seminary acquaintance: journeying with - 2013

Why did Jesus send his disciples two by two?  Probably because he read this passage from the Book of Ecclesiastes which says:

Two people are better than one,
because they can enjoy a better benefit from their labor.
For if they fall, one will lift up his companion;
but pity the person who falls down and has no one to help him up.
Although an assailant may overpower one person who is alone,
two would be able to withstand him.
Moreover, a three-fold cord is not quickly broken.

This pattern of sending out for missionary work by our Lord would later be followed by the early church when they sent out Paul and Barnabas, Paul and Silas, Barnabas and Mark and other early missionaries of the church.

It's not that missionaries should never go alone, but travelling in pairs is safer, it provides more encouragement, it makes the person less willing to quit, they keep each other from straying from the goal and it uses the spiritual gifts of the pair rather than just a single person.

This is what the college, I believe, is trying to convey in this ritual – in formation you cannot be a lone ranger, in formation you do not walk alone, in formation you cannot remain isolated and on your own.  For as long as the person one is constantly with is not a BI, as Sume rightly pointed out to me (from his personal experience I surmise,) but a GI, everything will be for the good.

In our formation program, particularly in the so called Pillars of Formation, namely Individualized Formation, Peer Formation in Responsible Freedom and in Trust, we added a fifth component namely Accompaniment and Mentoring.  Peer Formation is one of its important aspects but we added accompaniment and mentoring because we also want to highlight the fact that Priest-formators, the Faculty and Staff, the Auxiliary Personnel and your Parents are also with you on this journey.  It’s not that you walk alone and we are there  waiting for you at the finish line.  It’s not that you walk alone and we are there on the benches cheering you on.  It’s not that you walk alone and we are there on the sidelines waiting to run in case you trip or in case of an emergency when our help is needed.  No.  Accompaniment means we are running this with you, we are on the track walking with you.  When you evaluated us one fo the most obvious things you pointed out to us formators was we are more or less complete every Sunday during Benediction, there at the back of the chapel.  You also pointed out that we are there during big occasions like yesterday when we had the Enthronization of the Sacred Heart, or in occasions such as this.  You also pointed out that we can be seen most often in the refectories, our presence can be felt and our voices can be heard in the dorms, in the field and even in the canteen.  Now this year we are closing the main door at 8 PM.  Although each of us have keys and no one, not even the rector is obliging anyone of us to be here by that time, yet that locking of the door is symbolic that we are here, and we are not just watching at the sidelines, and we are not just cheering at our benches, nor are we waiting for you at the finish line.  No we are we are journeying with you because we are here.

And this is also what our Auxiliary personnel will do in the coming days – not that they will live inside the building but they will also make their presence felt.  They are our formators too, like us, and they deliver an important and irreplaceable help in your formation.  They will also journey with you.  Some of you in the evaluation somewhere said, kabulig man lang na sila, ginabayran na sila namon.  Yes you do, as your parents also pay us and your teachers.  And in the same way that we provide a positive influence to your growth they too should be allowed to provide this positive influence.  You want us to journey with you?  We are, we will continue to do so, together, all of us, formators of each other, fellow travelers until we reach our destiny.  But also remember this.  We are not travelling alone.  In fact Jesus said that we should set off without purse or bag or sandals.  Why.  Because on our own we cannot provide for ourselves in this journey.  We need Jesus.  We need to look to Jesus and we need to say to Jesus, Jesus walk with us, this year, walk in our midst, walk beside us, walk before us, walk behind us. walk with us Amen.