Sisters Rosangela Ronda and Consolata Manding attended a 30- day retreat on Donec Formetur Christus in Vobis, Rome from October 23 to November 23, 2011. Here are their reflections:
I LOVE PRIMO MAESTRO EVER MORE by: Sr. Consolata Manding, FSP
The input given during our one-month, October 23 – November 23, 2011, retreat in Rome on Donec Formetur were not new to me but I claim that they appealed in a new light and brought me to a greater realization of the holiness of our Founder.
The way Blessed James Alberione explains our devotion to Jesus Master, Way, Truth and Life, and its practical implications in our daily life, touches me most. Many questions that I have been asking myself for many years of my Pauline religious life were answered with much enlightenment. A closer look at the writings of the Founder and the many hours of meditation and contemplation open my mind, will and heart to the great challenge of living our Pauline Spirituality today.
Primo Maestro’s teaching on Pauline Spirituality is clear, simple, concise and practical. We can live it daily but it requires awareness of God’s presence in our life, listening to Jesus living within us, and removing the noise in our mind, will and heart so that his voice would become clear and understandable.
This is our daily challenge which is possible if we learn to live in Christ, not only for him and with him. The difference between living in Christ and for Christ is clearer to me now.
We thank our General Government and the Center for Pauline Spirituality of the Pauline Family for initiating this Donec Formetur retreat which started in 2002.
Donec Formetur- a Treasure still to be Discovered by: Sr. Rosangela Ronda, FSP
“We Paulines are sitting on a gold mine, but we are not aware of it.” This comment which I heard from a Pauline priest in one of our retreats many years ago, kept on flashing in my mind as I was making the 30-day retreat on Donec Formetur. He was right. In fact this was one of the many realizations I had in that retreat.
There is so much wealth contained in the book – DONEC FORMETUR CHRISTUS IN VOBIS written by our Founder, Blessed James Alberione. (This was the content of the whole retreat). But reading the book alone is not easy to understand – there is a need to have a study guide. We were fortunate that the one guiding the retreat, Don Guido Gandolfo, SSP, had made an in-depth study on Donec Formetur. His materials were made available to us during the retreat, and this helped us understand better the content of Donec Formetur. Through Don Guido’s explanations, his sharings, especially on his lived experience with the founder and his insights, I felt that Primo Maestro was just ‘’within our reach’’. He was so alive in his words!
As I underwent the retreat on Donec Formetur, I couldn’t help but be awed at richness of the mind of Primo Maestro! How rich is our Pauline apostolic spirituality! For me, it is a treasure that I still need to discover further.
I thank the Lord and the PMPT Province for this rare opportunity to take part in this retreat. And having made it together with the other members of the Pauline Family was another factor that made the experience truly enriching!