where communication does not end
up being a trap to create members similar to each other or members who are self-selected. A
formation house should reflect as far as possible a family environment where there are elders,
adults, youth, and children. It is necessary to learn right from the start of Consecrated Life how to
live and grow with the "other" and "different". For this purpose, international and multicultural
communities are very important, where one is forced to deal daily with the international,
intercultural, and missionary.

Within this context, I would like to point out, even if only in passing, the benefits of inter-
congregational experiences right from initial formation – provided they do not replace but integrate
the formation offered by the Institute itself. These experiences will enable collaboration to go
beyond its own Order or the Institute itself. The situation religious life is going thru is forcing us
increasingly – it’s pity that we do so out of obligation! – to share experiences, formative paths,
projects, energies, and institutions among ourselves.

Special care must be taken of communication in formation. I draw your attention here to a
temptation to be avoided. Despite the many means of communication available to Religious, I have
the impression that interpersonal communication today has weakened much. Every time we meet,
we are more interconnected, but less communicative; there is more community, but, at the same
time, more alone. This can lead to tragic consequences with regards to vocation.

Within this context it seems important to point out the need to work in formation for
fraternal life in community in the dimension of affective maturity, so as to be able to relate to
others. A healthy affective maturity depends largely on the formative environment of a fraternity or
community.

4.- When forming for fraternal life in community, it is also necessary to create
interdependence,42 that is, the ability to collaborate on a common project and walk together towards
the same goal; to walk together because I feel that my own realization and happiness depend on it.
Thanks to interdependence and collaboration, the group disappears to become a family, consisting,
as we have already said, of heterogeneous people and the wealth of roles. We become a family
where common standards of conduct develop and a satisfactory form of leadership is established.

5.- Finally, I want to say a word about a mediation that I consider very important both in
ongoing and initial formation, that is, the project of fraternal life and mission.43 In this project, there
should be no concern of operational efficiency driving its development, but, rather, the need to
integrate harmoniously the whole of our life and establish criteria that guide our life and mission.
Among the priorities of the charism and evangelizing mission during initial formation there must be
a dynamic feedback about personal and communal projects.

Mission
42
Sobre la interdependencia [About Interdependence], cf. Th. M., Newcomb, The acquaintance process, New York,
1961.
43
Project comes from the Latin verb, proicio, and its past participle, proiectum. Its first meaning is to launch forward.
When we talk about a project of fraternal life and mission, we're talking about a life that, from its present, seeks to make
room for creativity, while projecting forward in view of a successful life. The project of life is, in my opinion, the best
antidote against any form of narcissistic withdrawal on oneself. The project of life is justified from a dynamic
conception of the person, from a conception of man as a pilgrim, homo vator. Therefore, I consider these and other
aspects of the project of fraternal life and mission to be important. cf. Nico Dal Molin, Il mistero di una scelta. Giovani
e vita consacrata [The Mystery of a Choice. Youth and Consecrated Life], Ed. Paoline, 2006, 140ss.
 Bearers of the Gift of the Gospel
to the Men and Women of Today

Starting point

The Seminar on Religious Life as well as many other forums insist on mission as an
essential element of Religious Life.44 Benedict XVI reminded us in the aforementioned audience to
the Superiors General of November 26, 2010, that "Mission is the way of being of the Church and
Consecrated Life; it is part of our identity." The Religious stands out for being called and sent (cf.
Mk 3: 14-15).45 As such, the Religious is a partaker in Christ's mission, ho apostolos, sent by the
Father (cf. Heb 3, 1), so that "all other vocations and missions are as constellations placed around
the person of Christ ".46

Viewed in this way, one cannot understand the mission of a Religious without an existential
reference to Christ. If Jesus does nothing on his own (cf. Jn 8, 28) and if in his ministry there is no
reference to his mission – for at the center is the Father who sent him, ("My food is to do the will of
him who sent me "[Jn 4, 34]) – then the same must be said of the Religious called to live in a deep
filial anthropology.47

All that I want to reaffirm is that in the life of the Religious – as I mentioned above –
everything, also mission, starts from that "you alone" and from that "You are everything." Mission
cannot be reduced to a religious volunteering, or simply be explained with the paradigms of
contemporary thought. You cannot separate the "apostolicity" of the Religious from its
Christological meaning with all that it entails.

