AGCRM416-chavez-vocation-formation-en


AGCRM416-chavez-vocation-formation-en

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1. LETTER OF THE RECTOR MAJOR
__________________________________________________________________________
VOCATION AND FORMATION: gift and task
“Jesus called his Apostles individually to be with him, and to be sent
forth to preach the Gospel. Patiently and lovingly he prepared them and gave
them the Holy Spirit to guide them into the fullness of Truth. He calls us too
to live out in the Church our Founder’s project as apostles of the young.
We respond to this call by committing ourselves to an adequate ongoing
formation, for which the Lord daily gives us his grace.” (C 96)
1. VOCATIONAL CONSISTENCY AND FIDELITY, CHALLENGES FOR VOCATION. - 1.1
Motivations. - 1.2 Anthropological opportunities and challenges. Authenticity - Freedom –
Historical context - Experience. – Human relationships and affectivity. - Postmodernism. -
Multiculturalism - Renunciation. - Fidelity. 2. VOCATION AND FORMATION, GIFT AND
TASK. 2.1 Vocation: grace at it origin. – Life as vocation. Life, Word of God. – Life a response
owed to God. - Vocation a life-time’s task. Vocation, a mission through dialogue. - The mission,
the home of and the reason for formation. 2.2 Formation: grace as a task. - Charismatic
identity and vocational identification. Objectives of formation. 1°. Sent to the young:
conforming oneself to Christ the Good Shepherd. - 2°. Made brothers by the one mission: making
common life the location and the object of formation. - 3°. Consecrated by God: bearing witness
to the radical nature of the gospel. - 4°. Sharing formation and mission: animating apostolic
communities in the spirit of Don Bosco. - 5°. At the heart of the Church: building the Church the
sacrament of salvation. - 6°. Open to reality: inculturating the charism. - Formative
methodology. 1°. Reaching the person in depth. - 2°. Animating a unifiying formative experience. -
3°. Ensuring the formative environment and the co-responsibility of everyone. - 4°. Giving formative
quality to daily experience. - 5°. Giving quality to formative accompaniment. - 6°. Paying attention to
discernment. 2.3 Formation: the absolute priority. Concluding prayer.
Rome, 31 March 2013
Feast of the Resurrection
My Dear Confreres,
For quite some time now I have wanted to share with you my reflections on the
subject of vocation and formation. Finally today I am able to do so through this letter
which is intended to throw light on the beauty and on the demands of our vocation and
of our formation, and at the same time on the current situation of psychological fragility,
vocational inconsistency and ethical relativism which can be found almost everywhere in
the Congregation. This situation clearly demonstrates a lack of appreciation for the
significance of a vocation and the indispensable role of formation in the assessment of
the suitability of candidates, in the consolidation of the first decisions regarding a
vocation, and above all in the ongoing assimilation to Christ obedient, poor and chaste in
Don Bosco’s footsteps.
Really worrying is the high number of those leaving either as temporarily professed,
during the period of profession or at its end; those perpetually professed, as well as
those priests requesting secularisation in order to be incardinated in a diocese; or those
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asking for a dispensation from celibacy and the priestly ministry; or indeed, sadly, those
who are dismissed.
It is true that the Congregation as a whole and the Councillor for Formation in
particular have made great efforts to ensure consistency in the formation teams, quality
in what is proposed and in the formation programmes, a high quality and specific nature
of the programme of courses of study, Salesian studies, the methodology for focusing on
the individual, the formation of formation personnel, a start to work on ongoing
formation. Nevertheless the problem continues to call for our attention, to require further
study and reflecton, and to demand courageous steps to be taken in animation and
government at all levels.
I am convinced that initial formation is an essential task of the Congregation, which
has the primary and ultimate responsibility for Salesian identity and for unity in the
divesity of contexts, and that, in particular, fundamental formation decisions are the
prerogative of the Rector Major and his Council. I am also convinced that the Provinces
carry out an important role in guiding and supporting the formation communities and
the study centres, especially as regards the inculturation of formation; and this implies
on their part a determined investment of personnel and resources in providing a high
quality service of formation.
However, I think that above all it is the ordinary lives of the local apostolic
communities which in the end play the decisive role. In fact, little or nothing is served by
a high quality of formation in the formation communities which helps the young
confreres to grow according to Don Bosco’s Project of life, if then in the local communities
a style of life is being lived which does not correspond with that project, or which belittles
it or even contradicts it. It is precisely this lack of a genuine “Salesian culture” which
allows attitudes and forms of behaviour that are quite out of place in consacrated
Salesian apostles to flourish. All this indicates that the care of vocation and formation
involves all the confreres individually, all the local communities, all the Provinces, the
whole of the Congregation. A serious commitment is needed, in addition to that to initial
formation, to ongoing formation which can indeed lead to a change in the culture of a
Province.
This is not the first time that I have drawn your attention to the delicate subject of
initial formation, to the life-style, to the mentality, to the attitudes and behaviour of a
Province. I referred briefly to it in the report to the GC26, and it seems to me that the
situation has not changed.
1. VOCATIONAL CONSISTENCY AND FIDELITY, CHALLENGES FOR
FORMATION
One of the topics on which we have focused our attention from the beginning of my
term as Rector Major has been that of vocational consistency. On this theme the General
Council carried out a reflection which resulted in the issuing of Guidelines by the
Councillor for Formation.1 The subject was taken up again by the Union of Superiors
General (USG), to which two half-yearly Assemblies were dedicated.2 This shows that this
is a problem which is a concern for all the Orders, Congregations and Institutes - those
1 Cf F. CEREDA, Vocational fragility. Initiating reflection and suggesting action, in AGC 385 (2004),
pp. 34-53.
2 Cf USG, Fedeltà vocazionale. Realtà che interpella la vita consacrata. Rome 23-25 November
2005; USG, Per una vita consacrata fedele. Sfide antropologiche della formazione. Rome 24-26 May
2006.
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of apostolic life and those of contemplative life. The study undertaken revealed a
multiplicity of causes as the basis for psychological fragility, vocational inconsistency
and moral relativism.
So that everyone might be better aware of the situation I think it will be useful to give
you some information about those entering and those leaving the Congregation during
both initial and ongoing formation in the last decade:
Initial Formation
Year
2002
2003
2004
2005
2006
2007
2008
2009
2010
2011
2012
Novice
s3
607
580
594
621
561
527
557
526
532
414
480
Novices Newly
who left professed
137
111
470
118
469
151
476
137
470
110
424
121
417
109
436
125
417
40
407
374
Temp.
professed
who left
231
225
211
237
227
200
216
225
222
185
174
New
perpetually
professed
249
254
281
249
260
219
220
265
177
231
262
New perpet.
professed
clerics
217
221
242 +1P
219 +2P
221 + 2P
205
200
246
161 +1P
210 + 1P
237
New perpet.
professed
brothers
32
33
38
28
37
14
20
19
15
20
25
New -
priests
262
218
203
230
192
175
222
195
203
206
189
Ongoing Formation
Year
2002
2003
2004
2005
2006
2007
2008
2009
Perpet.
clerics
leaving
8
10
14
11
13
15
8
12
Perpet.
brothers
leaving
12
14
15
15
10
11
6
13
Deacons
dispensed
celibacy
3
4
3
1
3
3
5
2
Priests4
dispensed
celibacy
15
11
20
15
27
18
18
9
Exclaus
-trated
18
10
14
10
11
9
5
6
Secularised
previo
experimento
7
3
9
9
11
12
12
14
Secularised
simpliciter
11
10
12
10
11
18
14
10
Dismissed
24
25
26
26
26
24
24
36
3 To understand the first three columns, one needs to appreciate that the novices who enter in a
given year make their first profession the following year; therefore the novices leaving constitute
the difference between the novices who enter in a given year and those professed the following
year. For example: in 2002, 607 novices entered and in 2003 there were 470 newly professed;
therefore the difference between the novices who entered in 2002 and the novices who made their
profession the following year is 137; this is the number given under “novices left” on the line for
2002. In 2012 480 novices entered; we shall know the number newly professed and also the
number who left at the end of 2013.
4 To understand the columns regarding dispensations from celibacy, secularisations and
dismissals the numbers given are with regard not to those who in a given year made a request but
to those in the given year whose cases were brought to a conclusion.
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2010 9
9
1
2011 10
12
3
2012 8
11
1
Novices according to the Regions
11
0
29
11
3
17
33
4
23
8
38
11
30
15
29
Year
2002
2003
2004
2005
2006
2007
2008
2009
2010
2011
2012
TOT
America
South
Cone
76
69
86
97
76
76
58
64
40
46
43
731
America
Interamerica
110
111
98
92
88
97
105
91
73
46
63
974
West
Europe
11
6
12
14
3
6
4
8
1
7
3
75
Italy
Middle
East
43
27
25
18
22
22
18
24
18
15
21
253
North
Africa East Asia South
Europe Madagascar Oceania Asia
71
55
80
135
59
84
79
144
51
92
84
145
71
95
74
160
47
92
75
158
51
94
73
108
48
100
89
135
40
89
64
146
55
114
93
138
29
94
60
117
38
107
69
136
560
1016
840
1522
Taking care of vocations and of formation has always meant having to face
anthropological, social and cultural challenges. This means in simple terms that
nowadays we have to deal with a type of challenge that requires new solutions, precisely
because we find ourselves culturally speaking. facing a new kind of young person who
finds it difficult to make choices and to imagine that a choice can be definitive, with all
the effort needed to persevere and to be faithful. Faced too by an inability to understand
the need for a mortified life, for self-denial: the avoidance of suffering and of hard work.
Today’s young person feels the need for self affirmation on the professional and economic
levels; he wants independence, and at the same time protection; he finds it difficult to
appreciate celibacy and chastity, troubled by visual images spread by the media; and -
last but not least – with a kind of illiteracy regarding the faith and a poor experience of
Christian life.5 Certainly side by side with these weaker aspects young people do have
much to offer and show many positive attitudes: their search for meaningful
interpersonal relationships, their concern about affectivity, their availability and
generosity in selfless commitment and in voluntary service, sincerity and the search for
authenticity.
Formation to fidelity to God, to the Church, to one’s own Institute, to our charges
begins from the moment of the selection of candidates. There is a need to place much
more emphasis on proactive personalities, with a spirit of enterprise and initiative, with
the capacity to make free choices and to organise their lives around these, without
external or internal constrictions. Added to this is the need for a form of discernment
that has two reference points: on the one hand, a criterion about suitability shared by
the team of formation personnel and, on the other hand the evident presence in the
candidate of those qualities that foster identification with a plan of evangelical life. This
requires that formation be focused more and more on the individual making it his own,
and understood as giving greater depths to motivations, taking a personal stand
5 Cf. E. BIANCHI, Religious life and vocations today in Western Europe, Reflection addressed to 150
Jesuits assembled in Bruxelles 1 May 2007..
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regarding values and attitudes in harmony with the Salesian consecrated vocation and
good accompaniment by the formation personnel.
