In CCMSI we have the biggest
number of Candidates preparing to be Capuchin Franciscan Priests. These days of
my visitation I had the opportunity to interact and dialogue with these young
friars. The friars are full of promises and hopes for the Order and the Church.
They are intelligent and ready for any kind of life in the Capuchin Order. They
have dreams for the Order and Province.
They are all well prepared with
intellectual formation by the formators. In my dealing and interactions with
them I realized that all of them are not prepared well to face the challenges
and reality of the world of today. Many expressed that we are not told what we
would do after the Ordination. Most of them have already some Idea but a little
bit scared to share with the authority for fear of rejection and denial.
I also met many young Priests
who are recently Ordained. Generally they are happy with the pastoral ministry
but there is something that they are lacking. Most of these young priests find
difficult to face the challenges and new situations in the society and in the
parishes. They find themselves inadequate and not well prepared to handle some
of the human problems and difficulties. They expressed that parishioners and
others come with loads of problems but we have not been trained in this area to
guide and counsel them rightly. We feel helpless to guide and support them as
we don’t have any training in this field.
They feel incompetent when issues and
problems crop up in the parishes and groups. It is high time that our formation
houses give them these essential and urgent training to deal with the problems
of the people. It is a fact that many of our priests who come out of the
seminaries after long years of formation find themselves helpless in dealing
with even ordinary conflict situations. Some shared that many times we get
upset and angry with people because we know that it arises from incompetence.
Most of the aggressive behavior is a defense mechanism to counter the inability
and incompetence. People listen and accept our advice because of our religious
capuchin habit.
Some shared that they have a
low self-esteem and low level of self-confidence compared to their friends
outside who are doing well. They compared themselves with their friends who
after 5 years of studies in secular subjects are well prepared to handle and to
produce whereas a newly Ordained priest is not able to do so. The question we
need to ask why? If that is the fruit of
long years of formation, it is a real paradox.
How will, then, they function
effectively as prophets of the Kingdom, builders of communities and leaders of
worshipping communities? We need to find out some good effective methods in the
area of human resource management. It is time we give up the false idea
philosophy and theology, with some skill in homiletics will equip our men to be
effective priest at the service of God’s kingdom.
The vision of Dr. A.K.J Abdul
Kalam, who died recently and former president, for an India of 2020 has
succeeded to stir the imagination of thousands of people, especially school
students. Unless we anticipate the future and develop a vision for it in a fast
changing world, we will find ourselves irrelevant and sidetracked. The failure
to give shape to such a vision may be the greatest challenge the Indian Church
faces today. The notion of ‘tradition’ is venerable indeed, but unless
tradition is perceived as a dynamic reality, it will inevitably lead to
stagnation.
Today as we think afresh on priestly formation, let us remember
this: yesterdays answers and models may be good, but not necessarily for today
and tomorrow; new wine requires new wineskins. Can we visualize a Capuchin
Order and friars at the service of the Kingdom in a world context twenty-five
years ahead? Can we ask what kind of a priest friar do we require in such a
context? Then it will be easy for us to visualize our formation that would
prepare men appropriate for that context. The coming generations will not,
then, blame us for keeping the new wine in old wine skins.
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