CONTINUING FORMATION AND EDUCATION
Accompaniment Program for Formators
The person of the Formators is vital in the formation ministry. The process of facilitating the faith-life journey of others presupposes that Formators are themselves familiar with their own faith-life journey. The capacity to recognize God’s movements in their Life will enable them to accompany others with confidence in their journey towards wholeness and fullness of life.
Program Covers the following areas:
I. Human Development
II. Theological/Biblical Formation
RATIONALE:
The following challenges on religious formation from Vita Consecrata and Plenary Council of the Philippines II (PCP II) and other Church documents call for urgent and relevant response: “Because sensitive tasks are involved, the training of suitable directors of formation, who will fulfill their task in a spirit of communion with the whole Church, is very important. It will be helpful to establish appropriate structures for the training of those responsible for formation, preferably in places where they can be in contact with the culture in which their pastoral service will later be carried out.” -Vita Consecrata, # 66 –
Special attention should be given to the spiritual, intellectual, psychological, disciplinary and pastoral aspects of formation… Relevant formation given in seminaries and formation houses today should take into account the depressing poverty of large portions of society, the emergence of a concerned and maturing laity, the coming together of numerous small ecclesial communities and the unmistakable basic hunger of all for the spirit. - PCP II, # 568 –
The members of the Association of Major Religious Superiors in the Philippines (AMRSP) expressed the need for training their Sisters, Priests, and Brothers in accompanying people in formation or other ministries; The full implementation of the IFRS Vision Mission needs the cooperation and training/ updating of the students’ Formators to ensure the support, continuity, and integration of the students’ learning in their daily life and ongoing formation as religious; On June 29, 2007, the Board of Trustees of the IFRS Foundation, Inc. approved a resolution that IFRS directly manage the Accompaniment Program for Formators as one of its service programs.
REQUIREMENTS:
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Applicants are expected to be those who are drawn to or chosen to be in the ministry of formation and or leadership and have had some actual experience of either or both of these or those who are being prepared for the ministry.
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The Applicants are required to fill up the Application Form and submit it together with a letter of recommendation from their Superiors and addressed to the Directress/ Director of the Program, not later than two months before the start of program. ï‚·
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Applicants are required to have a personal interview with the Application Committee two weeks after the submission of the completed Application Form.
OBJECTIVES:
The program is designed for women and men in formation ministry in all levels. The participants of this program will be able to:
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Be in touch with their dynamics, and recognize and accept their God-given potentials/ gifts as chosen formators;
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Understand and appreciate the value of consecrated life and the demands of a life-giving and prophetic formation that the Church and society need today;
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Experience being accompanied in their life’s journey so to enable them to accompany others towards their psycho-social and spiritual growth and integration;
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Acquire, to a certain degree, the accompaniment skills such as understanding human dynamics in a given context, contemplative listening, counseling, and spiritual guidance/accompaniment.
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Attain, to a certain degree, competence, and self-confidence in accompanying others in their faith-life journey. SPIRITUALITY AT ITS CORE - With a lot of reference to “spirituality” in one form or another, throughout the program, the participants will have a deeper understanding of “spirituality” both as lived experience and as an academic discipline.
PROCESS AND METHODOLOGY:
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The program is geared toward the physio-psycho-spiritual (body, mind, and spirit) integration. Thus, the efficacy of the program draws much from the self-knowledge/awareness of the participants as well as their, joys, pains, strengths and weaknesses, hopes, and dreams in their life’s journey. A deeper look into one’s person, dynamics, and history will allow the participant to recognize God’s movements in their life which will enable them with confidence to accompany others.
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Formative activities such as immersion, inputs from resource persons, case presentations, dialogue, group sharing, workshops, and other group dynamics too, are incorporated into the conduct of the modules. All modules will lead the participant to self-assessment, and reflection which facilitates growing self-knowledge that includes recognition of lack, needs, affirmation, potential, and interests.
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Creative liturgies and praying with the body are part of the day’s sessions. The course will end with a five-day retreat for deepening and integration of all that has been experienced during the last four and a half months.
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Individual conferences with Spiritual Guides will be available for all participants.
Accompaniment Program for the Young Professed Sisters
Preparation for perpetual Vows Program
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To provide an intensive and expansive background and input as a setting from which the participants overview their initial experience of consecrated life as young professed and to make sense of God’s further call for them.
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To allow the young professed to gather the blessings and gifts of their early experience of the vowed life and appreciate and embrace what is life-giving and to grow into those that makes them more authentic persons in Mission.
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To lay out further invitations to live out prophetically within the current social challenges of our era.
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At the self-affirmation and confirmation of the participants of their chosen life and respond to it with a burning desire and fidelity to belong and embrace consecrated life as a lifetime response to God's love.
OBJECTIVES:
Program Objectives: This program for the preparation of the young professed sisters aims:
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To provide an intensive and expansive background and input as a setting from which the participants overview their initial experience of consecrated life as young professed and to make sense of God’s further call for them.
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To allow the young professed to gather the blessings and gifts of their early experience of the vowed life and appreciate and embrace what is life giving and to grow into those that which makes them more authentic person in Mission.
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To lay out further invitations in living out prophetically within the current social challenges of our area.
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At the self-affirmation and confirmation of the participants of their chosen life and respond to it with a burning desire and fidelity to belong and embrace consecrated life as a lifetime response to God's love.
Topics:
Preliminaries
Leveling Off: Context
Review of Life/Triduum
Human Dimension
Community Life
Charism and Mission
Prayer Life
The Consecrated life
Everyday Discipleship in Consecrated Life
Program Assessment and Final Rituals
