“I am the good shepherd; I know mine and mine know me… and they will hear my voice, and there will be one flock, one shepherd.” (John 10: 14, 16)
It was a cool breeze we felt, both in its literal and spiritual sense, during the JCAP formation delegates meeting from 3 to 6 May. Tokyo’s cool and windy weather provided us with a kind of compositio loci to enter the mind of the Good Shepherd. The experience of being invited to take part in the work of the Good Shepherd to know, accompany, and be one with the flock was the “consoling breeze” shared throughout this encounter.
Given the diverse contexts of each province and region, our mission of accompanying the formands brings its own multitude of challenges. The consolation, however, lies in the awareness that, as formators, we are entrusting the formands to the Good Shepherd. Besides our own efforts in ensuring the proper process during each stage of formation, eventually, it is through entrusting them to the Good Shepherd himself that we can maintain unity and consistency throughout their entire formation.
It was a harmonious encounter in Tokyo among the formation delegates. More than just a meeting to gather reports or receive information, we felt as if we were being led into the “green pasture” of the Good Shepherd. The invitation from Father General to return to the source—our Ignatian tradition—felt like a natural thing to strive for in each stage of formation. We experienced the Spiritual Exercises, the main instrument for integrating the Universal Apostolic Preferences, as a bridge where each delegate was able to mutually recognise the working of the Holy Spirit within the diverse realities of our mission as formators. Our shared experience of being guided by the Holy Spirit instilled within us the hope that we can accompany the formands as they go through the process of holistic embodiment in the Society.
Throughout our communal discernment, we shared both wisdom and best practices to accompany the formands closer than before. In this era of digital interconnectedness and recognising that our formands are digital natives, we are invited to find initiatives on sharing resources among conferences through online platforms to complement the in-person accompaniment they receive from the formators. Simultaneously, we also realised that communal discretion on the practicalities of such sharing is urgently needed.
After the last day, we felt energised with this hope of becoming instruments for the accompaniment of the formands. In the end, we felt that the four days of being together were more than just a regular meeting. It was a first-hand experience of being led, being accompanied, and being united as one flock with one shepherd.
