Formation

Pre-Postulancy:

After a period of accompaniment in the family, the aspirants can join the pre-postulancy.  The pre-postulancy is a form of vocational accompaniment that favours the preparation of the candidates for the postulancy and makes up for any notable shortfall in their academic, human or Christian formation. In South Sudan, candidates are asked to live six months in the community of Moroyok and then have three months experience in one of our communities.

Postulancy:

The first stage upon entering is called the Postulancy. It has as its objective to prepare the postulant (or seminarian) for entry to the Novitiate (which is the next stage in formation). It offers the possibility of growing as a man and a Christian, clarifying your own vocational motivations in an environment of freedom and responsibility. This pre-supposes a certain flexibility of structures and programs according to one’s educational level upon entering, and a personalized formative accompaniment which respects the times, rhythms, and growth of each candidate. The principle objective is to permit the postulant a free and responsible choice of entering or not entering the Comboni Novitiate.

It is a time of getting to know the Comboni way of life that includes community prayer and ministry. Candidates for the priesthood will finish their philosophy studies at this time and will finish a bachelor’s degree if they do not already have one. Brother candidates will finish a professional degree or certificate if they do not have one already.

Missionary awareness and interest, the sense of solidarity and the desire to share the life and lot of the poor, are values that must be encouraged and deepened during the Postulancy. Accepting the missionary vocation as a gratuitous gift of God who calls, the postulant chooses to remain with Christ in order to be transformed by Him and sent to bring Good News to the poor.

Novitiate:

This is an 18-month period that has as its fundamental aim your prayer life and is the same for both priest and brother candidates. The Novitiate leads to the attainment of a clear consecrated identity to God the Father for missionary service. There is no formal study done at this time. It is divided into three sections:

1. The first part is an experience of intense prayer – we call this the desert period, understood as a dimension of life that includes an environment that facilitates the encounter with God and the encounter with oneself, in recollection and solitude. It has prayer as your main activity, which includes time for reading and reflection, there is time given to some apostolic work but this is not the focus. St. Daniel Comboni believed that the missionary must be an “active contemplative.” Prayer is our strength; there is a time for adoration and a time for active work. Specific contents are also presented for personal reflection and together in community, for example; the Word of God, the founder – St. Daniel Comboni and the Rule of Life, documents of the Church (especially regarding mission).

2. The other two moments are periods of apostolic activity and of community experience – usually placed together to form one period. These periods could take place in another country for a mission experience. The objectives include; greater vocational identification, the interiorization of values such as community and personal prayer, community life, consecrated life and missionary service, the ability to integrate contemplation with action, the ability to work in a team and to depart in the service of the most poor (in one’s own country and in a different culture), the ability to live in simplicity and austerity and at times a certain discomfort.

3. The Novitiate ends with making your first temporary vows of poverty, chastity and obedience. These are then renewed annually as you continue to the Scholasticate (for the priesthood) or to a Brother’s International Center – both of which are communities of young religious of different nationalities, united by the same missionary consecration and guided by a team of formation directors.

Scholasticate:

At this point of your discernment, you enter more deeply into the religious life as a vowed religious – renewing your vows each year. This is a 4-5 year period marked by theology studies

We have 8 theologates (communities of theology students) at different Catholic universities in different countries and languages. The main activity is your study with some type of apostolic activity as part of the program. The scholasticate ends with making final vows and ordination to the deaconate (the deaconate will last a minimum of 6 months). Normally you will return to your home country while you are still a deacon, in preparation for your ordination to the priesthood.

The MCCJ ask that we study theology in a language different from our first language (your mother tongue). It is always a help for the missionary to learn a language well. This is an opportunity to do that. Theologates are often an introduction to living in an international context since students that make up the community are coming from different countries. It is a rich experience of faith sharing!

After your ordination, you will be given your first assignment in the mission. The Comboni General Council in Rome asks that you make three choices of where you would like to go and they will work with that. In 2006, 86 Combonis were ordained in the order. It is the work of the General Council to oversee where these newly ordained go – this is why three choices are asked. If many are asking to go to the same place as a first choice, decisions need to be made regarding the needs of mission sites and you may be given your second or third choice. There are missionaries of course, who simply ask to go where there is the greatest need!

The Brother’s International Center:
This period normally lasts for two years. There are two brother’s centers to choose from, one in Nairobi, Kenya and the other in Bogota, Colombia.

