The Annual Formation Seminar of the SCJ Region of the Philippines

This seminar, focused on the ongoing formation of religious brothers and priests through the spirituality of the Heart of Christ, self-giving through love, fraternity, and mission, was facilitated by Fr. Vien Nguyen, SCJ, Provincial Superior of the United States Province. The discussions explored the Sacred Heart, the Cross and the evangelical counsels, the Dehonian ministry, community life, as well as the threefold office of Christ as prophet, priest, and shepherd. They highlighted that religious life is an ongoing journey of conversion that lasts a lifetime. Being formed by the Heart of Christ implies allowing his love to transform our identity, heal our relationships, and shape our service to others.

Dehonian Communities as Places of Healing and Communion

The seminar also emphasized the promotion of Dehonian communities as places of healing and communion. This requires from the members great compassion, honesty, a sense of responsibility, trust, healthy boundaries, and forgiveness. This can be broken down into three main points:

1. Dehonian oblation and reparation are responses of love to the Father
   The first point is that Dehonian oblation and reparation are responses of love to the Father, received through the pierced Heart of Jesus. Jesus showed us how to live: by loving God with all our heart, with all our soul, with all our mind, and with all our strength, and by loving our neighbor as ourselves (Mt 22:37–39). Our vocation must be the deepest expression of this love. As religious, we live this out through the evangelical counsels of chastity,poverty, and obedience.
2. Community life: Strength and weakness
   Community life can be our strength, but it can also become our weakness. Our differences can sometimes stand as obstacles to deep relationships. Through the discussions, it became evident that this community reality affects all religious. That is why each member of the community took up the challenge to strive to recognize their confreres and respect them as persons rather than in a utilitarian way. Our challenge consists in turning our communities into centers of healing and communion, where we can grow in our vocation and become more effective in our ministry.
3. Religious life as a formative journey
   Another important takeaway from this formation seminar is that religious life is a lifelong journey of formation.Formation does not end when we become brothers or priests; it continues throughout our entire existence. We continue to learn through our relationships, our ministry, and our mission. Since trials are inevitable along this path, we can always be assured of the presence of the Lord (Is 41:10). Despite the difficulties, it is possible to live in communion with one another and embody our Dehonian spirituality of Sint Unum.

To conclude, Fr. Vien reiterated that our ministry must not replace our relationship with Christ; rather, it must flow from it. We must never forget the source of our vocation. We are called to deepen our relationship with Christ through prayer,especially in the Eucharistic celebration and adoration.