Divine Word Missionaries

SVD Formation

SVD Formation

Formators’ Course in Spanish/Portuguese
25 April - 25 June, 2007

The Formators’ Course in Spanish/Portuguese ended with the concluding Eucharist presided over by Fr. General Antonio M. Pernia on Monday 25 June, 2007. In an insightful homily delivered on the occasion Fr. General highlighted—against the background of the Gospel passage (Jn 21:15-23) which was read as part of the liturgy of the word—the two-fold dimension of our religious missionary vocation founded respectively on being loved by the Lord (like the beloved disciple, John) and loving the Lord (like the head of the apostolic group, Peter). He further showed how the same passage emphasises the contemplative and active aspects of our call as religious missionaries. Most members of the generalate participated in the concluding function.

Ver / See: Texto completo de la homilia del P. Pernia >> Fr. Pernia's Homily - Full Text >> Comunicado de los participantes >> Message from the Paticipants >>

The course had started on April 25 at Steyl. After about two weeks spent there exploring the story of our founding generation and our congregational roots, the group of 19 formators travelled to Nemi via Ojes where they spent a couple of days visiting the birthplace of St. Joseph Freinademetz. They arrived at Nemi on May 12. The 19 of them came from 15 provinces and belonged to 10 nationalities. The course was ably directed by Tony Bon. Pates, Nemi-Director, assisted by Martin Martinez de Morentin (ESP) and Sr. Lidia Kunze SSpS.

The motto of the course was “Follow Me on the Way”. The main focus of the input was on ‘the identity of the formator’. “These two months of deep reflection gave me a profound sense of identity as a Divine Word Missionary,” said one of the participants, “and now what I am expected to do as a follow-up of the course is to pass on that enlightenment to the formandi.”