The fundamental objectives that characterize the centers are; the growth in fidelity to the Lord and the consecrated missionary life, a strong sacramental/liturgical experience, the preparation for missionary service by means of study/and or professional work, the concrete experience of community life, the deepened experience of internationality and pastoral initiation through apostolic activity.

The first duty is contemplation and union with God in prayer, living contemplation as the ability to walk in the presence of the Lord, to recognize him present in the religious and Christian community, in the events of history and as a commitment to work for justice and fraternity.

The brothers attend courses organized by the local schools and the center’s programs of theological, missionary and professional formation are continued. Work helps the brothers to re-think their formation in missionary terms, adapting it to the real possibilities of the environment and learning new ways to become agents of human promotion with the project of development of the local church.

The relationship between work and study may have different rhythms and is determined by each center on the basis of concrete situations and in agreement with the brother.

Community life of the brother’s centers permits each one to grow in self-sacrificing love, indispensable for his continual human and Christian growth, for his fidelity and vocational perseverance, for the fruitfulness and efficacy of his service to the mission.

The Comboni Missionaries of the Heart of Jesus (MCCJ), faithful to the vocation they received, are committed to the Church’s mission and endeavor to be witnesses of the Gospel with an attitude of collaboration and dialogue with other cultures and religions.

In this way, we are promoters of a world that is more just and fraternal. As an Institute that is exclusively missionary within the Roman Catholic Church, we welcome young men who want to dedicate their lives in service to the Kingdom of Life in the areas of our world where the signs of death abound.

The Comboni Missionary Priest dedicates his energy to evangelization, working for the salvation and integral liberation of people. He learns from, loves, and respects the culture of the country in which he is sent. He helps form local leaders and animates the local churches with a missionary spirit.

The Comboni Missionary Brother realizes his vocation by building up and developing individuals and the Christian family. He does this through his profession, or through pastoral service.

We are consecrated Brothers and Priests from many countries: an expression of the pilgrim church, constantly moving and growing, encountering diverse peoples and cultures. Though the missionary does spend some time in his home country, he is open to being sent wherever the Lord leads him, ultimately finding his “home” in the Word of God.

Missionary Vocation

The word ‘vocation’ comes from the Latin ‘vocatio’ which means ‘a calling’. The first vocation “calling” that every person receives from God is to life. The second calling is to follow Jesus by becoming a Christian through the Sacrament of Baptism confirmed by the Holy Spirit and strengthened by the Eucharist. Through baptism each person is called by God to become more like Jesus Christ, to share his life and love, to grow in knowledge and love of God, and to place our personal gifts and talents at the service of others.
The search for one’s own vocation is an absolute priority in one’s life since God calls every person by one’s own name and has a wonderful dream for each one of us.

God calls each person through prayer and reflection, and through speaking with others about our hopes and desires, our gifts and talents. In responding to God’s call to each of us, we can experience what Jesus has promised “I have come that you may have life, and have it to the full” (Jn 10, 10).

Discernment is very much a part of each vocation, and that means discovering the hand of God active and inviting you to More! The missionary vocation is a special challenge to openness in encountering other cultures, entering into a free relationship not only with God, but also with others, ministering them as Priest or Brother.

What is special about the Comboni Brother vocation? Candidates for the brotherhood are called to realize their missionary vocation as lay people consecrated to God for the mission, sharing actively in the growth of the human and Christian community especially through the exercise of a profession.

Because of the link between evangelization and human promotion, the Comboni brother is called upon to give a particular contribution to the activities which favour the integral development of man and the advent of a type of society according to the Christian conception of the world. He does this by means of the practice of his profession and his collaboration in the pastoral work, according to the concrete needs of the single communities and as a testimony of his consecration.

Keep your eyes fixed on Jesus Christ, love him tenderly and seek always better to understand the meaning of a God who died on the Cross for the salvation of souls. St. Daniel Comboni

The exercise of a profession is the specific form, even if not exclusive, of the missionary activity of the Comboni brother. The needs of the mission are many, experience indicates as the most requested from the Comboni brother are: administration, agriculture, building, carpentry, electro-technical, engineering, graphic arts, law, mass media, mechanics, medicine, nursing, pastoral animation, pedagogy, social services, sociology, teaching… to name a few!

The professional commitment of the brother finds ample space in activities that promote and realize initiatives which better the living conditions of the people; creating awareness among persons for the defence of human rights and social justice; professional and technical formation of young people; participation in the administration of the local church and of the Institute and collaboration in pastoral work according to the needs of the individual communities.