Some Reflection on Formation of Seminarians by Xavier James L.S.

Spiritual and Pastoral Formation  by Xavier James L. S.

Prologue

“TO BE WITH HIM AND TO BE WITH THEM”. This is the motto I have chosen to exercise my priestly ministry with and I feel that this is a relevant motto as I have gone through my life’s experiences for the several years of formation. To this motto of mine I have received the confirmation of the word of God thus, “And Jesus appointed twelve whom he also named apostles to be with him and to be sent out to proclaim the message” (Mark.3:4). This is the ultimate aim of priestly vocation, by being with the Lord we learn from Him and experience Him immensely and that has to be cherished and reflected in the life of every priest and seminarian. I believe in the overall growth which will help one to be effective minister during the pastoral ministry. Charter for Priestly Formation in India describes, “The priest combines in himself the roles of prophet of God’s kingdom, animator and builder of the community and leader of the worshiping community”. Thus one takes part in the threefold ministry of Jesus as priest, prophet and king. However, spiritual and pastoral formation is the most important one to carry out the mission of Jesus besides intellectual formation of a candidate.

Spiritual Formation

“He appointed the apostles to be with him”. It has been my experience, whenever I go to Him and be with Him there is a renewed spirit within me to carry out the mission. One may justify this by intellectual and psychological reasoning, however it is not the fact, we need to remember we are not only material beings but also spiritual beings, that is why we need Him. Spiritual formation involves following Christ diligently, having apostolic zeal with which we entered the seminary. We need to have inner freedom which will enable us to choose what is best for us in the light of the values of Christ. By growing as a man of prayer we need to listen to the promptings of grace and spirit in our lives.  Let us see what the Church has to say about the spiritual formation of seminarians, “The guiding principle in the spiritual orientation of the students is that their life be centered in Christ through personal and community prayer nourished by the word of God. A meaningful participation in the liturgy, especially the sacraments of Reconciliation and Eucharist will help them experience Christ’s sanctifying presence in them and in the community through Christ, thus experienced they will come to know the Father and love Him and to have Christ-like concern for all their fellow men”. I personally feel there are three significant means which will cherish our spiritual life: 1. Word of God 2. Eucharist 3. Personal Prayer.

1.Word of God: As mentioned above we need to give importance to the Word of God through which God speaks to us even today. I believe that the word of God is ever fresh and is able to strike gently the heart of every man and woman. This is very clear in the Bible, “The word of God is alive and active sharper than any double edged sword, it cuts all the way through, to where soul and spirit meet to where joints and morrow come together, it judges the desires and thought of man’s heart. Hence the Bible is the source of nourishment for Christian life. By the careful study of the Sacred Scripture, reflection, interpretation and proclamation we make the word of God alive in day today life. This will be possible by the faith and love we have for the Word. Through our deeds we manifest the Word. Pope John Paul II says, “A loving knowledge of the Word of God and a prayerful familiarity with it are specifically important for the prophetic ministry of the priests”.

2. Eucharist: Active participation in the Eucharist and the genuine reverence to the Eucharistic Lord will sanctify us, ultimately the whole mystery lies in this, and by our example we can encourage people to part take in the Eucharist meaningfully. However the Eucharist has to be lived out. As Dr. Gilbert D’Lima says, “The real mass begins after the mass”, so also it urges us to lead a holy life and re-live the mystery of Christ’s death and resurrection.

3.Personal Prayer: Personal prayer has to be encouraged in the seminary besides community prayer and the seminarian should have desire in having contact with God, as Jesus himself had it. This has been a fruitful experience for me during my formation in having personal contact with my Lord. We should not blame the seminary saying it didn’t render much help in discovering our relationship with our God. So the spirit of prayer is to be valued higher than everything, hence, service or other activities shouldn’t substitute prayer whereas, service and the rest flow from prayer. For this seminarians have to be guided by a person who has heart to love young people, values them, understands them, accepts them and helps them to grow spiritually, psychologically, intellectually and in interpersonal relationship. In this context CBCI says, “At this stage they need to be guided by a competent spiritual director who will help them to be sensitive to the movements of the Holy Spirit in their lives and to respond with generosity and courage”.

