Community life is inseparable from religious life. The document on Fraternal life in community: Congregavit nos in unum Christi amor by the Congregation for Institutes of Consecrated Life and Societies of Apostolic Life describes community as “Schola Amoris,” a School of Love, “in which all learn to love God, to love the brothers and sisters with whom they live and to love humanity, which is in great need of God’s mercy and of fraternal solidarity”.
This aspect of religious life was the topic of the recent Formation for Formators workshop. Sixteen Jesuit formators from 11 countries across the Jesuit Conference of Asia Pacific (JCAP) addressed what it means to build a formative community, to reflect on their experiences of community living and to plan ways to develop their communities.
The last in a three-part series, the workshop was held on August 19 to 30 at the Seven Fountains Jesuit Retreat House in Chiang Mai, Thailand. The first workshop held in 2017 centred on “Psycho-spiritual Formation” and the second in 2018 delved on “Ignatian Spirituality in Spiritual Direction”.
This year, the discussion revolved around four areas, namely: the nature of Jesuit communities, the diversity of the members, factors that influence community dynamics and the qualities of a good formative community.
The facilitators and speakers included Fr Silvino Borres SJ, Formation Delegate of the Philippine Province, Fr Riyo Mursanto SJ, JCAP Delegate for Formation, Fr James Gascon SJ of the Center for Family Ministries, Eva Galvey and Marie Buhain of the Emmaus Center for Psycho-Spiritual Formation, Fr Mark Raper SJ, Superior of Myanmar Mission, and Fr Sugiyo Pitoyo SJ, Superior of Thailand Region.
A good part of the workshop involved discussions on how to deal with different personalities, inter-generational dynamics and multi-cultural interaction.
“We learned a new perspective of looking at self-identity and self-concept, to see others in the community in a new way. We learned to accompany the formands, who are very diverse”, shared Fr Mursanto.
During one of the days, the group took time off from the workshop to explore Chiang Mai together. Some of them went to the local temple while others went to see the beautiful sights in the city. Unforgettable was a dinner one evening with Thai cultural performances. It was a special moment of fraternal sharing and solidarity.
Contributed by Fr Oliver Dy SJ
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