A Formation Seminar for Formators

Don Bosco Youth Animation Centre, Ennore was once again a beehive of activity. Salesian Formators from different parts of South East Asia were gathered together for five days of togetherness and celebration.

A national level seminar on “Affective Maturity” was conducted by SAFC (South Asian Formation Commission) for the formation personnel from 26 to 30^th November 2011 at Don Bosco Youth Animation Centre, DBYAC, Ennore. All the Novice Masters, the rectors of the various philosophates and prenovitiates, the formation delegates of the provinces, and the delegates from the various formation houses sans theologates, 43 in all, attended this disturbing – as some of the participants would put it – and challenging seminar and workshop conducted by Fr. Mariadass Selvarathinam OMI from Sri Lanka.

Fr. Chrys Saldana sdb, of the formation department in Rome, during the inaugural mass invited the participants to look deeper into themselves and their emotions and to be committed to their own search or quest for God in their lives – the core of religious life. That was the anchor point around which the whole seminar revolved: the formation of the formators.

Several sessions of input and in-depth sharing in small groups left the participants mesmerized, confused and uncomfortable – Not  the way in which the seminar was organized. No one could point a finger at Fr. Loddy, SAFC Co-ordinator, who with his meticulous planning not only made our stay comfortable but also an enjoyable one with a half day of outing to Little Mount and to St. Bede’s for a sumptuous dinner.

Thanks to Fr. Jospeh Jeyaraj, Fr. Henry and Bro. Lobo and to the pastoral community at DBYAC, Ennore.

The participants were confused and uncomfortable to realize that first and foremost they needed formation and that they need to start the spiritual struggle which is life-long. A formator is called to co-journey with the formee. Therefore it is a journey of both the formee as well as the formator.

What emerged from these discussions were:

·         In this co-journeying with the formee, the formator himself needs supervision.

·         We need a radical shift in our formation process – from legality to spirituality, from falling in line to falling in love with the core of one’s being which is LOVE.

·         We need to move from duality to acceptance, wholeness, integration and oneness. The journey toward oneness is true spirituality. Reaching oneness is mysticism. The end of formation is mysticism.

·         The participants returned home with a bag full of homework to do – to start the journey, to struggle through the journey (Spirituality) and hopefully reach the end Oneness, Mysticism.

Fr. Stalin Arokiam Dhanraj