Pastoral Formation

‘As you are a seminarian so you are a priest’ this is the words of many experienced priests. Side by side forming ourselves spiritually we need to form ourselves pastorally. These two are very significant and inter-related. Spiritually means involving a greater awareness of being, being loved, being challenged to grow by the relationship with people. This is the time we are exposed to the world and we know the real suffering of the people around us in love, relationships and challenges. This is why the seminary gives a lot of importance in pastoral formation so that the seminarian is equipped for the future ministry. Pope John Paul II says, “Spiritual formation also involves seeking Christ in people”. If we are not able to see God in human being, our formation becomes meaningless. For this, each seminarian has to have a heart of love and concern for others. The Pope adds, “Human formation is the basis of all priestly formation”. This is very specific in the Bible when we speak of Christ’s priesthood. “Every high priest chosen from among men is appointed to act on behalf of men in relation to God” (Heb. 5:1). Precisely this is why the Church urges every seminarian to have human qualities because the Pope notes that, “every future priest should therefore cultivate a series of human qualities, not only out of proper and due growth and realization of self, but also with a view to the ministry. These qualities are needed to them to be balanced people, strong and free, capable of bearing the weight of pastoral responsibilities. They need to be educated to love the truth, to be loyal, to respect every person to have sense of justice, to be true to their world to be genuinely compassionate, to be men of integrity and especially to be balanced in judgment and behavior”.   

I am proud of the Catholic Church to which I belong, pays more attention humanity whilst dealing with divinity. After acquiring every skill the seminarian plunges into real pastoral work and learns everyday and tries to improve day by day. Pastoral formation involves the life-giving principle just as the Master who gave himself up to the people and being available all the time and whether blamed or accused. Seminarian needs to take this in a positive manner keeping the example of his Master. ‘I came that they may have life and have it abundantly’ (John 10:10).

Pope John Paul II says, “The priesthood is not an institution that exists alongside the laity or above it. The priesthood is for the laity and precisely for this reason it possesses a ministerial character that is to say one of service”. We need to remember always that the priesthood is instituted to serve, not to dominate and seek power and position. Every seminarian has to be able to listen with his ears, eyes and heart opened to the reality around, then to pray for them. Then one can go ahead in helping them with cooperation of the responsible persons. During the seminary formation specific attention has to be paid for strict pastoral training. Vatican II says, “These are principally the sacred ministry, catechetic, preaching liturgical worship and the administration of the sacraments, works of charity, their duty to contact those in error and the unbelievers and other pastoral duties”.

The seminarians have to have personal interest in reconciling the families and people to each other and to the Catholic Church, this apostolic zeal will make their ministry meaningful. As the Apostles were appointed to be sent out to proclaim the message so also with tremendous enthusiasm we need to study the Sacred Scripture, reflect over it and preach diligently and effectively because people hunger for the word of God. We should never stop teaching and preaching because this makes us and the people holy and the Word of God sanctifies us day by day. And our profound pastoral involvement will add more strength to our formation.

Epilogue

In conclusion we see the spiritual and the pastoral formation are inter-related, inter-linked and two sides of the same coin. It is in our hand to form and mould ourselves and be efficacious ministers. And so an unknown author says, “You have been called to live in the midst of the world, without wishing it’s pleasures. To be a member of each family, yet belonging to none. To share all sufferings to penetrate all secrets, to heal all the wounds. To go from human to God and offer Him their prayers, to return from God to human to bring pardon and hope. To have a heart of fire for charity and a heart of bronze for chastity. To teach and to pardon to console and bless always. What a glorious life and it is yours O Friend of Jesus Christ.

Bibliography

CBCI. (2004). Charter of Priestly Formation for India. New Delhi: Divya Deepti Sadan.
D, S. (1996). Priest & People. London: The Tablet Publishing Company Limited.
D'Lima, G. (1999). A session for Laity. St. Pius . Mumbai: St. Pius college, Goregaon.
II, J. P. (1992). Pastores Dabo Vobis:On the formation of Priests in the circumstances of the present day. Mumbai: St. Paul's.
II, V. (1997). Training of Priests. Mumbai : St. Pauls.