We are celebrating the Feast of Bl. Mother who is assumed into heaven with her body and soul. It means bodies are not mere shells, but they contain the mental and spiritual resources to care about the dignity and destiny of the whole person: body and soul.
Some people think it is enough for us to have bodily fitness. “A truly good life is like a three-legged stool: it stands strong only when physical, mental, and spiritual fitness are in balance.”
The religious priests and nuns! are we fit? what about our Religious fitness?
I admire the good modern example of football legend Cristiano Ronaldo in sports. His fitness is incredible. At the age of 40, Maradona and Roonie became fat and old, but Ronaldo is fighting with the young adolescent players. still in the field with high physical capability, goal-scoring performance! How come?
It is all because of self-discipline and formation. His rigorous training schedule, strict diet, avoidance of alcohol, family lifestyle, and mental fitness also contribute to his legendary status.
The Church and the Congregation give priority attention/primary responsibility to investing money and time in the care of seminaries to provide proper formation for clerics and religious. We care about the future and care about the formation. Our Ratio dedicates 15-20 pages only to the stages of formation.
1. Priority of Formation: Jesus also, for three years, formed his disciples in mind, heart for the mission. He gave them spiritual formation; He taught them how to pray, He gave human formation; He taught them beatitudes on how to be poor, compassionate and meek. He accompanied them during the healings and preaching. He gave them training in mission by sending out the disciples two by two, instructing them on preaching and healing.
In Matthew chapter 7, Jesus is inviting the disciples with the parable of the wise and the fool; we should be a wise man who builds his house on the solid rock, which will survive any typhoon and flood. It is a foundational mandate for the entire Church, to focus on the formation, not exclusively for the clergy or the formation of preachers, but it refers to everyone who is coming to our communities.
Do not compromise yourself: give for the tough life, you are under training, test, prepare yourself, learn the methods of spiritual life, prepare the plan, put your hard work to learn new things from the Church, the Congregation and people. No mediocrity, more creativity and learning every day by the Word of God and the Eucharist.
Mary sings in the Magnificat, “My soul proclaims the greatness of the Lord” (Lk 1:46), Mary doesn’t start with, “My mouth praises karaoke” or “My body dances zumba,” but with “My soul.” She is revealing something deeply personal: praise begins from within, not merely on the lips; this invites us into the interiority of the heart. Be true to your interior life, so God can plant His word there. As indicated by our Ratio “the Ways of the Heart”. Allowing the heart and having passion, not to follow the rules, but for goodness,
Priority of formation in the SMD not only in the initial and ongoing formation for the priestly preparation, but also in all the aspects of staff, collaborators and ministries.
2. Transmission of Charism and way of doing mission:
It’s important for grandparents to transmit cultural practices and traditions to the next generation because they act as living bridges between the past and the future. Because the cultural continuity will be lost.
Modern men might be more technologically advanced than their ancestors, but that doesn’t automatically mean they are greater. They had wisdom and knowledge equal to ours. The grandparents should pass on their heritage to us; without this transmission, younger generations may become rootless, disconnected from history.
We also have the custom and tradition for the Guanellian family, which we received from the first founder, who handed over the Institute to us, like a father hands over the dearest inheritance to his children, then some confreres who testified founder. This delivery calls for our responsibility to follow in his footsteps and to propose to our young people the validity of the examples of those who preceded us. The Guanellian prayer, the family spirit, trust in Providence and the preventive method in our apostleship are inherent in our family. We should conserve and pass it on to the next generation. This is our DNA.
Best preparation for Mission:
Pastoral Professionalism, cultural competence and increase your skills for the Guanellian mission. Because we need the necessary resources to create a Formation culture that can respond to the needs of today's world, both in terms of greater pastoral professionalism and in terms of greater competence in the specific fields of our mission centers of charity.
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