Need for formation

Ongoing formation

59.The province syntheses presented up until this point bring out with particular frequency the request for communion as a need to enter into a deep relationship with the God-Trinity, among ourselves and with the ecclesial and socio-cultural reality. 

Ongoing formation, rooted in personal responsibility, is the indispensable condition for the renewal of our life in today’s complexity.  The need for formation has found expression in the Formative Plan of the Institute, and the continual reference to its texts show its study and initial assimilation.

In this part we place the different referrals from provinces on formation.  It is considered to be the preferred strategy to respond to the needs of the Covenant, to the renewal of religious life and to socio-cultural change.

For a journey of personal unificaton

60.Self-formation represents an indispensable journey to understand ever more, be it on the personal or community level, the relationship with God, to live it with greater coherence and fidelity, being available for its initiative in an attitude of discernment.

Relative to personal unification, we are aware of the need to progressively revise identity, seeking to reread one’s own story and that of the community in the light of the mystery of Christ, of the ecclesial journey and of the socio-cultural challenges of our time.  To this end, it is asked that there be a solid formation, oriented toward the discovery of and the healing of the wounds of the past that finds its strong point in the sacrament of Reconciliation and in the participation in the Eucharist.

To live deeply and grow in interior life, there is an explicit need that we cultivate spaces of silence and contemplation that facilitate listening to the Word, the continual seeking of the essential, of the more opportune personal an community choices.  We desire that this journey be sustained and accompanied by the updating of competence in the theological, biblical and spiritual fields, as also in the science of education and in specific Salesian formation.

In line with the charism

61. From the point of view of charism, there is noted the urgency for a formation that focuses on vocational identity, constant and impassioned growth in the sense of belonging and in the re-appropriation of the dynamism of the charism in every moment of life.

There is an emphasis on the importance of acquiring a planning view regarding persons and the works to overcome the tendency to fragmentation and dispersion.

Through accompaniment

62.  The provinces bring out a few means that they hold to be indispensable on the level of formation.  These are set in the furrows of tradition and are to be interpreted in the style of reciprocity.  Among them there emerge personal and community accompaniment, lived in respect of others, and the appreciation of the ordinary means of formation. In particular, it is held to be urgent that there be a re-qualification in content and method, of the private talk  as a formative experience for reciprocal growth.   Some provinces bring out the need for psychological accompaniment to help in overcoming of problems of maturing.

The need to study, deepen and inculturate the Plan of Formation of the Institute is brought out, developing itineraries relative to the tasks of development, at the different ages.

Formation of the laity and with the laity

63.  Joint formation with the laity is oriented toward the assumption of a shared evangelical and charismatic mentality so as to be able to collaborate efficaciously in the educational mission.  It is a way of educating for evangelical citizenship together in the era of globalization.  The provinces bring out the growing attention for the formation of the laity in various sectors, in respect to their particular identity and professional competence, in view of effective co-responsibility in the educational administration and, when possible, in the administration of the works

In the effort to humanize the educational environments and to appreciate specific competence, the provinces have carried out formative processes able to train the Sisters to appreciate local and worldwide events that challenge us as educators.  Finally, the provinces hold it to be important that there be joint formation -FMA and laity-in the socio-political sector and in educommunication for a critical use of the new technologies with the aim of promoting solidarity and democracy.

64. The present syntheses express the richness and vivacity of the Institute and, at the same time, emphasize some problematic elements in personal, community and apostolic life that allow us to see the dynamism of what has been and what is still to come.  However, we see the awareness of the maturity of some basic choices, in continuity with the preceding General Chapters, that are an index of hope and of new enthusiasm for the life of the Institute in its educational mission.