We have in the Ratio and in the Criteria and norms two very valuable documents the
fruit of the experience and the formation praxis of the Congregation, with the
contributions of the human sciences, of comparisons with the “Ratio” of other Orders,
Congregations and Religious Institutes, but which unfortunately are not always well
known and put into practice by all the formation teams. It is possible to make mistakes
in other areas, but not in formation, since this means ruining generations of Salesians,
mortgaging the mission and compromising the whole Institute. We must never forget that
the identity, the unity and the vitality of the Congregation depend to a large extent on the
quality of formation and of government at the various levels: local, provincial and
congregational.
It is well worth recalling, and pointing out clearly once again, that formation is the
responsibility of the Congregation, which entrusts to the Provinces the duty of
implementing it, ensuring the necessary situations regarding personnel, structures and
resources that make it possible. Therefore there in no justification for a desire on the
part of a Province to have on its own all the stages of formation. Rather it should reflect
on its responsibility for the formation of the Salesian that nowadays the Congregation,
the Church and young people need. There is still some resistance to the idea of Inter-
Province formation communities. Even though they cannot provide a good formation
because of a shortage of those in formation and of formation personnel, some Provinces
insist on wanting to go it alone. I repeat once again that formation falls within the
competence of the Congregation, and it is not simply a Province responsibility;
individuals are the most precious gift the Congregation has, and the Congregation
entrusts the practical carrying out of initial formation to Provinces, groups of Provinces
or Regions. From this arises the mandatory need to carefully look after initial formation
communities, to establish good study centres, to prepare formation personnel and not
just teachers, but also to ensure the vitality of all the communities of the Provincc, and
in each confrere the quality of his faith and the radical nature of his sequela Christi.
1.1 Motivations
The starting point is aften a mistaken concept of vocation; sometimes it is identified
with a personal plan of life motivated by a desire for self-fulfilment, by a social sensitivity
and concern for the poorest or by the search for a quiet life, without serious
commitments and without a total unconditional surrender to God and to a mission in the
community.
These motives are not valid ones, or at least are not sufficient in order for the gift of
consecrated life to be accepted; they are not always expressions of faith, but of wishful
thinking (“I should like to be a religious,” “I have decided to become a Salesian,” …) or of
a social conscience (“I feel called to serve the poor, street children, natives, immigrants,
drug addicts, …”) or a search for security.
It is forgotten that only in the light of faith is life discovered as a vocation, and that
even more so that a call to the consecrated life is only possible in the perspective of faith
in the Lord who calls those He wants to be with Him, to follow Him, to imitate Him, so
that afterwards He may send them to preach. In this way the sequela Christi and the
imitatio Christi become the elements that characterise the lives of the disciples and the
apostles of Jesus. And it is precisely in walking behind Him and seeking to reproduce His
attitudes that we identify ourselves with Him to the point of being fully conformed to
Him.
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It is true that at the beginning there can be motivations in us that are not entirely
valid and therefore insufficient to justify and make possible the radical choice of a life
totally centred on God, on the Lord Jesus and on his Gospel, on the Spirit. The work of a
real formation process is to help to identify, to weigh up, to discern the motivations and
then to purify them and bring them to maturity in such a way that they have God and
His will as their supreme criterion.
This unavoidable task is a very delicate one; in fact many motivations are
unconscious; this leads the candidate to speak about the motivations he has heard
about and learned without being able to know and to make known the real ones. We
should not forget that the Gospel speaks about someone who, after having been cured by
Jesus, had expressed his desire to stay with Him. The Lord did not allow him to do so
but told him: «Go home to your people and tell them all that the Lord in his mercy has
done for you.» (Mk 5,19).
In addition to this, one has also to consider the culture which is characteristic of the
new generations. The Union of Superiors General dedicated two Assemblies to this issue.
In the first it tried to get to know better the profile of the young people who come
knocking on the doors of Consecrated Life, the values to which they are more sensitive,
the challenges they pose to formation and which can be transformed into opportunities
for formation. In the second there was an approach to the subject of fidelity, which is
not to be identified with perseverance; in fact, it sometimes happens that some religious
persevere in the sense of remain, when it would be better if they were to leave the
Institute; fidelity is not just remaining faithful externally to a profession made to the
Lord, but is a commitment to live on a regular daily basis what one has professed.
1.2 Anthropological opportunities and challenges
In the USG Assembly held in May 2006 I was invited to give a reflection on the
anthropological challenges to vocational fidelity in consecrated life. I think it is important
that I tell you something about it. In the way a human being is understood and his
potential there are some constant elements which we could say constitute the
intercultural and prevailing view. Happiness and self-fulfilment, desires and aspirations,
affections and emotions are opportunities and challenges. The anthropological aspects,
while challenging, are essential for every consecrated life that wants to be fully human
and therefore credible. They constitute the foundation for a good formation to vocational
fidelity.
Authenticity
The current anthropological situation offers consecrated life the opportunity for a new
authenticity. In fact today’s culture, especially youth culture, appreciates autenticity.
People want to see us happy. They want to see that what we say is matched by what we
do, and that our words are honest because they come from a life that is coherent.
Authenticity is a real opportunity because it appeals to young peoples’ generosity and
desire for friendship, to their self-giving and enjoyment at being together which are
deeply rooted attitudes and powerful stimuli for growth in genuine consecrated life and
in generous selfless love. This stimulates and encourages the older members of our
communities to be real models that are attractive and challenging, to live the life of love
for Christ which inspired them to embrace consecrated life and to understand that they
have a role to play in the formation of the younger generations. Authenticity demands
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that attention be paid to the human dimension of the consecrated person and to the
daily life of the communities.
Authenticity is also a challenge because it requires a return to the essentials, and
especially the overcoming of that functionality which reduces consecrated life to a role, a
job, or a profession, poisoning the passion of the self-giving to Christ and to humanity. It
provokes each day the conversion and the renewal of our communities and an
understanding of the evangelical counsels as the path for a person’s total fulfilment.
Authenticity is a challenge to consecrated life which every day is threatened by the
snares of mediocrity and idleness, the danger of being caught up with and settling for the
values of the ‘world’.
Freedom
To be a person means to have your life in your own hands, that is to decide what you
want to do with your life. Freedom is the responsibility for building it up; it is possibility,
it is the future.
Freedom is an opportunity because it is the only way to arrive at makimg values an
inner reality and the processes of formation a deeply personal matter and therefore to
come to true maturity.
Freedom is also a challenge because it demands that we know how to combine self-
fulfilment with the project, self-formation and accompaniment including spiritual
accompaniment. It is necessary to give young people all the time they need to grow and
to come to maturity, at their own pace. The canonical stages and the phases of growth in
maturity and the ability to make sound personal decisions do not always coincide.
Ordination to the priesthood and perpetual profession do not always corrispond to a
personal choice that is convinced and mature. There is need therefore for formation
personnel who are capable of providing personalised formation.
Historical context
Man is a being in fieri and society is in constant evolution. It takes time for a person
to grow; the story of his life brings together many diverse strands of experience. Telling
that life story can determine his personal identity.
The historical context therefore is an opportunity because it helps us to see that our
life is a journey and our formation is a process that never ends. Life is self-fulfilment and
self construction. Life is an unending theme tune which continues from initial formation
to ongoing formation. Changes in society stimulate consecrated life to a constant renewal
and adaptation; they are an invitation to it to redefine itself in the language of the people
of today.
The historical context is also a challenge because it demands that formation, in so far
as it is ongoing, animates and guides the whole of initial formation; it is not enough to
concentrate on the young and on their formation; what is needed is to set in motion all
the communities and the Institute, encouraging all the members to live again “their first
love”, the vocational passion they had at the start of their consecrated life. One’s own life
journey runs the risk of turning back on itself in a narcisistic manner and not opening
itself to self-giving. In a world that is changing and that is without a centre, it is
fragmentation that rules; so formation needs to serve to give unity to an indvidual and
focus him firmly on the essential which is the following of Christ.
Experience
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Nowadays it is necessary to go beyond an intellectualist formation which attempts to
rationalise life situations without having any experience of them and without integrating
them in everyday life. There is a great desire for experience; the more exciting
experiences are sought after; people want to experience things for themselves.
Experience is an opportunity because when someone learns from life formation
becomes more personalised, practical and in depth. Everyone needs it, not just the
young; older confreres too need to have an experience that is powerful and authentic of
God, of the charism, of the poor, of fraternal and expressive relationships.
Experience is also a challenge because it can become an end in itself, whereas one
should be experiencing values. Different experiences can be fragmentary and disjointed;
therefore there is need for the help of a spiritual guide who facilitates the unification of
the experiences and fosters the interiorisation of the values. It is not a question of having
many experiences, but of choosing a few well-prepared ones, powerful experiences that
require analysing so that the particular experiences become a personal experience.
Human Relations and affectivity
In present day culture one senses a great need for authentic human relationships.
Among young people there is a great thirst for companionship and friendship, for
informal and affectionate relationships; but adults too are looking for enriching and
meaningful relationships. For fraternal life to be a form of prophecy it needs to have
something to say about the ability to form relationships, it needs to be attractive
humanly speaking and it needs to be able to create family-style surroundings.
The desire to meet together certainly constitutes an opportunity because the ongoing
experience of a deepening in human relationships makes fidelity a more personal matter
and makes it possible to invite others to share in a relationship and to experience
authenticity and comnunication, but above all love for and a commitment to the person
of Jesus Christ. Fraternal life leads to greater attention being paid to ordinary daily
aspects of living together. However, the need is also felt to broaden the relationships and
cultivate the affections.
Fraternal life also constitutes a challenge because it demands that we focus on the
conversion and the renewal of our communities. What sort of environment, from the
human point of view, does the young candidate find in our communities and what level
of communication do the older confreres experience? This is a challenge which
introduces the problem of how to “regenerate” the communities especially when they are
ageing. It is a challenge because it is not easy to find formation personnel who are well-
balanced and able to make a personal approach, who know how to avoid individualism
and to offer wise personal and spiritual accompaniment. It is also difficult to achieve
emotional and affective balance in one’s own relationships and one’s own life.
Postmodernism
For consecrated life to be a prophecy for the postmodern world it needs to be able to
elicit a certain fascination and to rediscover how beautiful it is.
In general, the comparison with postmodern culture is an opportunity to propose the
values of consecrated life as an incentive, as a purification and as an alternative to the
values of the world: for example, fidelity in a culture that boasts of its infidelity; a life of
faith in a society without references to religious values; optimism and hope in a world full
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of fears. It is also an opportunity to give direction to the generosity of the young, their
thirst for friendship, their desire for self-fulfilment, their search for God.
The comparison with postmodern culture is also a challenge since the prevailing
culture of the media promises a false but attractive happiness; it is up to us to offer,
especially to the young, a personal and authentic experience of Christ, and to show with
words and deeds that consecrated life can provide complete personal self-fulfilment. A
new charismatic, prophetic and credible form of expression of consecrated life is needed;
and at the same time, a new charismatic equilibrium between the freshness of its
renewal and its historical expressions.
