Diploma in Religious Formation

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End date: 2009Subject: search.filters.subject.Spirituality

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    Touching Hearts: Mentoring In Lasallian Spirituality
    (Tangaza University College, 2003) Sanchez, Agustin Ranchal
    As early as in the seventh century A.D., Dorotheos stated: "No man is more unfortunate or nearer perdition than those who have no teachers on the way to God."' Mediation, spiritual direction, accompaniment, mentoring... are all synonyms for the art of going hand-in-hand with others during their life journey to help them. see more clearly the path to God. Saint John Baptist de La Salle, the founder of the Brothers of the Christian Schools, was a dedicated spiritual mentor who had been influenced by the contemporary spiritualities. As a guide for his Brothers, he adopted a unique style of mentoring that has become a significant part of Lasallian spirituality. As the founder of an institute of lay Brothers devoted to the Christian education of children and the young, he also formulated how the Brothers as mentors were and are to approach their pupils. Almost three centuries after his death, Brothers and Lasallian partners try to be faithful to De La Salle's inspiration to be "ministers and ambassadors of Jesus Christ" for young people, especially among the poor. The aim of this essay is to define the principles that John Baptist de La Salle used to mentor his Brothers in the various aspects of their lives and in their ministry, as well as the principles he proposed to mentor students. What has motivated me to write about this topic? I am strongly convinced that in the midst of the rapid changes in our society, religious life, and the Church, good mentors are required to guide others in their search for the knowledge of the truth coming from Christ as the means to discover their own identity. In addition, the Brothers of the Christian Schools, as lay religious educators, have numerous potentialities to respond to the always-urgent need to be models, guides, and mentors for present and future Brothers, as well as for the students who will be entrusted to their care. While the Brothers are the heart and memory of the Institute, thousands of lay Lasallian partners are called today and tomorrow to share the charism and mission of De La Salle. The limitation of pages has forced me to focus exclusively on the Brothers, though virtually all that is presented here can be applied to our lay Lasallian partners as well. Further research upon the specificity of the Lasallian mentoring for and from lay partners would be tremendously useful and complementary to this paper.
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    Inculturation - Incarnation: The Challenge of Religious Life In The Third Millennium
    (Tangaza University College, 2001-03-19) Angelica Aguilar Ochoa, Paula
    Today, in our changing world, we Religious are experiencing a period of crisis and of witnessing. We are living in a time of rapid change where globalisation is taking place. Our world has been defined as a "Global village" where cultural change is greatly impacting the local culture.' Understanding culture as our way of being human in the world, as our identity, we can see the influence of a global cosmopolitan society coming to tell us how to live, to feel, to act and react... This global culture is passing through our hearts and minds and it is reflected in our behaviours. For example: we can see here in Kenya Christian youth knowing "something" about the cultural heritage of the clan/tribe they belong to, but rarely this knowledge has been integrated, reflected upon and challenged so as to have a clear stand in their behaviours and options as members of the society. Few people have been able to discern which are the cultural values2 the person has received, which are the ones that this global culture is presenting and which are the Gospel values one uses to make a choice in his/her way of living. As daughters and sons of their times they are experiencing a dualistic life standard that weakens their self-identity, sense of belonging and the all-embracing African worldview of the human person.3 Consequently, we can say that we are experiencing a state of total confusion in a society of frustration and addiction. Although in a false way, addictions supply what the real cultural values formerly provided in terms of self-identity. These changes that we are facing are taking place so fast that awareness of them seldom has room in our daily lives. They leave no space to reflect, integrate and make choices about questions like: Who am I? Who am I called to be? To whom do I belong? How to deal with so many different issues: anger, stress, 'freedom', war, hatred, the mass media, consumerism, new forms of Gnosticism, etc. This is happening not only in Africa but in other continents as well. This general situation, of course, also affects the life of the Church. The Church as a body is composed of different members who belong to different social, economic and cultural backgrounds. As in the society, we are experiencing a period of transition. self-awareness and self-emptying, such as the one of the Father who, moved by perfect love that is God's essence, was revealed in the Son, the Word. Thus, God humbled himself, taking the form of a humankind who collaborated and participated in freedom in the salvation of humankind (cf. Phil 2:6-8). It is through Mary who in total availability to God was overshadowed by the Spirit, that the Word, the Son of God, became one of us in response to the Father's love. The Incarnation, something no human being could ever have imagined, constitutes a dangerous memory6 for us, prompting us to be what we are called to be (Chapter 2). That is to know ourselves as well as the Gospel' and the charism' of our institutes, in such a way that Christ may be born once again in each one of us, in our communities and consequently in the Church and the society (Chapter 3). We are called to the integrity of a prophetic love that has as its core the Kingdom of God. As expressed in the Beatitudes which embody a spirituality of conflict so necessary and urgent in the current times (Chapter 4).
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    Childlike Simplicity and Our Lady in the Congregation Of The Little Children of Our Blessed Lady
    (Tangaza University College, 2001-04) Muchingami, Florence
    At the heart of humility or childlike simplicity lies faith. Faith gives this virtue value and this faith means trusting someone. Little ones according to the Gospel values are always cheerful for God is not happy to see long faces. In the world today most people prefer to discuss humility rather than live it and with that they never achieve since the true source and meaning of humility are to be found in God alone. My intention is to find some practical examples of living humility as God wants. It has been my desire since my Novitiate to explore the charism of our congregation. I am privileged this third Millennium to begin exploring this theme. I say this because what the paper contains is very limited and I feel there is more unwritten material to enrich me in the exploration of this childlike simplicity. The gift of my studies in Tangaza College has made it possible and I thank God for that. Our founder thought it best to give us childlike simplicity as our Charism and Mary our Blessed mother as our advocate and patroness. "Nothing is higher than humility says saint Ambrose, since humility is highest placed of all". In gratitude therefore, under Our Lady's patronage I would like to explore the relationship between Mary and our charism and how we as a Congregation can follow suit. The first chapter is going to be our founder Aston Chichester's biography together with the history of our foundation and the Charism and Spirituality of the Congregation. The second chapter concentrates on the theme and sources. This is to consider childlike simplicity in the Gospels i.e. (Mt. 18: 1-4) and in other sources like in the Benedictine spirituality whose contribution seems to have enriched our founder, in St Francis of Assisi whose humility he asked us to reflect on and in the Ignatian spirituality that was our founder's own. I consider too St Therese of the Child Jesus whose simplicity he asked us to contemplate on. The third chapter is focused on Our Lady and the Congregation. This would include elements of her Immaculate Conception, one of our feast days as a congregation. I will also consider her model in living childlike simplicity as well as her challenge to the congregation. Chapter four concentrates on integration of the element of childlike simplicity in one's life. I will concentrate on formation in the congregation. The virtues that surround childlike simplicity are numerous and call for a lot of contemplation in order to bring the message home. In all 'what God wants is poverty of spirit, the denial of covetous desire and the charity of self-giving, which alone opens the heart of perfect love of God and generous love for others'.1