However, this aspect is not enough. In mission, the Religious is called to constantly confront
the process of post-modernity and all that it comes with it. As a result, an important challenge that is
posed in relation to the Religious mission is that of facing the complexity of the current moment.

For all who are consecrated, the world holds a profound theological significance. It is not
something to be endured or something to be avoided, but a reality to be contemplated through the
eyes of God and loved as it is loved by God. It is a reality that becomes an opportunity to follow
Christ more closely. In this way, therefore, we can say that in the reality of man and woman today,
following Christ is not something merely optional – even less so for the Religious – but a
distinguishing mark of that discipleship.

Reflecting on Religious Life in recent decades has made Religious more aware of the need
not to give their back to the world, especially in these times in which postmodern culture – or as
some prefer to call it, pre-Christian culture with its wealth of opportunities, but also of uncertainties,
disappointment, and skepticism – presents us with many challenges. Neither the Church nor
Religious Life is foreign to the changes we are experiencing in these times both "delicate and
tough."48 Moreover, Religious Life has made a clear choice, at least at the level of reflection, to
44
Cf. Josep M. Abella, CMF, ¿Nuevos horizontes para la misión de la vida consagrada? [New Horizons for the
Mission of Consecrated Life?], in Theós. Identidad y profecía. Teología de la vida consagrada hoy, USG, Roma 2011,
95ss.
45
At the Seminar on Theology of Religious Life, Mary Maher, SSND, reminded us on repeated occasions in her speech,
Llamados y enviados: Reflexiones sobre la Teología de la Vida Religiosa Apostólica hoy (Called and Sent. Reflections
on the Theology of Religious Life).
46
Paolo Martinelli, ofm-cap, La persona consagrada de vida apostólica. Una reflexión teológica [The Consecrated
Person of Apostolic Life], in CONFER, Vol. 50, n. 190, 83.
47
Cf. VC 18, 65-69, quoted by Paolo Martinelli, in his article to which we made reference earlier, pg. 85.
48
VC, 13.
accompany our world, not because it has ready answers to the questions that people today pose, but
because, as men and women of our time, they perceive themselves as seekers of meaning.

To be formed in order to form in and for mission

Let us discuss a principle that seems basic, elementary, and probably, therefore, critical. As
a component of the mission of Religious Life, it is necessary that formation, both ongoing and
initial, should help discover life as a mission, as Jesus lived it, an entire life given to proclaiming
the Good News. This leads me to make my own what Lola Arrieta’s stated, namely that "Life in
mission is discovered by walking after Jesus by familiarizing oneself with his pedagogy, and
methods, even though it may take time to learn."49 If we want to be "missionaries" and "apostles"
we have to attend the school of Jesus and learn from him how to look at our world.

The current situation is characterized, among other things, by its complexity. This means
that those who want to be bearers of the gift of the Gospel here and now have to acquire the
necessary wisdom and courage to deal with the complexity, without thereby giving up on the search
for the founding or essential experience and the pursuit of the Unum necesarium.

John Paul II stated: "Formation is a vital process by which a person converts to the Word of
God and learns the art of seeking for signs of God in the world's realities."50 The world, history,
economics, politics, the various arts, the lives of the people around us, and our life are all strewn
with traces of the presence of God. Today we cannot think of formation both in and for Religious
Life that puts us or our formandi under the condition of inhabitants of a besieged city.

If mission is always to be inter gentes, then formation, whether initial or ongoing, must be
carried out in an ongoing dialogue with reality, in an attitude of respectful listening to everything
that comes from the complex situation that our world is going through. This is done, however,
without suspending a critical judgment about it. A defensive formation, or what would be even
worse, a formation full of negativity in relation to the world today would have tragic consequences
in evangelizing mission to which we, Religious, are called. It would, moreover, prevent a fruitful
dialogue with the current culture and restoring the gift of the Gospel [as center focus] to the men
and women of our time. A defensive formation and one that is full of negativity would make us
foreign to our world, leading us to present a God foreign to the history of humanity with the risk of
contributing to build a world without God.