Multicultural world
We are living in a world that is becoming more and more a “global village”: from a
culture of individualism we are moving on, not without a certain resistance, to the
meeting together of different cultural worlds. It is a world characterised by globalisation,
by the speed of change, by complexity, fragmentation and secularisation. In all of this the
consecrated person sees the action of the Spirit of God Who in every situation acts how
and when He wishes.
Cultural diversity is an opportunity because it encourages solidarity, the welcoming of
the diverse, voluntary service experiences, empathy with the poor, respect for the
envoronment, the search for peace. It also fosters an ’international spirit’ and an
experience of the universal approach of communities of consecrated life in the form of
availability for service wherever it is requested. In this way the charism is enriched. In
the younger generations the process of knowledge, of welcoming and of dialogue is
fostered.
Cultural diversity is also a challenge because, for the majority of adult consecrated
persons, it is difficult to enter into the multicultural experience. The need arises to think
again about the language used and the way of transmitting values to anthropological
worlds that are distant and alien. Formation to fidelity in a world of constant change
and culturally pluridirectional, making a life of faith possible in a society basically
without any reference to religious and Christian values make the task of formation which
needs to be ongoing and open to intercultural experience very difficult.
Renunciation
Renunciation is an essential part of life, and therefore of consecrated life; when it is
accepted in a positve manner it becomes a liberating and enriching experience. You
cannot choose everything, even though the person who lives for love and chooses love,
has an experience that is all embracing.
Renunciation is an opportunity to live our consecrated life with authenticity and to
make of it a real “spiritual therapy” for humanity. It purifies love and makes it
authentic.
Renunciation is also a challenge because consecrated life offers a fast lane for life,
often sparing the consecrated person the problems and the burdens of ordinary life.
Indeed the temptation of consumerism, a comfortable life, being well-off, travel and the
possession of ‘personal media’, impinges on consecrated persons in all cultures. It is
necessary to return to the essentials in our lives and in our organisations. For young
people especially, but not only them, renunciation can be a problem. We have to help
them to understand that it is not a matter of sacrificing something but of choosing
something, indeed Some One: the Lord Jesus and following Him. In Him is to be found
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full freedom, joy and fulfilment. This means being open and allowing Jesus to enter into
our lives and to take the first place there; we are open to being free from those forms of
conditioning that can prevent us from making and living this radical choice.
Fidelity
Fidelity is the obvious consequence of the option that the consecrated person makes
for God, arousing in his life the fire of a passion for Him and for the Lord Jesus even to
the offering of one’s life for ever.
Fidelity is an opportunity because it makes more profound and personal the
relationship with the Lord Jesus and with His Kingdom. It makes possible witnessing to
God as the absolute and permanent value, which remains fixed in the turmoil of cultural
changes. It enables us to see the world through positive eyes and to identify the positive
experiences of fidelity in the family, in the community, in the Church, as the action of the
Holy Spirit in history. It also enables us to see the meaning of the sacrifices the
consecrated person is called to make.
Fidelity is also a challenge because it is shaken by the fragmented and transient
nature of today’s culture. In this way it needs to be constantly accompanied in a
personal and community fashion in order to pass from narcisism to a dying to oneself in
the following of Christ. On the other hand, fidelity cannot remain merely on the
theoretical level; it has to be a living fidelity, a meeting with Christ, which absorbs the
whole person and leads the consecrated person from fragmented “experiences” to the
fundamental “experience.” In addition, the fidelity of the consecrated person is a
challenge that needs constant further exploration, which becomes the daily question:
who am I being faithful to? Fidelity is a challenge that needs the creation of a faithful
community that can generate fidelity, that can help the passage from superficiality to the
profound roots of fidelity, that builds and renews charismatic fidelity and which
recognises the way ahead and how its processes work. Fidelity is no longer considered
something that lasts all through life but can only exist as fidelity “for the time being.”
For this reason in some Congregations the question often arises about whether or not to
consider the possibility of incorporating some kind of temporary commitment in
consecrated life. On this issue we Salesians have said that we are not in favour. To us it
seems that we ought rather to undertake formation in such a way as to make the
confreres capable of offering themesleves totally to God for ever.
There is no doubt that the wealth and diversity of the possibilities for mankind
nowadays affords great opportunities for developpment, as well as new formative tasks
for consecrated life. This is not to underestimate the determining contribution of grace
and the Spirit, which in fact act precisely through the psychological and anthropological
dynamics of the individual. Therefore formation will make us careful to be open to Spirit,
so as to start precisely from these human expressions and to take them to their maturity
and fulness.
2. VOCATION AND FORMATION, GIFT AND TASK
The question is asked: why do we have to become involved in forming those called by
God and sent to us by Him? Precisely because in the Congregation we consider them to
be God’s gift to the young we take such care of them and we are conscious of our
responsibility to help them to rise to the heights of the vocation they have received.
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Therefore we try to examine more closely the two inseparable elements of a true call, that
is to say, the vocation and formation, the gift and the task, which are like the two sides
of the same coin.
The first of the articles that the Constitutions devote to formation makes a
fundamental affirmation, a real profession of faith expressed from the point of view of the
person called: “we respond to this call [from Jesus] by committing ourselves to an
adequate ongoing formation.” (C. 96)6
The Constitutions therefore see formation as a response to the vocation. They don’t
equate it with the long period of time leading up to a full and definitive involvement in
the common mission, nor, even less, do they reduce it simply to religious and
professional studies to which as a specific preparation for the personal mission it is
necessary to devote oneself. Everything that we have to do in order to recognise, take on
board and identify ourselves with the plan to which God is calling us to is formation:
“formation is the joyful acceptance of the gift of one’s vocation and its actualization at
every moment of one’s life and in every situation.”7 Formation, one might say, is that
state of life into which someone enters who feels himself called by Jesus to stay with Him
and then to be sent out by Him (cf Mk 3,13).
By calling us God has given us an identity. And we only respond to Him in an
appropiate manner when we ourselves recognise our identify in His call.. Therefore
Salesian identity is not to be equated with what we are already, nor with what we want to
be; but rather it coincides with His plan, with what He wants us to become. So therefore,
identifying ourselves with what God wants from us is the purpose of all formation.
‘Salesian, become what you are called to be!’ God’s call which is a totally unmerited
grace, precedes and motivates the effort to respond appropriately to it, in which
formation basically consists, and “for which the Lord daily gives us his grace” (C. 96):
vocation and formation are two ways in which grace works within us; vocation is the
grace of being called, which precedes, accompanies and which needs formation;
formation is the grace to become worthy of the vocation, which needs to be cultivated,
maintained and constantly given greater depth.
2.1 Vocation: grace at its origin
“We live as disciples of the Lord by the grace of the Father, who consecrates us
through the gift of His Spirit and sends us out to be apostles of the young.” (C. 3)
The vocation is never a personal life-plan which the individual carries through with his own
strength or nurtures with his own finest dreams; rather, it is a call from Him Who, going
before and transcending him, proposes to the one chosen a goal which is beyond him and
his own possibilities. In the first case, the person feels the desire and the enthusiasm to do
something with his life, or better, proposes to himself – and believes he can do so – to make
something of his life. In the second case, he feels that he is being invited to make something
of his life, something that he can imagine and identify only if he responds to the personal
call. Believing that one has been called means knowing that one has been chosen (cf Jn
15,16). “The primacy of love is His. The following is only a response in love to the love of
God. If “we love” it is “because He first loved us”(1Jn 4:10,19). This means recognising
6 “To respond to God’s call means to live in an attitude of formation” (The Project of Life of the
Salesians of Don Bosco. Guide to the reading of the Salesian Constitutions, Rome 1986, p. 682).
7 Formation of Salesians of Don Bosco [FSDB], Rome 2000, 1
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His personal love with that heartfelt awareness which made the apostle Paul say: “Christ
loved me and gave up his life for me” (Gal 2:20).”8
Life as vocation
“The life of everyone is a vocation and should be understood, accepted and fulfilled as
such.”9 Before coming to know in the call one’s own life’s destiny, before coming to
recognise that one has been called in oder to do something with one’s life, the believer
knows that he has been called by God by the simple fact of being alive: “He made us and we
belong to him,” the Psalmist acknowleges (Psalm 100,3).
Life, the Word of God
Life, our own existence is God’s word, and at the same time the reponse owed to our
God. It is of this that the story of Hannah the mother of Samuel reminds us. She asks for a
son, and when she is given one she feels that he belongs to God, and in fact she takes him
to the temple of the Lord at Shilo in order “to bring him and present him before the Lord;
and he will stay there for ever.” “This is the child I prayed for, and the Lord granted me what
I asked him. Now I make him over to the Lord for the whole of his life. He is made over to
the Lord.” (1Sam 1, 22.27-28). Calling man God brought him into existence. The person
called is obliged to respond, With the life He has given, God has made dialogue the way we
are to live in His presence. Being made in the image of a God Who thought of us as being
in dialogue with Himself, we shall be able to live only in dialogue with this God. Life is the
way God speaks on our behalf and therefore it demands that man speaks on His behalf. It
is not by chance that we are born from nothing as part of a divine conversation. He Who
has imagined us while conversing with Himself, was able to consider us His image because
we can converse like Him and with Him.
“From the moment he has been called to life by God, the believer knows that his
presence in the world is not the result of his own decision: a person lives not because of his
own desire, because he wants to, but because he was desired and loved... Precisely since
life is the result of the divine will, it cannot be lived outside His will: someone who is not
living because of his own choice, should not be living on his own terms; a life that is given
has limitations that have to be respected (Gen 2,16-17) and tasks that have to be
undertaken (Gen 1,28-31). Man according to the bible, by the simple fact of his being alive
knows he is called by God and responsible to Him. He is alive because God wanted him to
be and to live according to His will...; he knows he is alive because he has been called by
God. He knows he will live if he remains faithful to this vocation (Gen 3,17-19),”10
It is in this way, making our own God’s call, that we find our good and we discover
our freedom: “Each person finds his good by adherence to God's plan for him, in order to
realise it fully: in this plan, he finds his truth, and through adherence to this truth he
becomes free (cf. Jn 8, 32)”.11
Life a response owed to God
8 CONGREGATION FOR FOR INSTITUTES OF CONSECRATED LIFE AND SOCIETIES OF APOSTOLIC LIFE
(CIVCSVA), Starting afresh from Christ, Rome 2002, n. 22.
9 Criteria and norms for Salesian vocation discernment [Supplement to FSDB], 30
10 Juan J. BARTOLOMÉ, “La Llamada de Dios. Una reflexión bíblica sobre la vocación”: Misión Joven
131 (1987) 6.
