Praise Be Jesus Christ...
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Seminary is the house of formation |
The word formation comes from the Latin word “formare” which means to form something, which is to change and develop the being of a thing. This course involves two things, bringing a new order into a thing while abolishing a pre-existing order, ending the previous way of life, or of doing things. Generally, formation belongs to our being. It is the root of our becoming. It is the process in which the growth and development of a person take place, and it is in this way the personality of an individual is made.
Thus, for a person to arrive at a convincing position in life, he/she has to pass different stages that prepare him/her to be so. These are the processes that at least all people pass through while pursuing and chasing their goals in life.
Forming stage; This is the first stage in formation towards any vocation in which each and everything in the forming process seems to be good. At this stage, a person does not realize any problem or difficulty. A good example can be observed in the people who are in courtship see and view all things are all right at the moment which might not be so. Likewise, those in priestly or religious formation or any formation appreciate almost everything in their formation. This is because there is no familiarity with the kind of formation or directives put into practice. After this stage comes the second stage.
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Religious share in work, prayer, and recreation with their community. |
Norming stage; is the stage of making identification, stipulation, and specifying the limits in which other people should not hinder and affect the formation or vocation chosen. Now, it is the point in which a person draws a line or map that shows and stipulates the boundaries that others should not go beyond. In this, a person draws a boundary in which parents, relatives, friends, formators, guardians, and other people should not go further or interfere. At this stage, a person makes a serious choice in life. If it is in priestly life a person who wants to be a priest decides and makes firm promises at this stage to be ready to handle any obstacle which comes in life. In marriage, if a person has two or three girls or boys, he/she makes a choice and decides to establish a bond with one of the two or three and be ready to commit himself/herself to the one chosen. This goes simultaneous with letting the others be aware of the choice made, so that they may find the other way of life and not depend on you anymore.
As well, a candidate for a priestly or religious vocation has to notify and draw a line to the former friends who in their relation had promised may be to marry him/her, so that they may know his /her stand in life. Unless you do this and live a double life, your life will be jam-packed with chains of disaster, problems, and frustrations. Whether in priestly or marriage life, a person won’t be happy in his living. No happy life for such individuals. This reveals itself in the last stage of formation which is the performing stage.
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Canon 1055 §1 The matrimonial covenant, by which a man and a woman establish between themselves a partnership of the whole of life... |
Beloved men and women of the 21st century, we should not give up on life because of the challenges we come across. For these confronts and defies simply mean there is a bright in a near future; that is, we should not be afraid of the shadows for it simply means there is sunlight nearby. Shadows are indeed true to come in any kind of vocation or formation. The only thing we have to do is to remain persistent and uphold what we have already chosen in life, on this earth. This is because a strong man is the one who builds a house or home using stones others throw at him/her. These stones thrown at us or we meet in life are just stepping stones toward our destination.
But we must remember that real formation in any vocation or training must take place in the minds and hearts of the ones who are being formed as the great Mahatma Gandhi said, “Keep your thoughts positive, because your thoughts become your words. Keep your words positive, because your words become your behaviour, keep your behaviour positive, because your behaviour becomes your habits, keep your habits positive, because your habits become your value, and keep your values positive, because your values become your destiny”.