For Religious life, and more particularly for the Apostolic Religious Life, an inserted
formation is required that is both well accompanied51 and close to the joys and sufferings of our
brothers and sisters and to the men and women of today. It should be a formation that allows us, as
disciples and missionaries, to place ourselves in "a reality which many times changes at a frenetic
pace";52 it should be an suitable formation to continue with the hand on the plow, despite the
harshness of the land and the inclement weather; a personal formation for this time because the road
ahead may be too long (1 Kings 19). It should be a formation that responds not only to a time of
change – as history attests where novelty abounded – but also to a change of era, in a historical
moment where changes are so complex and accelerated that it is easy to get the sense that we do not
know where to step. It should be a formation full of kindness and empathy toward the world as God

49
Lola Arrieta, Obra citada, 96.
50
VC, 68.
51
Accompanying in formation is key if we want to avoid unpleasant surprises, but much more in inserted formation.
This applies to the Friars in initial formation as well as those in ongoing formation, particularly, the brothers in the early
years of their definitive profession.
52
CdC, 15.
loves and challenges it (cf. Jn 17.9). It should be an outlook that doesn’t stop from being positive
and evangelical toward the contexts and cultures in which we find ourselves, while discovering the
unprecedented opportunities of grace which the Lord offers us. Formation should help "set out to
sea,"53 delve fearlessly into the new Areopagus,54 and remain – as Benedict XVI stated – outposts of
faith.

As I have already said, we cannot turn our backs on the reality that surrounds us and which,
in one way or another, are part of ourselves. At the same time, however, because it is a mission
rooted in a God who is Father and who, from the depth of his intimate communion and love, sent
His Son to proclaim and make present the Good News of his kingdom under the action of the Holy
Spirit, the mission of the disciples cannot fail to keep in mind that the centrality of their lives is due
to the Triune God as the integrating principle of their lives. Moreover, given that Religious Life is
in itself a proclamation of the Gospel, the "missionary" and "apostle" can never neglect his own
Consecrated Life, for he is called to be "a living exegesis of the Word of God" he must proclaim.55

In a society like ours in which a man thinks he has reached "maturity" and, therefore,
believes not to need God; in a world in which man comes to occupy the central position, which until
recently God occupied, and in which God becomes a useless hypothesis and a competitor, not only
to be avoided, but even eliminated, the "missionary" and "apostle" cannot fall into the same trap of
proclaiming, without God, his own message, thus making it a pure ideology. For this reason, in
Religious Life we must be formed and form toward a healthy harmony between being and doing,
without subordinating elements of the way of life that each of us has embraced, and which are
specific to each charism and the work we have to do – even if these are apostolic in nature. Ongoing
and initial formation should be responsible for the fundamental structure of the individual and the
personalization of faith. Only on the basis of a Trinitarian faith and spirituality can we enter into the
dynamics of the logic of the gift, which is the logic of the "missionary" and "apostle." It is faith in
the Triune God that makes us less self-referential and to go out of ourselves, in order to go to the
other and bring to our brother and sister the Good News of the Gospel.

Moreover, given the new situation we are living in, born of the socio-cultural changes that
are occurring, even in traditionally Christian societies, what is required now is a new
evangelization.56 This, however, is far from being a simple re-evangelization. Evangelization should
be new because it is about making a second proclamation, though being in reality always the same
one; an evangelization, however, that is "new in its ardor, methods, and expressions."57 Therefore,
being formed and forming are required for an evangelizing mission which, without neglecting the
ordinary activities of evangelization, should give priority to new initiatives in response to the
challenges of the secular world we live in, especially to the new frontier areas.

53
John Paul II, Apostolic Letter Novo Millennnio Ineunte, Rome 2000, 1.
54
Cr. VC 96-99.
55
Benedict XVI, Post-synodal Apostolic Exhortation Verbum Domini, 83.
56
Cf. Benedict XVI, Apostolic Letter in “motu proprio data”, “Ubicumque et semper”, by which the Pontifical Council
for New Evangelization was established, on September 21, 2010, “This variety of situations demands careful
discernment; to speak of a “new evangelization” does not in fact mean that a single formula should be developed that
would hold the same for all circumstances. And yet it is not difficult to see that what all the Churches living in
traditionally Christian territories need is a renewed missionary impulse, an expression of a new, generous openness to
the gift of grace. Indeed we cannot forget that the first task will always be to make ourselves docile to the freely given
action of the Spirit of the Risen One who accompanies all who are heralds of the Gospel and opens the hearts of those
who listen. To proclaim fruitfully the Word of the Gospel one is first asked to have a profound experience of God.”
57
Juan Pablo II, Discurso a la Asamblea del Celami [Discourse to the Assembly of Celami], Port-au-Princie, 9 marzo
1983.
 For this reason, the formation we give and receive must be very careful to read the signs of
the times, places, and life events that mark a particular period of history and through which, the
Religious, should feel challenged by God and called to respond from the Gospel. These signs,
moreover, should be flashes of light present in the dark night of our lives and the lives of our
peoples; they should be light posts of hope to be able to discern and interpret (cf. Lk 12, 56).58

One of these challenges is that of language. Opting for a new language in order to be
understood by men and women today is a requirement which cannot be ignored in mission. Today
more than ever it is necessary to open the cage of language, so that communication of the Gospel
may be more effective and fruitful. This requirement must be a concrete commitment in ongoing
formation and should be present since initial formation – if we wish that evangelization be truly
new.