11 BENEDICT XVI, Caritas in veritate, 1.
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By the simple fact of living, man ought to act responsibly: since he is the only living
creature that reflects God’s nature of being in dialogue (Gen 1,26), he has to take on
responsibility for creation (Gen 1,3-25), accept the responsibility of procreation (Gen 1,27-
30; Psalm 8,6-9; Sir 17,1-10) and responsibility for his brother (Gen 4,9). This responsibility
on which his relationship with God depends, and which he carries out by taking care of the
world and of his brothers and sisters, is man’s constant debt. He pays it in so far as
watching over creation in the name and in the place of God, he remains in dialogue with
Him.
The biblical person therefore lives in God’s presence with a permanent debt of
responding. The person who owes his life to a Word of God cannot remain silent in His
presence; the believer who remains silent in God’s presence has ceased to exist for God; He
has imagined us speaking, and we are His image if we are in dialogue with Him: only the
dead cannot remember Him, only the dead do not praise Him (cf Psalm 6,6; 88,11-13; Is
38,18). Everything that life offers us can be a reason for prayer12 and it is a task we have
the responsibility to fulfil: no human situation exists which is not worth commenting on,
speaking about, sharing with God. There is no need of our brothers and sisters nor a
brother or sister in need to which we do not have to respond. We recall that Cain did not
want to speak about his brother Abel, in fact he declared that he did not have to respond
for him because shortly before he had taken his life: the murder had preceded the refusal to
speak about his brother.
The vocation, a life-time task
For the believer life is not a matter of chance or stll less the result of human will: every
life is willed by God; to every human life God assigns a place, a task in His saving plan.
Whoever comes into existence has been willed by God: that existence has a meaning at
least so far as God is concerned, and such a life achieves its full meaning only from God.
Vocation, mission from a dialogue
It is not by chance that when in the Bible there is a description of a call by God the
narrative becomes an account of the conversation or dialogue God initiates with the one He
has chosen: gradually revealing the plan He has for him, God lets it be known that He is
counting on him to carry it out successfully.
Unexpectedly without any merit on his part, or even wanting it, the person chosen finds
himself with a task that has been given to him and a way of life imposed on him: one
involving the generation of a people (Abram: Gen 12,1-4) or its liberation (Moses: Ex 3,1-
4,23), the conception of a son (Mary: Lk 1,26-38) or an invitation to live with Jesus (the
first four disciples: Mk 1,16-20). The mission that is given does not correspond to the
capabilities of those called, often it has no place in their plans; neither Abram nor Mary
could imagine as a possibility the offspring promised (Gen 15,2-3; Lk 1,34). Normally the
mission given does not even fit in well with the activity or profession being undertaken.
Moses pasturing someone else’s flocks and similarly the first disciples of Jesus working
12 ““All authentic Christian prayer involves the entire life of the one who prays.... You might think
that the ordinary events of daily life are of little account in comparison with great social and
historical happenings, but through prayer you can discern their value and become aware of the
fact that these ordinary daily occurrences have their place in the designs of God. Any situation
can be the topic of prayer if you convert it into a theological experience.” (The Salesian Rector. A
Ministry for the Animation and Government of the local Community, Rome 1986, 209-210)
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with their nets are engaged in activities very different from the those to which they were
called, that is to say leading a national liberation movement (Ex 2,21-3,1) or being fishers of
men for the kingdom of God (Mk 1,16.19).
The believer in the bible, knowing that his life is the result of God’s decision in his
regard, can exclude chance or luck good or bad. That there is a Person who at a certain
time has deliberately wanted him and at that particular moment created him can never, as
long as he lives, cease to makle him feel that he is loved and neither will he ever be a
hostage to fate nor will the unforeseen rage against him. Nevertheless, precisely on this
account since he didn’t bring himself into being, neither on his own can he make his own
plans about his life. He is not his own master;: he remains dependent on the will of the One
Who loved him so much as to want him to have life and be similar to Him. Therefore his
own life shows that he is a plan of God that has to be implemented. His own existence
proves the prior existence of a divine plan for him. Life is always mission, having been first
of all gift; it is task and grace, since it was not an automatic inheritance nor a payment due
to him.
The mission, home and reason for formation
God can very well dispose of the life of a man since it was He Who gave it to him. The
accounts of the calls, significantly numerous in the Bible, clearly show this charactristic
feature of the living God: God reveals to the person called that He is counting on him,
sometimes, decidedly inspite of himself, and at others even against his own will. No matter
how many objections he raises the one called cannot avoid the call. At least not unless God
withdraws his invitation, the one sent will always be such; not even fleeing from God can he
free himself from Him and from His will, as Jonah had to learn (Jonah 1,1-3,3). And what is
even more serious, more than one of those called will feel that his life has been stolen from
him, that he has been violently seized and a mission imposed on him that did not enter into
his calculations nor fit in with his ability as Jeremiah shows (Jer 1,5) and also Paul (Gal
1,15).
God comes to an agreement with those He calls while conversing with them. The God
who calls by speaking with someone, turns the chosen person into a questioner. In
addressing the one called, God reveals to him that he wants him and why he wants him.
Yet the only knowledge about God and about himself that the one called acquires is that
accepting God’s call consists in knowing that he is destined for others: When He calls the
God of the Bible wants the person called for his own sake certainly but also for others. It is
precisely in this that the surprise of the call consists: he has to try to give the response that
is due to God for his vocation, by responding to those to whom he has been sent. God calls
for him to stay with Him and to send him: intimate friendship with Him and the mission on
behalf of others are the way of living the choice; they are its consequence and its proof.
Everything one does to learn to be friends and not servants of the Lord, and to carry out the
mission, to prepare oneself for it and to identify oneself with it is formation. The formation
of the Salesian, of its very nature, is religious and apostolic because it is guided and
motivated by the mission.
The only response which the God of the call considers valid is that which implements
His call, that is to say the one he makes when he gives himself to those to whom God, when
He called him by name, had in mind for him. Accepting and living out a vocation implies
therefore a life of obedience to the task received: exclusive service to the young is the
response God expects from a Salesian. It is not mere coincidence if we are losing a sense of
our duty towards the young, when we are losing our taste and our desire for prayer. Even
less should we be surprised if every attempt to free ourselves from the Salesian mission
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impoverishes our community prayer and makes it more difficult. It is not that God is
distancing Himself from us or preventing us from feeling Him close, it is the fact that we are
distancing ourselves from the young and we are unable to be close to their problems. We
believe ourselves to be abandoned by God because and when we are abandoning “our
mission which is truly at home..., among the young in need.”13
As Salesians, we are indebted to God and to the young. This debt arises from the grace
received: it comes into existence and is maintained by the vocation, and it is settled by
“adeguate ongoing” formation (C. 96). “Immersed in the world and in the cares of the
pastoral life, the Salesian learns to meet God through those to whom he is sent." (C. 95).
Formation consists fundamentally and primarily in this learning process. The goal is to
meet God in the life we are living as we respond to the call; the way to success and the
choices of method made constitute the formation process which every chosen person lives
in person. It won’t be necessary to leave the life each one is living if this is his response to
his own vocation. Wherever an awarenesss of our doing in God’s sight whatever He has
entrusted to us is lacking, there cannot be any real formation no matter how much one
studies nor however many years are spent in the so-called ‘houses and stages of formation.’
2.2 Formation: grace as a task
Quite clearly we are not speaking in abstract terms about vocation and formation. As
we have seen from the beginning both of them, vocation and formation, are faced with
their own particular challenges which in my opinion are arising from the historical
cultural context in which we are living and from the way in which the Church and the
Congregation are present.
As far as the social context is concerned, there are some aspects that in that
background “closely effect the vocation experience”: on one hand the value of the
individual, and on the other subjectivism and individualism; on one hand the dignity of
woman and on the other ambiguity in her regard; on one hand the revaluation of
sexuality, and on the other some of its distorted expressions; on one hand the richness
of pluralism, and on the other relativism and weakness of thought; on one hand the
value of freedom and on the other arbitrariness; on one hand life’s complexity and on the
other fragmentation; on one hand globalisation and on the other particularism; on one
hand a grater desire for spirituality and on the other secularism.14
As far as the Church is concerned, she would like to repond to the challenges of the
present age with the New Evangelisation, which in its turn requires a new evangeliser,
who makes Christ the subject and the content of his preaching, the mystery of the cross
the criterion of Christian authenticity, the Gospel his strength and his light. In this way
he will be able to bring together harmoniously evangelisation, human development,
Christian culture, and promote cultural, ecumenical and inter-religious dialogue.
On her part, from the Second Vatican Council onwards, the Congregation has tried to
update herself in order to respond to these challenges and has committed herself to the
renewal of the vocation experience and her formation praxis. From this point of view, the
Ratio is far more than just a document.
Its fundamental intuition is that which regards charismatic identity and
vocational identification. We are convinced that if, through formation, we succeed in
ensuring a clear Salesian identity, the confreres will feel themselves furnished with a
collection of values, attitudes and criteria which will help them to face up successfully to
13 E. VIGANÒ, “Strengthen your brothers”, AGC 295 (1980), p. 26.
14 Cf FSDB, 7
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today’s culture and to effectively carry out the Salesian mission. I should therefore like to
address the subject of formation from this point of view.
God’s call putting young people at the centre of our response to our vocation has obliged
us to live a particular kind of spirituality, which requires a specific formation: “we believe
that God is awaiting us in the young to offer us the grace of meeting with Him and to
dispose us to serve Him in them.”15 Since we cannot understand our experience of God
without reference to the young to whom God has sent us, in the same way we cannot carry
out our formation without a life lived for their sake: “The religious and apostolic nature of
the Salesian calling dictates the specific direction our formation must take” (C. 97).
The Salesian knows that his apostolic life constitutes the special location and the
central reason for his dialogue with God: since God has given him that task for the whole
of his life it is in identifying himself with it and carrying it out that he is able to respond to
Him. “God’s call reaches him as he lives out his mission among the young; that is often
the place where he begins to follow Christ. In the mission are exercised, revealed and
developed the gifts he has received at his consecration. A single movement of love draws
him to God and directs him towards the young. (cf C. 10). He turns his educational
activity among the young into an act of worship and a potential meeting-place with
God.”16
The commitment to achieve this is called formation; in fact, “Salesian formation means
identifying oneself with the vocation which the Spirit has raised up through Don Bosco,
possessing his ability to share it with others, and drawing inspiration from his attitude
and method of formation.”17
Charismatic Identity and vocational identification
“Conforming ourselves to Jesus Christ and spending our lives for the young, as did
Don Bosco”, sums up “the vocation of the Salesian”, his identity. “All our formation, both
initial and ongoing, consists in acquiring and actualising this identity in individual
persons and in the community.” It is “the fountainhead of our formation process and its
constant point of reference.” Salesian identity is “the heart of all our formation,” 18 its
norm and its goal.” In other words, what distinguishes our formation - which cannot be
generic – is our Salesian identity: it spells out the tasks and fundamental
requirements.”19
Objectives of formation
Forming oneself inplies understanding the form of life to which one is called and
identifying oneself more fully with it. As has already been said, in consecrated life
formation does not coincide with the period of study that precedes the taking of the vows,
the priestly ministry, a time therefore, that is limited and not to be repeated. Rather it is
ongoing, never finished and “must endure for a lifetime and involve the whole person, heart,
15 GC23, 95
16 FSDB, 29
17 FSDB, 4
18 Cf FSDB, 25
19 FSDB, 41
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mind and strength (cf. Mt 22:37) reshaping the person in the likeness of the Son who gives himself
to the Father for the good of humanity.”20
“It is through formation, in fact, that we achieve our identity as Salesians and acquire the
maturity needed to live and work in conformity with the founding charism. Starting out from an
initial state of enthusiasm for Don Bosco and his mission for youth, we arrive at a true conformity
with Christ and a stronger identification with our Founder; we embrace the Constitutions as our
Rule of life and identity-card, and develop a strong sense of belonging to the Congregation and to
the provincial community.”21
What we are called to be determines the efforts we have to make in order to become
that; charismatic identity is the cause and guides the task of identification, personal and
as community, which formation is. In other words, the objectives of formation to
Salesian life are determined by the Salesian vocation itself, ultimately God Who calls us
to undertake these tasks:
1º. Sent to the young: conforming oneself to Christ the Good Shepherd.
