2 minute read
Human Formation
2021–2022 Annual Report HUMAN FORMATION:
Formation in Friendship
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One of my classmates from the Pontifical Gregorian University here in Rome recently made his final vows for the Missionary Oblates of Mary Immaculate. On his holy card was the following quotation from St. Eugene de Mazenod, the founder of his religious community: “Lead men to act like human beings, first of all, and then like Christians, and finally, we must help them to become saints.” It was a good reminder that the Christian life, and a life of true holiness, can only be built upon a solid, human foundation.
This year at the College has offered us many opportunities to, as St. Eugene says, “act like human beings.” Men here have learned how to cook, play the piano, and speak Macedonian (among other languages!). They have run marathons, performed on the stage, and traveled all over Europe and beyond. They have served the seminary community in countless ways, each man contributing the unique gifts and virtues with which God has blessed him.
Zane Langenbrunner '23 (Fort Wayne-South Bend) shares Thanksgiving dinner with seminarians, faculty, and friends from Indiana.
What is perhaps the most human thing of all, however, is friendship. Sirach 6:14-17 puts it thus:
Faithful friends are a sturdy shelter; whoever finds one finds a treasure. Faithful friends are beyond price, no amount can balance their worth. Faithful friends are life-saving medicine; those who fear God will find them. Those who fear the Lord enjoy stable friendship, for as they are, so will their neighbors be.
Our friendships here at the College largely form the context of our human formation. When I was a New Man, sharing the experience with new friends helped me navigate the transition to Rome. Amid the COVID-altered reality of last year, these relationships deepened, and my friends at the College kept me sane and focused on the Lord. Now, as I prepare to be ordained to the diaconate in September with many of these same friends, I can hardly imagine the journey without them. Our formation in friendship at the College often occurs in very informal contexts. Some of the most profound conversations about faith and the priesthood occur on the daily walk to and from school. The opportunity to travel—as we have been able to do much more freely this year—has led us to share profound experiences outside the seminary that will impact our ministry for years to come. Even simply sharing meals together in the refectory offers us the opportunity to build each other up every day.
In all this, our human formation is akin to that of the Apostles. Many of the conversations between Christ and the Twelve occurred “as they were going along the road” (Lk 9:57). Some of the most poignant moments—like Peter’s famous confession at Caesarea Philippi—occurred as they were traveling with the Master. And, of course, Jesus’ precious words at the Last Supper were spoken at table. Like the Apostles, we have been called to follow Christ, not only as his servants, but as his friends (Jn 15:15).
