Focus on Formation

In the last newsletter, your editor shared some reflections on Prayer; for this issue, thinking about Formation, he is in conversation with Someone Who Knows Much More (SWKMM) about the subject

 

“What I desire in Catholics is the gift of bringing out what their religion is.

I want a laity, not arrogant, not rash in speech, not disputatious,

but [men and women] who know their religion,

who enter into it, who know just where they stand,

who know what they hold and what they do not,

who know their creed so well that they can give an account of it,

who know so much of history that they can defend it.

I want an intelligent, well-instructed laity.”

St John Henry Newman [note 1]

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‘Formation is life-long, for the journey to closer conformity

with Christ is the very purpose of our lives.’

[from “The Pastoral Plan: Call to Mission” paragraph 3.2.i]

 

Ed:  So I think I know a bit about Prayer [note 2], but the Bishop’s Pastoral Plan talks about ‘Prayer, Formation & Mission’ and I’m much less sure about the other two.

 

SWKMM: I think you do know about Mission – don’t you remember “Go therefore and make disciples of all nations”? [ note 3] The Mission of the Church is to proclaim the Good News of Salvation to the whole world.

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OK, we’ll come back to what that actually means in practice at another time. For now, can we focus on the subject of Formation: what is it?

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Let me start by quoting from Bishop Richard’s Pastoral Plan:

“Formation takes place in many ways across the Diocese. The Sunday Homily, Catechesis for the Sacraments of Initiation, including the formation of parents prior to their children’s baptism and preparation of couples for marriage … there are myriad other opportunities for formation in faith: preparation for funerals, accompaniment given to the sick and those who care for them, the development of the music ministry, reflection on the responsibility that we hold for God’s creation – these ways and many others are all moments of formation, of growth in conformity to Christ.”[note 4]​

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That’s a big answer! But what does is actually mean in practice?

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When people think of Formation, they often think about learning information to be able to receive a Sacrament or to take on a specific role in the Church or their parish. But Formation is more than this. It encompasses everything we do in our lives to develop into the people that God intends us to be. It is how we respond to God’s calling. Put simply, it’s about the whole way we live our lives.

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That’s still a big answer! What does it mean day-to-day for most of us?

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OK, let’s focus on what it means for ‘us all’ as individuals. I’m not talking here about the Formation of priests and other religious: it’s no secret that this takes several years’ study and involves structured programmes of Formation to help candidates discern God’s calling for them and to prepare them to take on their ordained role, but we don’t have time today to cover what this entails. Nor do we have time to cover what could be a whole book series on what should go into Sacramental preparation programmes, all of which are usually led or facilitated by catechists who have themselves undergone some sort of training (‘Formation’) to enable them to take on their role.

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So you’re not going to talk about priestly formation, or the content of sacramental programmes, or even training to become a catechist – what does that leave?

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Only this: Formation covers what everyone – priests, deacons, other religious, catechists, as well as all the rest of us – what we all should be doing, every day, in the way we live.

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Is that all!?!

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The importance of the role of all the faithful in the life and mission of the Church is not a new idea: it is present in the scriptures and it runs through the Church’s teaching. At the Second Vatican Council, the Decree on the Apostolate of the Laity summarised that teaching and emphasised the need for all the people of God to “witness to Christ throughout the world”[note 5]. Formation is about us all making ourselves better able, individually and collectively, to do this.

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And it is all about ‘us’: we are the people of God, we are the Church. Think SHIP: Spiritual, Human, Intellectual and Pastoral Formation – this framework for priestly Formation can work for all of us: we all need the foundation of our faith (S), an understanding of what this means (I) and an appreciation of how this should define the way we live our lives in ourselves (H) and in our communities (P).

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Conforming ourselves to Christ means continual efforts to develop our understanding of what our faith is and what it means for how we should live our lives. As Bishop Richard states in the Pastoral Plan: “Every person in the Diocese has the right and responsibility to grow in the knowledge and understanding of the faith” [note 6]; however carefully you may listen, it cannot be fair on your priest for you to rely solely on his Sunday homily for this!

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But how do I do this, day-to-day?

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Why don’t we start with the celebration of the Eucharist?

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How do you mean?

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The Eucharist is at the very heart of our faith, Jesus Christ himself, coming into our lives, every time we take Communion. The Eucharist brings us grace, strengthens our ability to live our faith, makes us better able to pursue our Mission. So surely the least we can do is celebrate properly.

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But how many of us come to Mass properly prepared, with our minds genuinely set on experiencing the Joy of Redemption, so that we can reinvigorate our daily lives with the power of Jesus and the inspiration of the Holy Spirit, so that we can better witness to our faith in how we live, so that we can better conform ourselves to Christ? This would be ‘SHIP’ in practice!

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We need to be asking ourselves, individually and as communities, how we can use our Liturgy as an opportunity to promote what our community is about – furthering the Mission of the Church – and not just fulfilling an obligation? One form of the Dismissal at the end of Mass is “Go in peace, glorifying the Lord by your life”: that is our role; that is what should all be developing the skills to do.

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How can we make sure that our Liturgy is a fitting commemoration of Christ’s gift to the world, his own Body and Blood? In part, this is a question for our clergy and all those who play a specific role in the Eucharistic celebration, as welcomers, servers, readers, Eucharistic Ministers, musicians, children’s liturgists …: if you are one of these, are you using the opportunities available to develop your understanding and ability to fulfil your role, so that our Liturgy is the very best it can be?

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But also it’s a question for all of us: are we all doing what we should (‘Formation’) to develop our own understanding of what the celebration of the Eucharist is and how we should celebrate it – and do we make sure that, every time, we come prepared to celebrate it properly … and, every time, we leave ready to “announce the Gospel of the Lord”, glorifying the Lord by our lives?​