Like Don Bosco, the Salesian has as the first and main focus of his mission “the young
who are "poor, abandoned and in danger", those who have greater need of love and evangelisation”
(C. 26).22
It is in responding to this mission that we achieve this conformation23 to Christ, the Good
Shepherd, the fruit and natural guarantee of which is pastoral charity. Loving young
people as Christ loves them “becomes for the Salesian a plan of life”; what he undertakes
to represent the love of God for the young (cf C. 2: to be in the Church signs and bearers)
will identify him with Christ, the apostle of the Father. “It is through the young that the Lord
enters to take first place in the life of the Salesian, and the yearnings of Christ the Redeemer find an
echo in his motto, Da mihi animas, coetera tolle, which forms the unifying element of his whole
life.”24
The Salesian conforms himself with Christ in carrying out his mission, “the
parameter of our identity, secure and well-defined,”25 with an ‘oratorian heart’,26
responding to the needs of the young with imagination and educational sensitivity. It is
in our daily life and not in special or extraordinary activities, “in the reality of every day the
Salesian turns his identity of apostle of youth into a living experience.”27
2º. Made brothers by a single mission: making common life the place and the
object of formation.
20 CIVCSVA, Starting afresh from Christ, 15
21 FSDB, 41
22 Cf SGC, 45-49
23 The Apostolic Exhortation Vita Consecrata speaks about a “special communion of love with
Christ” (VC, 15).
24 FSDB, 30
25 SGC, Presentation of the Rector Major, 31 January 1972, page XVI
26 “ Drawing inspiration from the example and teachings of Don Bosco, the Salesian lives the
Preventive System as a spiritual, pedagogical and pastoral experience. His dealings with the young
are marked by cordiality and by an active and friendly presence, that fosters leadership. He
joyfully accepts the labours and sacrifices that his contact with young people implies, convinced
that through them he will find his way to holiness.” (FSDB, 32)
27 FSDB, 42.
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“To live and work together is for us Salesians a fundamental requirement and a sure
way of fulfilling our vocation” (C. 49). In fact, living out the mission in a community
fashion is not a matter of choice for us; we are not left free in accepting it, nor can we
free ourselves from it should we feel like it; neither is it a choice made for tactical reasons
so as to achieve greater apostolic efficiency; “it is one of the most distinguishing marks of
Salesian identity. The Salesian is called to live with brothers who are consecrated like
him in order to work together with them for God’s Kingdom among the young.”28
By vocation, the Salesian is “a vital part of a community” and “he cultivates a profound
sense of belonging to it”: “In a spirit of faith and with friendly support the Salesian lives
the family spirit in his community, contributing day by day to the growth of communion
among all the members. Convinced that the mission is entrusted to the community, he
commits himself to work together with his confreres according to an overall plan and a
joint strategy.”29
Since “the assimilation of the Salesian spirit is fundamentally a fact of living
communication” (Reg 85), formation, as the identification with the Salesian charism,
needs even more that communication which “has as its natural context the
community”.30 In addition to being “the natural environment for vocational growth”, “the
very life of the community, united in Christ and open to the needs of the times is itself a
factor in formation” (C. 99). Living in and for the community is living in formation.
3º. Consecrated by God: witnessing to the radical nature of the Gospel.
“Our apostolic mission, our fraternal community and the practice of the evangelical
counsels are the inseparable elements of our consecration” (C. 3).
“Salesian spiritual life is a deep experience of God that is sustained by, and in its turn
sustains, a form of life based entirely on Gospel values (cf C. 60). For this reason, the
Salesian embraces the kind of obedient, poor and virginal life that Jesus chose for himself
while on earth … As he grows in the radicalism of the Gospel giving it an intensely
apostolic slant, he turns his life into an educational message, addressed especially to
young people, proclaiming “that God exists, that his love can fill a life completely, and
that the need to love, the urge to possess, and the freedom to control one’s whole
existence, find their fullest meaning in Christ the Saviour » (C. 62)”.31
Consequently the practice of the evangelical counsels, in addition to being a message
and a method of evangelisation,32 “is his badge of identity and test of formation.”33
4º. Sharing vocation and mission: animating apostolic communities in the spirit of
Don Bosco.
“The Salesian cannot fully think about his vocation in the Church without reference
to those who with him share in carrying out the Founder’s will. Through his profession
28 FSDB, 33. “ “The salesian vocation is inconceivable without concrete communion in common
life among the members. It is precisely the communal bond between the confreres that constitutes
their living and working together as Salesians” (The Project of Life of the Salesians of Don Bosco, p.
408).
29 FSDB, 33
30 FSDB, 219
31 FSDB, 91
32 Cfr VC, 96; CG24, 152.
33 FSDB, 34
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he enters the Salesian Congregation and becomes part of the Salesian Family”;34 in which
we have special responsibilities: ““to preserve unity of spirit and to foster dialogue and
fraternal collaboration for [...] mutual enrichment and greater apostolic effectiveness” (C.
5).
By the fact of being such, “every Salesian is an animator and strives always to fulfil
this task more efficiently”:35 responding to his own vocation makes him co-responsible for
the Salesian charism which in their different ways the various members of the Salesian
Family are living. “Formation gives the Salesian a strong sense of his own particular
identity, opens him up to communion in the Salesian spirit and mission with the members
of the Salesian Family who live different vocations... The Communion will be the stronger
‘the clearer each one is about his own identity and the more the different vocations are
understood, respected and benefited from’36... Formation to communion in Salesian
values increases our awareness of the task of animating in whatever concerns our
charism and prepares us for it.”37
5º. At the heart of the Church: building the Church, the sacrament of salvation.
“The Salesian vocation places us at the heart of the Church” (C. 6): “the spiritual
experience of the Salesian is therefore an experience of the Church.”38 If for Don Bosco
loving the Church was a characteristic feature of his life and of his holiness, for us “being
Salesians is our intensive way of being Church.”39
The Salesian comes to be so by growing in his sense of belonging to the Church, 40
engaged in her preoccupations and problems, woking in her pastoral programmes and
involving the young people in them, living in heartfelt communion with the Pope and with
those who are working for the Kingdom (cf C. 13).41
6º. Open to reality: inculturating the charism.
The vocation of the Salesian demands “openness and discernment in the face of the
changes taking place in the life of the Church and of the world, especially among youth
and the working classes.”42 Like Don Bosco, the Salesian sees the historical situation “as
woven into the fabric of his vocation,” “a challenge and a urget summons to discernment
and action... He tries to understand the cultural developments taking place in everyday life,
reflects seriously on them, considers them in the light of Redemption.”43 Interpreting reality in
gospel terms, in particular that of the young and working class people, is obligatory for
us if we want to respond appropriately to the Salesian vocation: is is an integral part
therefore of the commitment to formation.
34 FSDB, 35
35 FSDB, 35
36 GC24, 138
37 FSDB, 45
38 FSDB, 82
39 The Project of life of the Salesians of Don Bosco, p. 131.
40 “ Our way of living our membership of the Church and of contributing to its construction
consists in being genuine and faithful Salesians, i.e. in being ever more ourselves” (The Project of
Life of the Salesians of Don Bosco, p. 122).
41 Cf FSDB, 83
42 FSDB, 42
43 FSDB, 37
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“Called to incarnate himself among the youth of a particular place and culture, the
Salesian stands in need of an incultured formation. Through discernment and dialogue
with his own situation he seeks to inbue his life’s principles with evangelical and
Salesian values, and to implant the Salesian experience in his own context. This fruitful
relationship gives rise to ways of life and pastoral approaches which are more effective in
so far as they are consistent with the founding charism and with the unifying action of
the Holy Spirit (cf VC 80).”44
Formation methodology
“Responding to the invitation of Christ who calls personally means to make the values
of our vocation become real and alive.”45 Considering the century-old Salesian experience
from Don Bosco to our own days, the theorical identification of the charismatic values
can be considered today a goal sufficiently reached. The greater challenge that formation
faces nowadays consists rather in the method of formation, in how to make the
vocational project a personal plan of life, how to move on from values that are
appeciated to values that are lived, how to transform the Salesian charism into a daily
reality
Inspired by a vocation that is gratutous, formation, before being a methodological
process, is a lived experience of grace, a gift gratefully received and a responsibility that
has been taken on, through a personal dialogue with God that is not transferable: it is,
and in this order, “grace of the Spirit, a personal attitude, an education for life.”46 The
Spirit of God is ultimately the author of the call and the only true ‘formator’ of the one
called: He initiated a dialogue with his project and He is capable of sustaining it with His
power. In this way formative activity remains open to the idea of the mystery of God and
of the individual person; without this interior dialogue nothing is guaranteed; only too
well does our personal lived experience demonstrate this as does our experience as
educators.
From the declared priority of the Spirit in the formation process,47 from Salesian
educational experience, from the guidelines of the Church and of the Congregation, and
from an analysis of the situation regarding formation, in these last few years some
choices have been made which “appear indispensable for attaining the objectives of the
process of formation, and continually fostering the growth of a vocation.”48
1º. Reaching the individual in the depth of his being
Formation, “the personal assimilation of Salesian identity,”49 takes place in being like
Don Bosco, rather than in working like him. This obliges us to concentrate our efforts in
formation as a priority on the interiorisation of the experience without limiting
ourselves to the acquisition of new knowledge, or repeating patterns of formal external
behaviour which don’t really express the values we are called to live and are just forms
44 FSDB, 43.
45 FSDB, 205
46 FSDB, 1
47 “ Docile to the Holy Spirit he develops his talents and his gifts of grace in a constant effort of
conversion and renewal” (C. 99). Cf CRIS, Los elementos esenciales de la enseñanza de la Iglesia
sobre la vida religiosa (1983), 47.
48 FSDB, 206. Formation “is certainly a gift of the Spirit but it is also helped by a proper
pedagogy.” (FSDB, 209).
