FORMATION FOR MISSION

1. "Formation for mission" relates directly to the time of initial formation. However, in order that this has fruitful effect and concrete results, it is necessary that it also finds its place in life-long formation and in the pastoral choices of leadership, particularly -- in the less centralised Institutes -- in the pastoral choices of provincial councils. An initial "formation in mission" which is pursued with a non-existent or insufficient sense of being "in mission" will cause frustration to younger friars who become pastorally conditioned by their respective provinces and by continuous restructuring.

The missionary dimension "ad gentes" -- so much promoted by the magisterium of the Church -- is an intrinsic part of spirituality and of history. In the past, this missionary dimension was only addressed to a few friars. Today, we are developing the awareness that the vocation to the Order entails this missionary element as an integral part of all religious profession.

I offer some examples, besides what can be found in our Constitutions:

the formula of Religious Profession:
I intend to make my life a service in the love of God and of all men and women; I make my profession in the presence of the community, a sign of the universal Church; I intend to fulfil the precept of love in my service of all men and women.
a re-reading of our Marian spirit:
The Constitutions state: "We wish to stand with Mary at the foot of the countless crosses in order to give comfort and redemptive cooperation." This is indeed a proposal for mission. Our last General Chapter (1995) produced a Marian document -- our second -- entitled Servants of the Magnificat which emphasises our vocation to announce and to speak of God to the people of today.

Formation for mission, therefore, requires the consideration of the "missionary dimension" as an integral part of spirituality and of the vocational development of every friar.

2. A few years ago, our General Secretariat for Formation prepared a appendix to our formation document entitled "The missionary dimension of institutional formation" (motivation, objectives, means, activities appropriate for pre-noviciate, noviciate, post-noviciate).

Recently, the Secretariat for Missionary Animation published a booklet entitled Servants in Mission, in order that "the young friars would allow themselves to be touched by the vocational responsibility of the Servite mission ad gentes."

By way of synthesis: we attempt to facilitate an awareness of each friar’s missionary identity, a knowledge of our missionary territories, and a direct experience of missionary apostolate. The young friars participate in the publication of the missionary magazine Le Missioni dei Servi di Maria, and they also, for example, help animate the missionary dimension of the Servite Family in Rome.

3. The stable presence of missionary friars in formation communities -- those returning, for example, for reasons of health or extended sabbatical study -- promotes, in a very tangibile way, a consciousness of the missionary dimension in the formation context. Contact with happy friars, and with those fully self-realised through their missionary service, is of great help to formation communities.

The task indicated in Redemptoris missio, n.83 is more difficult to achieve, that is "to arrange the teaching of theological courses so that the following themes are included: the universal mission of the Church, ecumenism, the study of the great world religions, missiology." In fact, in the great majority of cases, our students attend colleges where their academic voice is weak. By contrast, in the colleges where we have some responsibility, it is much easier to realise the above requirements by way of attention to programmes, the participation of lecturers from other Faculties, collaboration with other Institutes, the organisation of libraries, and interaction between formation and the teaching of theology.

4. The missionary spirit becomes a strong formative value and enriches and purifies vocational motivation.

The missionary dimension generates formative attitudes and formative values. For example:

a fuller experience of Christ, of his mission and of his kenosis; a better understanding of the concept of integral development, even arising from the awareness of being sent for the Kingdom; also praying for the Kingdom; a consideration of how "total availability" has been assimilated by the friar; an understanding of the vocation to universal brotherhood; an understanding of "service" as gratuitous, but also as "useless" in a worldly sense; radical poverty; an understanding of formation as discipleship; a comparison between how Mary was an almost invisible presence in the early Church and one’s own manner of being present in the emerging Churches today; an appreciation of the missionary methods of the Churches mentioned in the Acts of the Apostles and in the Letters of the New Testament; the various signs of the Kingdom; the essential requirement of dialogue.

5. "Formation in mission" calls for the transformation of the place of formation and of the models and content of formation:

formation communities can be established in the missionary territories and/or close to theological colleges principally concerned with mission; greater emphasis will be placed on learning from Missionary Institutes, in particular that which pertains to inculturation and methods of evangelization, etc.; one should opt preferably for international communities of formation, where the pluri-cultural aspect is evident in the formation team and in the community itself. From this certain consequences follow: the learning of a variety of languages, pastoral experiences which can facilitate learning and interaction within different cultural situations, the organisation of summer programmes, the content of the pastoral year, the experience of collaboration; in the context of a proper missionary spirit, we need to have greater clarity regarding the type of presence and service of the priest, particularly when he is being asked to have a true and proper professionalism (skill) in order to be part of a new people. In this way, his work would not be conditioned by foreign developmental projects but would enable him to work within a approach to evangelization which respect the rhythms of the people. How are we to re-propose, for the purpose of "formation in mission," the value of manual work -- which was so much part, besides much else, of the missionary method of Saint Paul? we need have greater attention to the non-ordained friars of our Institutes and see how to use and develop their talents and expertise for the building of the Kingdom; how are we to give adequate recognition to their contribution and so free priests for their particular service, and together with the various ministries and services for the Kingdom, build a Church which is community?

6. "Formation in mission" requires a new model of communication: on the one hand, friars in formation are attracted by the example of great witnesses -- by the "martyrs" of today and of yesterday; these friars are very often offered, instead, images of large assemblies of believers, buildings and schools as signs of projects and achievements. These friars in formation, therefore, at the beginning of their missionary work, often experience great difficulty when their evangelical challenge to others is not immediately accepted, they experience the frustration of non-achievement, of their own insignificance, and because of their impatience with slow maturation of the evangelical seed. Quite naturally, however, the greater part of missionary service remains unseen. How can we share the "unseen"?