Another requirement of formation for the mission is passion for the truth. It is certainly true
that dialogue is the new name for mission, and that entails both giving and receiving. It is, therefore,
essential to be formed and to form for dialogue in its various meanings (ecumenical, interreligious,
and with culture). However, it is also true that this does not mean we have to give up proposing the
truth, which, for us, has a face, that is, Jesus Christ. Without passion for Truth, evangelization
would fall into mere rhetoric and would become insignificant with the risk of falling into relativism.
Passion for truth is essential if we don’t want to be "children, tossed here and there and carried
about by every wind of doctrine, by the cunning of men, by their craftiness in deceitful wiles." (Eph
4, 14). When we have the experience of Paul that Christ lives within, we will feel how Christ
himself urges us to give of ourselves to all (cf. 1 Cor 9, 19-22) in the logic of 2 Cor 5, 14, i.e., of the
love of Christ which impels us.

The passion for truth that we are talking about is what will make mission a mission ad
gentes (cf. Mt 28, 19-20). A life touched by the dynamism of the Gospel becomes an overwhelming
passion for the Kingdom. The "missionary" and "apostle", in turn, is transformed into a permanent
crosser of borders of all kinds whether cultural, religious, or geographical.59 If faith is strengthened
by giving it away, then mission ad gentes is the full expression and to some extent the fulfillment of
mission inter gentes. The explicit proclamation of the Gospel ad gentes is the culmination of our
being in the world as both disciples and missionaries, after careful discerning that this "pleases the
Lord." 60

One last note. Mission cannot be understood today unless it is a shared mission with the
laity. In the varieties of ministries, all Christians are called to be bearers of the gift of the Gospel
both inter gentes and ad gentes. The lay person is an evangelizer by its own right, not by a gracious
concession or even less by way of substitution due to the shortage of clerical or religious personnel.
Hence, there is a need for the Religious to enter into an ecclesiological conversion to give the laity
his rightful place in evangelizing mission.

Formative Mediations for mission

As mentioned above formative mediations can be deduced. Without being too lengthy, I
will indicate only a few.

58
Before becoming obsessed over adapting our structures to our possibilities, we should begin by carefully reading the
signs of the times and places and let ourselves be challenged by them.
59
Cf. John Paul II, Redemptoris missio, 25.
60
St. Francis of Assisi, Regla no Bulada [Later Rule] XVI, 7.
 1. Formation for mission is a fraternity/community that feels on a mission. It is not an
artichoke fraternity/community that is closed in on itself, but is open to others. A
fraternity/community that wishes to form for mission should be increasingly concentrated and
attentive to the spaces that could be opened with regards to the witness and proclamation of the
Gospel as Good News of fraternity among all peoples, especially the least and excluded who are the
first audience of the Gospel (cf. Lk 4, 18ss).

2. Another critical formative mediation for mission are strong experiences of mission. If it is
about mission inter gentes, on the one hand, then these experiences ought to be a normal part of any
formative initial or ongoing project. I said it earlier: the fraternity/community that wants to be
formative must also be living it. Missionary experiences help when they are really accompanied
well; they help the Religious to be less self-referential and to devote themselves to the proclamation
and witness of the Gospel. If it is about mission ad gentes, on the other hand, then this element must
be effectively promoted within the possibilities, while taking into account their own charism – as
long as it is not about a simple religious tourism. In any case, it is important to allow ourselves and
our younger brothers to experience and practice discipleship in mission tasks entrusted to us and in
the development of a work lived out as mission. I think no risk should be spared in mission. When
taking risks, if we allow ourselves to be accompanied and evaluated, our will is strengthened, we
learn to deal with conflicts, and remain faithful, thus purifying our vocational maturity.