49 FSDB, 208
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of adaptation to the environment.50 Without interiorisation there is a two-fold danger. On
the one hand formation is reduced to mere information, when the assimilation of values
is taken for granted solely because they are aften spoken about. On the other hand,
information is reduced to a simple arrangement, when a style of life is imitated without
its real motivations being appropriated.
The interiorisation of charismatic values necessarily implies the existence of profound
personal motivations and it becomes unattainable if one does not succeed in making
charismatic values become personal convictions. Only by having strong reasons for
becoming what we are called to be can we discover as values those elements which
together form Salesian life, have experience of them and take them on board to the extent
of making them into a co-natural way of being. It is in this way that a person is reached
in the depth of his being and his transformation occurs.
In addition to this, one particular aspect of Salesian education can be pointed out
which is that it starts from the actual person, from his personal history, from the
progress he has already made in the various personal aspects, avoiding the temptation to
make everyone the same or put them on the same level for practical purposes, without
having respect for the rhythms of different peoples’ maturing process. This brings with it
the task of helping the person to know and accept himself, to become aware of his
convictions and subject them to discernment, as an essential condition for building on
the truth and on the acceptance of himself. It also imples a precise knowledge of the
person’s needs and the drawing up of a suitable itinerary. Finally it implies a clear
proposal for the project of Salesian life, with all its demands, without any room for facile
enthusiasm and passing emotions.
Self-knowledge, which is already a value is directed towards the formative experience
of the examination of the person in relation to the vocational identity he wishes to take
on. In this way a profile with which the person wishes to identify himself can be
produced (Christ, in Don Bosco’s way, paraphrasing Saint Paul’s expression: “Be
imitators of me as I am of Christ”) and starting from this profile, a plan of spiritual
growth can be drawn up which favours the developing identification, which as is logical,
has no end and is suitable for the whole of life.
The one with the primary responsibility for this interior identification is the person
called. It is not a task that can be delegated, nor deferred: no one else can undertake it in
the place of the one called, nor can this person carry it out just when he wants to. The
person called, precisely because he is called, and in order to respond to the call has to
become fully involved without any reservation, with generosity and in a radical manner,
with conviction and enthusiasm. Gradually he will grow in his sense of belonging to the
family of which he wishes to be part, and to feel at home.51
2º. Animating a unifiying formative experience.
50 “ The process of growing in one’s Salesian identity takes place in a person’s heart, at the most
intimate level of his affections, feelings, convictions and motivations, and is not limited to the
acquisition or transmission of knowledge and patterns of behaviour. “Formation should therefore
have a profound effect on individuals, so that their every attitude and action, at important
moments as well as in the ordinary events of life, will show that they belong completely and
joyfully to God» (cf C. 98)” (FSDB, 208).
51 “Only then will formation attain its basic purpose when the Salesian allows God to address him
in the depths of his heart, makes his very own the criteria and values of the Salesian vocation, and
is able to renounce opposing attitudes, formulate a personal plan, and unify his own life around
true and genuine motives” FSDB, 209).
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Formation necessarily takes place by means of a long varied process, in various
different communities and with a variety of people being responsible. So that it may be
an integrated and personalised experience it is necessary that it be understood and
implemented as a single project, which takes place in a single process, although the
practical elements and emphases may vary according to the different stages of life of the
Salesian. The drawing up of the project is a community responsibility:52 it goes beyond
individual preferences or needs and hands on the foundational charism in a way that is
accessible and educationally sound.
To avoid “the risk of turning formation into a collection of disjointed and
discontinuous activities left to the individual undertaking of persons or groups,”53
formation needs to be thought of as a unified and structured project and lived out with
a planning mentality. The plan includes all that objectively constitutes the Salesian
charism (the general aims), and also what formation involves at each stage as well as the
formative contributions with which this is to be achieved (the aims for each stage, the
strategies to achieve them and methods of assessment).54
Given that the formation process is at the service of the individual,55 his reaching
maturity requires ‘psychological’ rather than chronological periods of time. Hence,
putting aside a certain opinion according to which things of the spirit cannot be
evaluated, formation ought to be open to assessment on the basis of the achievement of
the formation aims. In formation it is not a question of getting through the stages and
completing a curriculum. Rather, it is a question of integrating values and maintaining a
strong vocational pressure. One formation stage ought to prepare for the next. Moving on
from one to another ought to be determined “more by the attainment of objectives than
by the passing of time or the curriculum of studies.. The pace of growth in vocation is
maintained without any slackening of effort and it is sustained by increasing
responsibilities and timely assessments.”56
As in every situation of education, the ‘one called’ is the one who gives unity to all the
procedures, the motivations, the activities, since only he can integrate everything in a
structured way with the apostolic project that Salesian life is, as Don Bosco did, who –
to use the words of Don Rua – “took no step, said no word, took up no task that was not
directed to the saving of the young” (C. 21).
3º. Ensuring the formative environment and the co-responsibility of everyone.
52 “ The plan is not so much a text to be put into practice as an expression and instrument of a
community that chooses to work together to help each confrere tread the path of his formation”
(FSDB, 213).
53 FSDB, 210
54 “ The contents, experiences, attitudes, activities and key-events are all thought out,
programmed and directed according to the purpose of each phase and of the whole of formation.
The pedagogy used is one that overcomes the danger of fragmentation and improvisation, and
does away with aimless or unfocused action.” (FSDB, 212).
55 “It is the duty of the Salesian to adopt a clear approach to his formation from the very beginning,
to understand the purpose of the entire process and of its individual stages, to effect the passage
from one phase to the next, responsibly making his own the aims of the new formation phase, to
devise for himself practical objectives and lines of action, and to assess and communicate the
implementation of his personal formation plan. For their part, those responsible for formation have
a duty to accept and implement the directives of the provincial plan and make sure that the
candidate embraces the formation programme and adheres to it faithfully in his community”
(FSDB, 213).
56 FSDB, 212
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“The assimilation of the Salesian spirit is fundamentally a fact of living comunication”
(Reg 85). As was the case of Jesus with his first disciples (Mk 3,13-14; cf Pastores dabo
vobis, 60), and of Don Bosco with the first Salesians,57 formation has to take place in a
climate of vocational dialogue, the daily experience of living together and shared
rsponsibility.
The primary responsibility clearly falls on the person called, the “necessary and
irreplaceable agent in his own formation...[which] is ultimately a self formation.”58 “Each
Salesian accepts responsibility for his own formation” (C. 99). He is the one who has to
come to know, accept and live out his own vocation and act accordingly. He does this as
“he assumes the Rule of life as his point of reference and takes part in the daily
experience and growth process of his community... One of the practical ways in which he
shows responsiblity for his formation is by having a personal plan for his own life.”59
The Salesian ought to find in his community “the natural environment for vocational
growth... The very life of the community, united in Christ and open to the needs of the
times is itself a factor in formation” (C. 99). Clearly it is not sufficient that there exists a
certain level of common life; the community is a proper environment for formation when
it succeeds in making all collectively engaged in formation, that is to say when it is
organised in such a way as to foster within itself deeper interpersonal relationships, co-
responsible apostolic zeal, professional skill, educational ability, a stimulating life of
prayer, a style of life that is authentically evangelical, concern for the vocational growth
of each member, through a project which is his own and is shared, openness to the
needs of the Church and of the young, in harmony with the Salesian Family. In
particular, the community needs to appreciate its daily commitment in the educative-
pastoral community considering it “the privileged space for genuine growth and intense
ongoing formation.”60
“More than a place, a material space,” communities specifically dedicated to initial
formation, ought to be “a spiritual place, a way of life, an atmosphere that fosters and
ensures a process of formation.”61 Above all an educational community in progress62 it is to be
noted from the pedagogical point of view for the quality of the formation plan drawn up
and agreed by all,63 and for ensuring the conditions necessary to encourage the
57 “ As an educator, Don Bosco cared much about personal rapport, but he is seen above all as the
creator of an environment that abounded in educational relationships and models, programmes
and exhortations (events, activities, periods, celebrations, etc.), the author of a style and a
pedagogy of life, the communicator of a plan to be lived together, and the animator of a
community with a clear physiognomy and established reference points. The community of
Valdocco, distinguished for its Preventive System, offered a setting that welcomed, directed,
accompanied, encouraged and made demands.” (FSDB, 219).
58 JOHN PAUL II, Apostolic Exhortation Pastores dabo vobis, Rome 1992, 69. Cf CIVCSVA, Starting
afresh from Christ, 46; CIVCSVA, Potissimum institutioni, Rome, 2 February 1990, 29.
59 FSDB, 216. “ In it he delineates the kind of Salesian he feels called to become and the way to
achieve this, always of course in tune with Salesian values. From time to time, in dialogue with
his Rector, he assesses the progress he has made in attaining his objective” (Ibidem).
60 FSDB, 221
61 Pastores dabo vobis, 42.
62 Cf Pastores dabo vobis, 60. “ In an atmosphere of shared responsibility, all strive together to
adhere to certain values, objectives, experiences and formation methods, and from time to time
they programme, evaluate and adjust their life, work and apostolic experiences to meet the
requirements of the Salesian vocation.” (FSDB, 222).
63 “ To encourage everyone to take part, it seeks to get them involved in drawing up the community
plan and the programme of activities, in group work, in the revision of life and in other meaningful
forms of encounter and participation. Every member opts for some service that will be useful for
the life in community and the strengthening of communion.” (FSDB, 223).
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formation experience becoming a personal individual matter. To put the common project
into daily formative practice creating a suitable atmosphere, “an indispensable condition
and key strategic point” is the existence of a good team of formation personnel;64 the
effectiveness of their contribution will depend on their being able to be and to act not so
much as individual isolated guides but as a team that represents the “mens” and the
formation praxis of the Congregation and that shares discernment criteria and an
educational method of accompaniment.
Within the formation team, the Rector of the community plays a key role, “even more
demanding”65 if he is the Rector of a formation community, given that he is responsible
for animating the “growth of his confreres in their vocation.”66 He is “responsible for the
personal formation process of each confrere. He is also the spiritual director proposed, but
not imposed on the confreres in formation.”67 “Father, teacher and spiritual guide” (C.
55) of the community, he fosters in it a formative atmosphere through the creation of a
climate of Salesian, human and apostolic values, maintaining in it an attitude of a
reponse to God’s call and in harmony with the Church and the Congregation,
considering as special occasions for making the vocation a deeply personal matter the
personal chat and spiritual direction, he establishes and encourages the team of
formation personal and “brings the efforts of all to converge on a common plan which is
in line with the provincial plan.”68
Quite striking for its novelty and significance, is the presentation of the provincial
community as a “formation community but also a community in formation.” “The first
responsibility of the provincial community in the area of formation is to foster – through a
living communication - the growth of the confreres, especially of all in initial formation, in
their Salesian identity. It does make a difference therefore whether the provincial
community is strongly motivated or not, whether it is fervent in whatever it does or is
simply tired.
