Anthony Lim, cicm
General Councilor
Our journey in the CICM family begins with the Lord's call. God calls us in a variety of ways. Every time someone asks me why I joined CICM, my response always takes me back to an article I read in the Missionhurst Magazine while still studying in secondary school and active in the parish as an Altar server. I remember that on a particular Sunday morning after serving Mass, I was sitting in the reception area of the presbytery, and I came across Missionhurst Magazine. I read an article written by a CICM missionary priest working in Brazil. He was sharing his experience in the mountains, travelling to the villages in a bullock cart to pick up children and bring them to the church for Sunday catechism and Mass. There was a picture of him driving the bullock-cart with a bunch of happily smiling children inside the cart at his back. I was so touched by what I read that I told myself that if I were to become a priest, I would like to be like him. As we all know, Missionhurst Magazine is a CICM magazine. That was how I was called to join CICM. This call persisted despite my efforts to disengage from it. It kept knocking on me, insisting that I have to do something about it. After eight years of struggling with the call, I finally joined CICM and started my initial formation.
Initial Formation
From the beginning, I was made aware of the steps of formation that I have to undergo in my journey to become a CICM religious-missionary priest. My first formator, Frans De Ridder, introduced, explained, and guided me in the CICM way of life. He presented the program of initial formation that I will undergo to discern my vocation and to train to be a religious missionary priest. Indeed, over the succeeding ten years, from the time I started my pre-novitiate in Singapore, I followed a program of formation. It was clear and precise for every stage of the formation process. All I needed to do was give myself wholeheartedly to the program of formation. The initial formation program took me from philosophy studies to theological studies, from language learning to spiritual formation, from Singapore to the Philippines, and then from Belgium to Zambia. It was colorful and enriching, yet challenging and discerning. I was growing into a CICM religious missionary priest like the confrere I read in the Missionhurst Magazine. The formation was organized and concretely planned over ten years.
Ongoing Formation
In the “Foreword” of the “General Guidelines for Ongoing Formation” published in 1998, Jacques Thomas wrote:
As our Constitutions underscore “Ongoing formation is an integral part of our daily lives… Each one of us carries the primary responsibility for his own ongoing formation” (Const. Art.78). It is, therefore, a never-ending task that nobody else can fulfil in our place.
Jacques Thomas, in no uncertain terms, laid out the essence of Ongoing Formation. By referring to our CICM Constitutions, he reminded us that we are constantly in formation as CICM missionaries. When we enter into Ongoing Formation, the primary responsibility for our formation lies with each of us. Each one of us is responsible for his own ongoing formation.
In CICM, we have distinguished two phases of our formation: Initial Formation and Ongoing Formation. During the Initial Formation phase, we participate in an organized program of formation designed to prepare us to become CICM religious missionaries engaged in missionary work. Formators are put in charge of formation programs and are responsible for ensuring that confreres in initial formation participate fully in these programs.
As for the Ongoing Formation phase, there are no formators in charge of our formation, and no organized, stipulated programs obliging us to participate in order to be evaluated. It is entirely up to each of us to take responsibility for our ongoing formation. Whether we continue to grow in our vocation, in our life as consecrated men, and in our ministry and engagement as missionaries lies in our own hands and the importance we place on our ongoing formation.
Personal Reading
A clear example that ongoing formation is one's own responsibility is personal reading. There is no one who will check if we are doing personal reading to grow spiritually, psychologically, intellectually, or in our pastoral-missionary skills. In fact, personal reading is an essential element of our ongoing formation. Reading articles from periodicals, reviews, and magazines broadens our understanding of the world, our church, current theology, spirituality, and changing trends in faith and mission. Personal reading enlightens our minds and leads us to reflect on our commitment to live as religious missionary brothers and priests. What we read increases our knowledge of the subject matter.
Some years ago, I was watching a football match on television with a group of confreres. As the match progressed, the commentator called out the names of players passing the ball and receiving the ball. There was one confrere who was simultaneously updating us on each player whose name the commentator called. When a player’s name was called out, that confrere would immediately tell us how old the player was, his nationality, his former football clubs, and his achievements as a player. Our confrere had a lot of information about almost all the players in that match. When I asked our confrere how he knew so much, he responded that he was reading football magazines and articles about football clubs and players everyday. He was very interested in football and he watched every televised match. That night, I thought to myself, our confrere can be a good football commentator. His knowledge of football clubs and players grew through his personal reading.
In the same way, growth in spirituality can happen to us when we regularly read books on spirituality by well-known spiritual writers such as Henri Nouwen, Thomas Merton, Ronald Rolheiser, Anthony de Mello, and others. Other classics like St. Augustine’s Confession and St. Theresa of Lisieux’s Story of a Soul will increase our Catholic spiritual resources. It is entirely up to us to set aside time to do personal reading for our ongoing formation.
Spiritual Direction
Another aspect of ongoing formation that requires our personal responsibility is Spiritual Direction. We are all aware that spiritual growth occurs when we regularly seek spiritual direction. The accompaniment of a spiritual director helps us to see the movement of the spirit in our lives as CICM in response to our vocation. Sharing our faith experience with a Spiritual Director enables us to grow spiritually and enhances our commitment to the vows we profess publicly. Therefore, it is important that everyone has a Spiritual Director so we can regularly share our spiritual experiences.
Psychological Counselling
Psychological growth is also an important dimension of our lives. Our psychological and emotional health can affect our ability to commit ourselves to the demands of ministry and mission. More and more psychological counselling is becoming mainstream in human development and psychological maturity. More people are discovering the benefits of psychological counselling. The demands of our ministry can be overly stressful and could lead to complete psychological “burnout”. There is no need to wait until a psychological collapse in order to go for counselling. Regular counselling can help in the ongoing formation of our psychological well-being. Here again, it will be up to us to take up this responsibility to see a counselor.
Recollections, Retreats, and Ongoing Formation Sessions
As a group, we regularly come together for recollections, retreats, and sessions. These are programs organized by the Diocese, Province, District, and Community. These are moments when we encourage one another in our ongoing formation. Although organized by those responsible for our life and ministry, it still rests with us to sign up and participate in the program. It is always easy to use our busy ministry schedule as an excuse when we do not want to join these programs for our ongoing formation. The question for each of us is: “Do I prioritize my ongoing formation?” If I really do, then I will certainly be able to find the time to join these formation programs.
To become more Christ-like every day
The CICM way of life is a lifelong journey of following our Lord Jesus Christ! It begins with a call from the Lord to follow Him, so that He can form us and guide us in the way of the Gospels and as children of God. We did not enter CICM to be employed or to have a job. We joined CICM to embark on a journey in formation to become more Christ-like every day of our lives!
