29. Seminary Formation

29. Seminary Formation

THE DIOCESAN SEMINARY FORMATION PROGRAM

God “loved us first” (I Jn 4:19) and called us to participate in the communion of the Trinity. Moved by the Holy Spirit, we recognize His call and we journey towards Him in the light of the Gospel of the Lord Jesus and in dialogue with the signs of the times, transforming our very selves in the process and allowing a new self to shine forth and to cooperate with God in transforming the world so that His Kingdom may come (Cfr. Second Plenary Council of the Philippines [PCP II], 565). This journey is our formation in our life in the light of our vocation to serve God and to undergo a gradual and progressive conversion to be conformed and be configured to Christ by the action of the Spirit, to follow Jesus Christ more faithfully and to be in union with God through a comprehensive and integral seminary formation program ( Optatam Totius [OT], 2-3; Cfr. Catholic Bishop’s Conference of the Philippines Episcopal Commission on Seminaries, The Updated Philippine Program of Priestly Formation, 2006 [UPPPF], pp. 6-7).
Formation is a lifelong process which involves individuals at every level and a radical re-orientation and progressive transformation of persons-under-formation and gradual change of their relationships with others and with God as they respond to God’s call to holiness and discipleship appropriate to the demands of specific times and places (UPPPF, pp. 2-3) and to “serve the Lord with a heart full of devotion” (Rom 12:11).
In the spirit of the Second Plenary Council of the Philippines [PCP II] which focused on the renewal of the local Church for the sake of the renewal of the Philippine society, the Diocesan Seminary Formation Program is designed for a contextualized and comprehensive education program. It is focused on forming “servant leaders” for a “Church with a Mission of renewed integral evangelization” as “Church of the poor” and as “Community of Disciples of Christ” (UPPPF, pp.5, 6-7) to be “ministers of Christ Jesus among the people” (Presbyterorum Ordinis [PO], 2). Through the Seminary, the Church helps in the discernment of vocations and to accompany the seminarians in inspiring and sustaining their priestly vocation through a preparatory formation whereby this pastoral care of vocations shall facilitate in “bringing to the priesthood only those who have been called, and to bring them adequately trained, namely, with a conscious and free response of adherence and involvement of their whole person with Jesus Christ who calls them to intimacy of life with him and to share in his mission of salvation”(John Paul II, Pastores Dabo Vobis [PDV], 42). While everyone has the task of promoting and sustaining priestly vocation, the families which are alive with the spirit of faith, love and reverence, and priests with their exemplary lives as well as parishes, in whose pulsing vitality young people themselves have a part, have an outstanding contribution to the integral formation of seminarians (OT, 2; PCP II, 566-567). The seminary should give attention to the spiritual, intellectual, psychological, disciplinary and pastoral aspects of the formation of seminarians and in making seminary education relevant by contextualizing it in the present Philippine situation and updated with the new trends in in the society and the Church ( Cfr. PCP II, 568).
Diocesan Seminary Formation in the Philippines has four objectives: (UPPPF, pp.11-13)
“Human Formation. The seminary aims at forming men of virtue, of human excellence and goodness of character, founded on psycho-emotional integration, and modeled on Christ’s example of authentic humanity.
Spiritual Formation. The seminary aims at forming men whose lives find their center in personal and transformative communion with God in Christ, and who seek to unite themselves with God’s saving will in all aspects of their lives, especially through participation in the mission of Christ as an ordained minister of the Church.
Intellectual Formation. Seminary Formation aims at forming men with a deep understanding of the mysteries of the faith, a capacity for ongoing theological reflection, and pastoral skills and competence, in the context of Church and society in the Philippines and Asia, for the sake of the mission of evangelization.
Pastoral Formation. The seminary aims at forming men with a deep commitment to and competence for pastoral leadership and service, especially of the poor and suffering, in union with Christ, the Good Shepherd, and the shepherds in the Church, towards the building up of the local Church in communion and mission.”

The Diocese of San Carlos has as its institution, where seminarians are formed, the St. John Mary Vianney Seminary [SJMVS] which was established in 1992 with Rev. Fr. Lito dela Paz as its Rector. In June 1993 when Bishop Nicholas Mondejar was the Rector of the seminary, the academic formation was done in consortium with Colegio de Sta. Rita, a college in San Carlos City which is owned and managed by Augustinian Recollect Sisters. In January 1996 the seminary community transferred to its new Seminary building. At present with Fr. Patrick Daniel Parcon as Rector, SJMVS aims to have a Christo-centric spiritual formation, relevant and comprehensive academic formation, authentic community life, human development program and realistic pastoral program. It’s vision is to “form an active, discerning and liberating spirituality, academically competent and psycho-emotionally mature individuals committed to respond to the call of God and the signs of the times to build His kingdom of justice, peace and love”(2007 St. John Mary Vianney Seminary Handbook , p.6). Vocation to the priestly ministry looks promising in our diocese and given the proper support it will usher the fuller development of a vocation configured in Jesus Christ the priest, prophet and king towards forming the seminarians to become true pastors of the people of God (Cfr. O.T., 4).

Questions for small group discussions:
How should our Diocesan Seminary be and how should seminarians be formed so they will be good priests and ministers of the Church in the future?
How can we support our Diocesan Seminary, St. John Mary Vianney Seminary?
Are there groups in your parish, like “Love Our Seminarians Movement”(LOSM), that directly support the formation of seminarians? If they are not existing, are you willing to organize a group that can support seminarians and/or our seminary?