The climate of prayer and witness, the sense of common responsibility and
openness to situations and to the signs of the times, the fulfilment of the tasks of the
Salesian mission with spiritual enthusiasm and competence, the provision of an
environment that daily offers criteria and incentives for fidelity, the network of cordial
relations and collaboration among the communities, among the individual confreres,
among the groups of the Salesian Family and with the lay people involved in the
community - all these aspects make up the provincial setting for the formation of the
confreres. Such an atmosphere enables the confreres in formation to have a living
experience of their Salesian identity and find support along the path of their vocation.”69
64 Cf FSDB, 222. Cf loc. cit. 234-239.
65 FSDB, 233.
66 FSDB, 231.
67 FSDB, 233. “ It is his specific duty to guide each confrere, helping him to understand and make
his own the phase of formation he is engaged in. He maintains a frequent and cordial dialogue
with the confrere, endeavours to know his strengths and weaknesses, makes him
recommendations that are clear and demanding, proposes suitable goals, supports and guides
him in times of difficulty, and together with him evaluates the progress he is making in his
formation.” (Ibidem).
68 FSDB, 233
69 FSDB, 227. It is clear that the real aim of these directives is to create an atmosphere in which
what is presented as the ideal is in fact already lived in the formation houses, the practical
expression of what was promised by public profession.The daily life of the Province, the quality of
its consecrated life and the effectiveness of its apostolic mission are the indispensable
requirements for the quality of the formation of a Province, while accepting the gap there can be
between the ideal proposed and the reality as lived experience.
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This mission of formation of the Province “is not a pure state of mind nor only a
matter of good will... [but] is a principle that organises the life of the Province and
embraces its whole reality. Starting from the requirements that flow from an awareness
of the Salesian vocation and from shared responsibility for the mission on the part of
everyone, it takes the form of a structured Provincial Formation Plan.”70
4º. Giving formative quality to everyday experience
“Called to live with a commitment to formation in every situation,” the Salesian “tries
to discern the voice of the Spirit in the events of each day, and so acquires the ability to
learn from life’s experiences. He sees his ordinary activities as effective means of
formation.” (C. 119). In fact “when lived with a concern for formation, daily life draws us
closer to the truth about ourselves and gives us opportunties and encouragement to
realise our plan of life.”71
This was the way Jesus taught his disciples: sharing with them life, fatigue and rest
while on the road to Jerusalem. Don Bosco’s daily life was also an educational experience
as he attributed “an educative value to every day duties in the playground and in the
school, in the community and in the church (cf. C. 40), and also to the way of looking at
and interpreting events and responding to the situations of young people, the Church
and soociety.”72
In spite of that, and this is undeniable, daily life is not formative just in itself; certain
conditions have to exist so that it may become a practical and a day by day path for
vocatonal identification:
Presence among the young: “Meeting the young is for the Salesian a school
of formation”; contact with the young and with their world “makes him aware
of the need for educational and professional competence, pastoral skills and
constant updating”;73
the youth mission requires working together, which is itself formative “turns
out to be truly formative when it goes hand in hand with reflection, and still
more, when reflection is permeated by an attitude of prayer. This is why the
community creates times and spaces that make it possible to take a long, hard
look, to read between the lines, and to share with others in all serenity; and
the Salesian is called to confront his own basic motivations, his own pastoral
sensitivity, and the awareness of his own identity”;74
mutual communication, “exchange of gifts and experiences for the sake of
the mutual enrichment of individuals and of the community”. This needs to be
learned. “On the part of the one who communicates, there is need to
overcome a certain reserve or timidity in expressing one’s thoughts and
feelings and to have the courage to place one’s confidence in the other person.
On the part of the one who receives the communication, there is need for an
ability to receive it without any lessening of esteem for the person, without
judging him, and to appreciate the difference of viewpoints”;75
Interpersonal relationships “cultivate and reveal the level of a person’s maturity,
manifesting how far love has taken possession of his life and to what extent he has
70 FSDB, 226
71 FSDB, 251
72 FSDB, 251
73 FSDB, 252
74 FSDB, 253
75 FSDB, 254.
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learned to express it”.76 Without an ability to love and without the willingness to
forgive, genuine personal relationships are not possible;
the socio-cultural context impinges on the way we live, feel and consider
reality and, consequently, is a challenge to our own identity. In addition to
knowing the current situation well it is necessary to know how to interpret it,
starting from God, in order to respond in ways that are in harmony with our
vocation and mission: “The ability to “see” God in the world and discern His call in
the needs of times and places is a fundamental law of the process of Salesian growth.”77
5º. Giving quality to formative accompaniment.
Formation requires accompaniment, which, in addition to being “a fundamental
characteristic of Salesian educational method”, is “an indispensable requirement ” for a
personal approach and for discernment. Accompaniment is intended “to guarantee the
confrere the proper presence, dialogue, counselling and support in every moment of the
formation process, and to see that on his part he is well-disposed and actively
responsible in seeking, accepting and benefiting from this service, knowing full well that
it can assume many forms and levels of intensity. Guidance is not limited to individual
dialogue, but is a composite of relations, environment and pedagogy, something typical of
the Preventive System: it goes from a fraternal presence at hand that evokes confidence
and familiarity, to a group venture, to a community experience; from brief, occasional
meetings to a systematic personal dialogue frequently sought; from a conversation about
external matters to spiritual direction and sacramental confession.”78
In addition to personal accompaniment, an aspect of the Salesian style of
accompaniment is that provided by the educational atmosphere, coming from the
interpersonal relationships, guidance from those responsible, and the one shared project.
Community accompaniment plays a very important role in the living communication of
Salesian values. Cultivating it “means ensuring the pedagogical and spiritual quality of
their experience of community and the quality of animation and direction of the
community […]and aims at building a pedagogically animated community with a clear
sense of identity and an experience of community that directs, stimulates and sustains
through the ways in which Salesian life and action expresses itself every day. It is an
undertaking for every formation setting, and especially for communities which are too
small or too numerous.”79
So that “it helps each one to assume and make his own the elements of his Salesian
identity,” the accompaniment needs to be personalised; it is necessary to ensure that
there are dedicated people involved in formation who are competent and united in their
criteria. In Salesian tradition, personal accompagnment is carried out in different ways
and with different people:
The Rector “has a direct responsibility toward each confrere, he helps him
realise his own personal vocation” (C. 55); during initial formation the Rector is
76 FSDB, 255. “ On the contrary, “difficult relationships, situations of conflict which have not been suitably healed
through reconciliation, act within a person, blocking the maturing process and creating difficulties in the way of the
calm and joyful self-donation to the mission and to God.” (J. E. VECCHI, “Experts, witnesses and builders of
communion” AGC 363 [1998], p. 31).
77 FSDB, 257.
78 FSDB, 258. “ On the other hand, experience teaches us that when there is no guidance or the
guidance is superficial or discontinuous, it can undermine all the work of formation.” (Ibidem).
79 FSDB, 259.
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“responsible for the personal formation process.” He undertakes this service
through the friendly talk “an integrating element in the Salesian system of
formation, and a practical sign of care and concern for the person and his
experience”. Carried out “once a month” (Reg 79), during the period of initial
formation it is “a form of spiritual guidance that helps to personalize the
formation programme and to assimilate its contents.”80
Another form of accompaniment explicitly provided for by the pedagogy of
Salesian formation “are the periodic moments of personal assessment
(“scrutinies”) by which the Council of the community helps the confrere to
assess the situation of his personal formation, guides him and gives him
practical encouragement in the process of his growth to maturity.”81
Spiritual direction, which is “a ministry of enlightenment, support and guidance
in discerning God’s will in order to achieve holiness; it motivates and moves a
person to act, leading him to take some serious decisions in line with the Gospel
and bringing him face to face with the process of growing in his Salesian
vocation.”82 According to Salesian tradition the Rector of the formation
community “is the spiritual director proposed to the confreres, without taking
away their liberty to choose another spiritual director.”83
The sacrament of reconciliation in which “each confrere is offered a very
practical and personalized spiritual direction, enriched by the efficacy proper of
the sacrament. The confessor not only absolves sins but, while reconciling the
penitent, encourages him along the path of fidelity to God and consequently in
his own specific vocation too. . Precisely for this reason it is appropriate that
during initial formation the confreres have a regular confessor who is ordinarily
a Salesian.”84
There are other forms of personal accompaniment and other people with
responsibility that help the confrere in his formation experience to integrate educative-
pastoral practice and commitment to intellectual formation.85 “A key condition for
guidance is the outllook on formation assumed by the confrere in initial formation.”86
Finally, “guidance in the work of formation is a part of animation”:87 it avoids imposing,
forcing outside experiences on the one who is developing, and at the same time
neglecting to advise, to suggest or to correct.
6º. Paying attention to discernment
80 FSDB, 261
81 FSDB, 261
82 FSDB, 262
83 FSDB, 262.
84 FSDB, 263
85 As a matter of particular interest, it is worth quoting what is required from the other formation
personnel: “willing and dedicated; they must be aware that they are communicating the Lord’s
action, the Church’s ministry, and the mind of the Congregation. Furthermore, certain
convictions, attitudes and conditions are indispensable: a spiritual attitude and a faith
perspective, the standpoint of the Salesian vocation, and therefore, a knowledge of the criteria for
discerning it and the conditions for living it, a pedagogical sensitivity that fosters an atmosphere
of freedom, a care for the person and his rhythm of growth, and some specific skills in the areas of
human and spiritual formation.” (FSDB, 264).
86 FSDB 265. “ From the prenovitiate onwards he is aware that the development of his vocation is,
in the first place, the work of the Lord who “makes use of human instruments” (VC 66); that
Salesian formation is a sincere dialogue and a sharing of responsibility with the community, the
bearer of the charism; and that self-formation does not mean self-sufficiency or going it alone.”
(Ibidem).
87 FSDB, 266.
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Discernment, spiritual and pastoral, is indispensable for every Salesian in order to
live his vocation with creative fidelity and as an ongoing response. This is the result– as I
wrote to you some time ago88 – of listening to the Word, docile and patient. In this we can
discover what God wants from us today and how he wants it […] « From familiarity with
God's word [the disciples of the Lord] draw the light needed for that individual and
communal discernment which helps them to seek the ways of the Lord in the signs of the
times. In this way they acquire a kind of supernatural intuition»89 that gaze of faith, that
is to say, without which «life itself loses meaning, the faces of brothers and sisters are
obscured and it becomes impossible to recognize the face of God in them, historical
events remain ambiguous and deprived of hope and apostolic and charitable mission
become nothing more than widespread activity.»90
A community that “cultivates an evangelical attitude to everything and seeks the
Lord’s will in patient brotherly dialogue and with a deep sense of responsibility” offers the
confreres a suitable environment in which to exercise habitually community
discernment, that “strengthens harmony and communion, sustains spiritual unity,
deepens the sense of vocation, and encourages the search for authenticity and
renewal.”91
In initial formation discernment is “a service to the candidate and to the charism.”
