The Water: Formation at the Wellspring. Today, the Church gazes at the Grotto of Lourdes, where Mary invited Bernadette to dig until Water ...
The Water: Formation at the Wellspring. Today, the Church gazes at the Grotto of Lourdes, where Mary invited Bernadette to dig until Water gushed forth. For you, my dear novices, this is the heart of your current journey. You have recently been learning about Mary as Mother and Formatrix. Like the grotto, formation can sometimes feel "muddy." It is a time of digging—of looking at your own humanity and your own "duyog" (inclinations).
But Mary stands there not as a judge, but as a Formatrix. A mother does not just watch her child grow; she actively shapes the child. She is the "Wellspring" because she is the source of the life of Jesus within you. To stay in the Novitiate is to stay at the "Well." You are here to let her "mold" you, as St. Louis de Montfort says, in the womb of her care. Your task right now is to let the water of grace wash away the "labas" (outward pretenses) so that your "loob" (inner self) becomes clear and ready for God.
The Word: The Transition of the Heart. To our three SIKAP participants, your journey this week is a beautiful "translation" of this formation. Yesterday, February 10, you were in the "House of Formation"—the Novitiate. You were at the "Well," grounding yourselves in the silence that the novices live every day. You needed that day of "First Exposure" to remember that a missionary who does not pray is like a well that has run dry.
But today, February 11, the Formatrix leads you out. You are moving to the house of a lay leader in Barangay Milagro. What a beautiful name—"Milagro" (Miracle). Tonight, you will join a BEC Bible Sharing. Here, the Word of God moves from the printed page of your textbooks into the lived experience of the people of Ormoc. From House to Home.
This is where your formation is tested. Mary, the Formatrix, teaches you that the Word is not a theory to be studied, but a Person to be met. In that humble house in Milagro, as you sit on wooden benches and hear the simple, profound faith of the Claretian lay leaders, you are seeing "Mary the Listener" in the flesh. To our novices: pray for Ralph, Joevani, and Angela tonight, for they are taking the "Word" they publish at CCFI and finding it alive in the stories of the poor.
The Way: The Claretian Mission in Ormoc. Finally, we look at the Way. The SIKAP program is a school of solidarity. By staying in the home of a lay leader and experiencing the life of those whom the Claretian Missionaries cater to in Ormoc, you are learning the "Way" of the Shepherd.
Mary is the "Formatrix of the Way" because she accompanied Jesus from the stable to the Cross. She teaches us that a Claretian vocation is not lived in a vacuum. This is true whether you are a CMF or a Claretian Lay Collaborator. To our SIKAP participants: today you will smell the dust of the road and the smoke of the kitchen. You will experience the "tiis" (endurance) and the "tuwa" (joy) of the grassroots. This is the goal of all formation—to be "on fire with love" so that we can walk the Way of the people.
To the novices: do not be afraid of the silence of the house; it is preparing your feet for the road. To the SIKAP participants: do not be afraid of the poverty of the village; it is where the "miracle" (Milagro) of the Gospel is most visible.
Our Lady of Lourdes is the Mother of the Sick and the Mother of the Poor. She formed Bernadette in a cave so that Bernadette could witness to a world in need of healing.
Today, whether we are in the Novitiate Chapel or in a bamboo house in Barangay Milagro, we are all in the "School of Mary." May she continue to be our Formatrix, turning our "Water" into wine, our "Word" into flesh, and our "Way" into a mission of mercy. Through the intercession of our Father Founder, St. Anthony Mary Claret, may we be missionaries who are not only formed in the house but are also transformed by the people.
Amen.
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