3. Both in initial and ongoing formation, we have to guard always all that prepares us to be
sent out, adhering to Him with all our hearts, souls, might, and mind, as the Word of God calls us to
do (cf. Dt 6, 4). Thusly, we will be fully identified with him and become a "good fragrance of
Christ" (2 Cor 2, 15).61 In all this, it is important not to lose sight of what Jesus did and lived. Only
then can we discover mission as being sent out in what we do; only then can we clarify truly the
reasons behind what we do.

4. Because mission is primarily about bearing witness to a life totally consecrated to the
Kingdom, the vows play an important role in mission. A merely legal and ascetic view of the vows
is outdated and the emphasis now is on the prophetic dimension, that is, on those elements of
Religious Life that proclaim and denounce, while presenting an alternative way of life to that
offered by the world. Without really forgetting the ascetic and legal requirements entailed by the
vows, in both ongoing and initial formation, we must instill a prophetic vision that leads to
experience the vows from a firm will to be fully conformed to Christ and be "a living memorial of
His way of existing and acting."62

5. We have referred to dialogue as the new name for mission. We have also said that
formation for dialogue is a priority today. Yet, dialogue, especially dialogue with culture, requires a
good intellectual and cultural formation "according to the times and dialogue with the search for
meaning by man today.63 Without it, dialogue between faith and culture will not be possible.
Formation for mission should motivate – as it does for the proclamation of the Good News – the
study of theology and other sciences as a requirement of respect and responsibility toward what
dialogue with culture and society entails today. Today, perhaps more than ever, the "missionary"
and "apostle" is called to support convincingly the knowledge of God.

Conclusion

61
Cf. Xavier Quinzá Lleó, Pasión y radicalidad. Pormodernidad y vida conagrada [Passion and Radicalness. Post-
modernity and Consecrated Life], Ed. San Pablo, Madrid 2004, 141ss.
62
VC 22.
63
CdC, 18.
 Both initial and ongoing formation are, as I tried to illustrate, a key that opens us to a
passionate present, a hopeful future, and to a meaningful Religious Life. Formation is "crucial"64 for
those wishing to "reproduce with courage the boldness, creativity, and holiness of their Founders",65
and, at the same time, be "aware of the challenges of their own time," so as to give a suitable
response from the Gospel.

Given the circumstances in which young people come to us, initial formation require "an
extensive period of time";66 experiences to help change lives; an attentive personal accompaniment;
identifying well-defined itineraries; and setting clear goals and precise mediations to achieve them.
Among these crucial mediations is to have properly formed Formators,67 who are "experts in the
ways that lead to God, so as to be able to accompany others well on this journey." They need people
who show "the beauty of following Christ and the value of the charism in which it is being
realized;"68 people who are able, through a peaceful discernment, to help test all things and keep
what is good (cf. 1 Thessalonians 5, 21); discern what comes from God and what does not;69 look
for "what is good, pleasing, and perfect to God" (Rom 12: 2). 70 Moreover, it should be a
discernment that is "free of temptations of number or efficiency, so as to assess in the light of faith
and of possible contraindications, the veracity of the vocation and the rectitude of the intention."71

We must not forget that in Religious Life, we are all subjects of discernment, forced upon
us due to the continuous change we experience around us and in us. 72 I conclude with some words
from the document, Walking Afresh from Christ, that I think are very important, that "We must be
very generous to dedicate time and much energy on Formation."73 Knowing what we must do, let
us, then, be coherent with what we know and say.

64
VC, 65.
65
VC 37.
66
VC 65. "In circumstances where speed and shallowness prevail, we need serenity and depth because in reality, the
person, is fashioned very slowly" (CdC 18).
67
"Dedicating on qualified personnel and his suitable preparation is a priority [...], although this brings with it
significant sacrifices" (CdC 18).
68
VC, 66.
69
Cf. VC, 73.
70
More exactly these terms mean select, interpret, criticize, decide, and recognize. Implicit in all these meanings is the
sense of entering deep into the important issues in order to understand and resolve them properly. In this sense,
discernment has at first two moments: the critical understanding of reality and then decision-making. The action of
discernment has to do with the process of seeing (knowing), judging (assessing) and acting (committing oneself).
71
CdC, 18.
72
Whether it may be in initial or ongoing formation, what is required for a good discernment is to have a spirit of
inquiry, animated by faith and the love of God; a spirit of freedom and detachment from self; and a spirit of living sine
proprio.
73
VC, 18.