My column this week will contain the fourth summary of the five-day retreat I have been preaching during the season of Lent.

I remind the readers of my column that the purpose of the summaries is to help the people of the archdiocese, especially the home-bound, to prepare to celebrate Easter.

Review of third summary

During the conference on the third day, I completed the presentation on the last two steps of the conversion process (an eight-step process) and shared some recommendations on how to cooperate with each of the eight steps. The conference included some insights on the teaching of theologians on the four types of conversion.

I closed the third summary with a reminder that the reason we are Catholic Christians is because other people cooperated with the mission of the Son and the Spirit and touched our lives.

I extended an invitation to the participants to do for a new generation what had been done for them, namely, to pass on the faith and introduce others to life in Christ.

Fourth summary: Formation

As the call to conversion must be understood in terms of ongoing initiation in Christ, so formation must also be understood in the same context – a lifelong process.

Three elements in particular carry over from our reflection on conversion to the issue of ongoing formation:
1) The journey from sin to grace and the struggle it involves is unending. An analogy with medicine may be helpful to us to appreciate the journey from sin to grace.

When your doctor tells you that you have diabetes, you do not automatically lose your love for ice cream. Your health challenge means that you have to try to live differently for the rest of your life. It is the same in the spiritual life.

When you move from sin to grace, sin does not automatically lose its attraction. Conversion means you have to try to live differently for the rest of your life.

2) The conversion journey is life-long. We are continually being initiated in Christ. As long as we live, we have to deal with the powerful attraction of sin by depending on the power of God. As Paul heard from the Lord, “My strength is enough for you.” (Reflect on 2 Cor 12: 7-10).

3) As noted earlier in this retreat, the faith must form us. It must shape our lives i.e. it must touch every aspect of our life. Paul reminds the Galatians that he who preached the faith to them in the first place, must work again to protect them from danger and to bring forth life in them “until Christ is formed in you.” (Gal 4: 19).

Ongoing formation is the only way to avoid the glaring contradictions that can appear in a Christian’s life.

Formation defined

Let us begin our reflection on formation by looking at the concept. “Formation is a process, an ongoing process, whereby a person intentionally opens herself/himself to knowledge and values and allows herself/himself to be shaped by the knowledge and values under the guidance of others.” Formation communicates a package of objective information which, with the help of others, is to be opened, understood, internalised and chosen.

Each element of the definition is important:
1) a process: it never ends;
2) the explicit and free decision to open oneself must be renewed regularly;
3) there is much information to be assimilated (formation in prayer, formation of conscience, formation in sacramental worship, formation in doctrine);
4) values/ethical standards – these help people to be able to distinguish between right and wrong and to direct their behavior in accord with the Gospel.

Elements of formation

What are the elements of formation in the faith? The list is easy to articulate but challenging to integrate. The elements are: personal, spiritual, intellectual and social/relational. 

Remember at the beginning of the retreat, I spoke of the quality of the relationship you have with yourself i.e. your spirit, mind, body and heart. If one or more of these elements are in tension with each other, you suffer as a person.

1) Human formation

Everyone is affected by prior life history either positively or negatively. In most cases it is not incapacitating, but it does create tendencies. In some cases, it is incapacitating.

Due to the breakdown of family life, which is the primary source of education and formation of family members, formation in human values and in the faith have taken on a new importance.

For example, those entering seminaries, religious communities, ecclesial communities and marriage are manifesting more and more frequently a lack of prior formation as persons and as believing persons.

All formation in a very real sense is self-formation. By that statement I mean that all of us must open ourselves to being formed and participate in the formation process willingly. If we do not open ourselves, no formator, no matter how skilled, can break through our resistance.

I want to share some observations about human formation for a very important reason: in many cases anti Christian attitudes and behaviour are rooted not primarily in the rejection of Christian spirituality but as the result of human problems that complicate living the Christian life.

If these human problems can be admitted honestly and processed thoroughly, the person may be able to live the Christian life quite well.

The observations are:
1) The basic principle of human formation is that human personality is to be a bridge not an obstacle for others as people are initiated into Christ. The humanity of the believer is instrumental in mediating the gifts of Christ to others.
2) Believing persons should:
2.1- Be sufficiently free to live in relationship with God, self and others according to her/his own identity and vocation before God. Such freedom does not imply total autonomy. God will always be God and we will always be part of God’s creation.
2.2- Have an authentically developed moral conscience and should be open to growth and ongoing conversion.
2.3- Be prudent and discerning and have the capacity to observe life critically and distinguish between true and false values.
2.4- Be committed to communion and have a relational capacity that helps them to listen, dialogue and collaborate.
2.5- Have affective maturity so their decisions are not controlled by feelings.

To Be Continued