Therefore it is important because it is a matter of verifying the certainty of the call, the
maturity of the motivations, the assimilation of values, the growing identification with
the project of life, in a word, vocational suitability. “The admissions are [only] occasions
of synthesis during the process. Discernment takes place in close collaboration between
the candidate and the local and provincial community. In fact, at the basis of formation
is a fundamental premiss, namely the will to carry out a process of discernment together,
keeping an attitude of open communication and sincere joint responsibility, and paying
heed to the voice of the Spirit and to the concrete channels through which he speaks.
The object of discernment are the values and attitudes required for living the
Salesian vocation with maturity, joy and fidelity, namely conditions of suitability,
motivations and the right intention.”92
“A key point in the methodology of formation,” discernment makes the commitment and
the efforts of those responsible more effective, “ensuring that its nature and
characteristics are known, the means suggested are used, the specific times for it are
observed and above all those who are responsible for it apply themselves to it constantly
and after having received the necessary preparation”, beginning with the candidate, “the
first person concerned to discover God’s plan in his regard.” He, therefore., “cultivates a
continual openness to the voice of God and to the action of those responsible for his
formation; he directs his life within a faith-perspective, and examines himself according
to the criteria of a Salesian vocation. . He seeks to know himself in all sincerity, to make
himself known and to accept himself; he makes use of all the means and instruments
that his formation offers him, in particular, formative guidance and a fraternal exchange
of views, the friendly talk with the Rector, spiritual direction, the sacrament of
Reconciliation, the assessments, and community discernment.”93
In addition to the candidate, also involved in the process of discernment are the
Provincial and his Council, taking care of the “unity of the criteria”, the Rector,
88 Cfr P. CHÁVEZ, “ Lord to whom shall we go? You have the words of eternal life (Jn 6,69). The
Word of God and Salesian Life, AGC 386 [2004], p. 37-38
89 Vita consecrata, 94
90 CIVCSVA, Starting afresh from Christ, 25.
91 FSDB, 268
92 FSDB, 269
93 FSDB, 270
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evaluating “the progress made by the candidate in his vocation journey,” the whole
community, expressing its opinion (Reg 81).94 Anyone of those responsible “must assume
a vocation standpoint and an attitude of faith; must show a pedagogical sensitivity and
possess some specific skills”95 on the one hand and on the other have “as its reference
point Salesian identity, its constituent elements, and the conditions and requirements
needed for living it; it is not something generic. It therefore requires a knowledge of and a
conformity with the criteria laid down by the Congregation, and in the first place, with
the criterion of the charism: this is in fact the basis of a genuine and faithful experience
of one’s vocation; it does away with preoccupations about numbers or usefulness,
shallow displays of enthusiasm, and commitments made by candidates whose suitability
is fragile or untested. When one takes part in a discernment he acts in the name of the
Congregation, which is responsible for the charism.”96
Discernment implies that one is aware of the gradual nature of the process of
formation and the specific nature of each stage, bearing in mind the unique nature of the
person and his development. Nonetheless, it is not possible to agree to the beginning of
the stages of formation and to take on the commitments “for which the person concerned
is not suited”; equally one has to avoid “prolonging problematic and indecisive situations
which do not hold out serious prospects for improvement.”97
Given that discernment is not only a process of personal assessment but above all of
listening to the voice of God, who speaks constantly and in a special way in every
situation, it cannot be limited to initial formation, but on the contrary, accompanies the
whole life of the Salesian. In fact, “there can be times in the life of a Salesian when he
experiences the need for ... a more careful assessment of the course of his life, a review of
his decisions either in order to reaffirm them or to choose his vocation anew... It is so
very necessary that the confrere assume a real attitude of spiritual discernment, free of
internal and external pressures, and open to dialogue. He must avoid isolating himself or
taking decisions all by himself, give himself the necessary time, and accept the
opportunities and means offered him. For its part, the community, through those who
are responsible, will esteem, understand and guide him in a respectful and brotherly
way, and have recourse to ordinary and extraordinary means to give him support in an
appropriate manner.”98
2.3 Formation: the absolute priority
In so for as it is an effort to assimilate charismatic identity, formation “is a life long
task.”99 “If, in fact, consecrated life is in itself “a progressive taking on of the attitude of
Christ” it seems evident that such a path must endure for a lifetime and involve the
whole person”.100 As long as the call is not withdrawn, we are living endebted to God and
to those to whom we are sent: just because “all life is a vocation, all life is formation.”101
Even though it is true that formation lasts a life time, its aims and its processes are not
always the same. Initial formation, “marked by intense spiritual experiences that lead to
94 FSDB, 270
95 FSDB, 271
96 FSDB, 272
97 FSDB, 321
98 FSDB, 276. For the accompaniment of the confreres in special circumstances, cf The Salesian
Provincial, Rome 1987, 390-395; The Salesian Rector, Rome 1986, 268.
99 FSDB, 42
100 CIVCSVA, Starting afresh from Christ, 15. Cf Vita consecrata, 65.
101 FSDB, 520
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courageous decisions,”102 is aimed at the charismatic identification of the one called, at the
undertsanding and the personal acceptance of the vocation. It lasts for a limited period of
time and is divided into stages, which allow for a gradual process of the assimilation of the
charism and of self-giving to the mission. “It extends from the first leanings towards
Salesian life to the strengthening of motivations, to identifying with the Salesian project to
be lived in a particular Province.”103 Rather than a period of marking time it is a period of
work and holiness (cf C. 105).
Ongoing formation consists, on the other hand, in “a constant effort of conversion and
renewal” (C. 99), in order to be ““formed in the freedom to learn throughout life, in every
age and season, in every human ambient and context, from every person and every
culture, open to be taught by any fragment of truth and beauty found around them. But
above all they must learn to be formed by everyday life, by their own community, by their
brothers and sisters, by everyday things, ordinary and extraordinary, by prayer and by
apostolic fatigue, in joy and in suffering, until the moment of death […]People in ongoing
formation take advantage of time, they don't submit to it. They accept it as a gift and
wisely enter into the various rhythms of life itself (days, weeks, months, years) with
wisdom, seeking the harmony between them and the rhythm, fixed by an immutable and
eternal God which marks the days, centuries and times.”104
In practical terms, for us Salesians ongoing formation “is growth in human qualities; it
is conforming oneself more closely to Christ; it is renewing one’s fidelity to Don Bosco so
that one may respond to the ever new demands arising from the situation of the young
and of the poor.”105 The person called through perpetual profession, engaged in living
identified with his vocation, remains faithful to himself, relying on God’s fidelity and on love
for the young (cf C. 195).106
“Growing in Don Bosco’s charism and striving to be faithful to it: this is formation,
and it is an absolutely basic priority for the Congregation today and for every Salesian,
just as it was for Don Bosco himself in his early days.”107 The process of renewal in which
we are engaged while we advance towards the celebration of the bicentenary of the birth
of Don Bosco, “depends principally on the formation”108 of each Salesian. “Felt almost as
a constant prodding in our GC24,” formation seen as, “an essential part of the educative
ability and of the spirituality of the pastor,”109, was already considered by my
predecessor, Fr Vecchi, “a real priority investment.”110 “Investing means laying down and
maintaining priorities ensuring conditions, working according to a programme which
gives pride of place to persons, communities and mission. Investing in time, personnel,
102 CIVCSVA, Starting afresh from Christ, 9.
103 FSDB, 308.
104 CIVCSVA, Starting afresh from Christ, 15.
105 FSDB, 309
106 “There will be newness of life only if ongoing formation succeeds in being the new way that
consecrated life is lived, the new way consecrated people think. If we want there to be an end to
the scandal of consecrated people who are exhausted and without enthusiasm, rigid and self-
sufficient in their certainties, insensitive and cold in the face of any stimulus, ongoing formation
is the only way to emerge from this situation.”
107 FSDB, 5
108 CIVCSVA, Starting afresh from Christ, 14. Cf CIVCSVA, Directives on formation in Religious
Institutes, Potissimun institutioni, Rome, 2 February 1990, 1
109 J. E. VECCHI, “ ‘For you I study…’(C. 14) Satisfactory preparation of the confreres and the
quality of our educative work,” AGC 361 [1997)], p. 6.
110 J. E. VECCHI, ibidem p. 25. “We must, however, not only solve the crises, but sow for the
future” (ivi p. 36).
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initiatives and financial resources for formation, is a task which is of importance to all of
us.111
Concluding prayer
I conclude this letter, which I consider particularly important since to a large extent
the future of the Congregation depends on the quality of the formation of the new
Salesians, by calling upon Mary. She was called by God, formed by His Spirit, and
accompanied first by Joseph, and then by Jesus, so as to grow in faith and to remain
faithful to God’s plan for her; and precisely because she was faithful even to the death on
the cross of Jesus her Son who gave her to us as our Mother.
O Mary, Mother and Teacher of all the disciples of your Son, we look to you and we
see in you the first of the Consecrated ones, who knew how to respond with
undivided heart and unconditional dedication to the Father’s call. Well aware that
only God can make possible what humanly speaking is impossible, you allowed the
Holy Spirit to dwell within you and to form you so that the Son of God might be born
in you
You lived to the full your beautiful role of being the Mother of the Son of God so that
after having given birth to Him, together with Joseph you brought Him up so that He
“increased in wisdom, in stature, and in favour with God and men” (Lk 2,52). As a
true mother you knew how to hand on to your Son those deep attitudes and great
values which inspired you and were a feature of your life: a constant search for the
will of God, the heartfelt welcome you gave it even when you did not understand it
but in the meantime you treasured it, service of others, especially those in need.
It is not surprising therefore to see your son go off by himself to the mountain side to
spend the night in prayer, the highest expression of his faith and the momento
incomparabile to come to know what His Father wanted from him to make it his plan
of life and and thus “although he was Son, he learnt to obey … but, having been
made perfect, he became for all who obey him the source of eternal salvation” (cf Heb
5,8-9) . It is not surprising that he had no other concern, nothing better to do, no food
more nourishing than doing the Will of the Father (Lk 2,49; Jn 4,34). It is not
surprising that he described his life as service: “For the Son of Man himself did not
come to be served but to serve, and to give his life as a ramsom for many.” (Mk
10,45).
O Mary you lived the fulness of charity. In you are reflected and are renewed all the
features of the Gospel, all the charisms of consecrated life. Support us in our daily
efforts so as to make of them a splendid witness of love in accordance with the
invitation of St. Paul: “Live a life worthy of the calling you have received!” (Eph 4:1).112
You who were given to Don Bosco as mother and teacher from the time of the “dream”
which gave meaning to his life, and formed in him the heart of a father and of a
teacher capable of total dedication, and pointed out to him the field of his activity
among the young and constantly guided him (cf C. 1.8), form also in us a heart full of
passion for God and for young people. Oh Mother, we entrust ourselves to you. Oh
Teacher, from you may we learn to be children of God and disciples of your Son.
Amen.
Pascual Chávez V., SDB
111 GC24, 248
112 Cf Starting afresh from Christ, 46
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