The need for continuing formation

By Fr. Roy Cimagala

IT’S interesting to note that despite the heavy and tight schedule Christ had during his public life, he always managed to find time to take care of the formation of his disciples. In fact, he invested a lot of time in training them.

St. Mark, in his gospel, noted that “in his public ministry he (Christ) never taught without using parables; but afterward, when he was alone with his disciples, he explained everything to them.” (Mk 4,34)

Christ took care of the formation of his disciples knowing that after living with him, they would be sent to proclaim and explain the Gospel, the Good News, to the people. In that way, the living Word of God would be transmitted from generation to generation.

We need to realize then that we have to take care of our Christian formation if we want to be consistent with our Christian identity as apostles also. A true disciple of Christ cannot but be an apostle also.

Toward this end, we have to realize that we have to acquire nothing less than the wisdom of God as revealed to us by Christ in the Holy Spirit. We have to understand that formation involves assuming the very mind and heart of Christ, the very wisdom of God. It should lead us to center our lives on Christ’s love and to assume God’s plans with creativity and initiative.

Thus, the capacity for reflection is necessary so as to faithfully channel Christ’s love for everyone. We need to go through some philosophical and theological study of our faith, coupled with the appropriate cultural formation so we can be effective in transmitting God’s living word in the middle of the world.

For this, it is vital to acquire a deep and broad vision of the reality in which we live, taking care of studying and reading, and keeping an intense interest in what is happening in the world.

Of course, to be effective in this endeavor, we should be earnest in the pursuing true holiness, a keen love for God and for souls, always remaining simple and humble, because as Christ himself said, “I praise you, Father, Lord of heaven and earth, because you have hidden these things from the wise and prudent and revealed them to the little ones.” (Mt 11,25)

This is how we can truly get the proper understanding of the doctrine of our Christian faith which can be interpreted in any which way depending on where our heart really is. Pursuing our formation as a function of our own sanctification would prepare us to carry out our duty to do apostolate.

Of special interest these days is how to transmit the living word of God in the media which are now the most powerful tool for evangelization. We need to be good content creators who can manage to attract others because what we tell and show are truly coming from heart that is intimately in relation with God, and not just abstract or impersonal considerations, much less, empty and frivolous stuff.

There is need for us to know how to relate the doctrine of our faith to our daily affairs and to our very serious and big projects and plans, and vice versa. At the moment, this expertise is hardly known, its need hardly felt.

This is the challenge we are facing today as we tackle the increasingly rapid, complex and complicated developments. Let’s hope that we can overcome whatever biases we have that hinder the appreciation of our basic need for Church doctrine in our human affairs.

Email: roycimagala@gmail.com