Nemi – The permanent formation of bishops as a time of communion, spiritual renewal and personal and pastoral conversion: this was the perspective outlined by Archbishop Samuele Sangalli in his homily on September 19, the liturgical memorial of St Januarius, Bishop and Martyr, at the conclusion of the ongoing formation course promoted by the Dicastery for Evangelization . The course began on Sunday, September 13, at the Ad Gentes Centre in Nemi, in the Castelli Romani area.
The Course represented a new, “experimental” initiative among the activities promoted by the missionary Dicastery. Twenty-one bishops took part in the working sessions, all from English-speaking African countries, who had received episcopal ordination between 1999 and 2022.
Addressing the participants, the Adjunct Secretary of the missionary Dicastery first recalled the words of the Apostle Paul in the First Letter to the Corinthians: “Just as we have borne the likeness of the earthly man, so shall we bear the likeness of the heavenly man” . As he explained, these words certainly refer to “the mysterious transformation that will take place at the moment of our death”, but they also reveal a reality that is already at work in the lives of the baptized.
“We know that, from the moment of our Baptism, through the power of the Holy Spirit, that work of conforming our humanity to that of Christ is already taking place within us: a transformation that requires the adherence of our entire being; a conversion that embraces our whole life as Christians and ministers of the Gospel,” Sangalli said.
The days of meetings organized for bishops also form part of this journey: opportunities for fraternity, deeper reflection and inner renewal promoted by the Dicastery. As the Archbishop observed, these initiatives were welcomed “with great enthusiasm by the episcopates to which they were proposed”. The hope is that such initiatives, which make visible the “Catholic/universal dimension of episcopal communion”, may become firmly established and develop into a regular gathering at the See of Peter, as the formation Course for New Bishops has by now become.
The formation program, Archbishop Sangalli continued, helps Pastors “to allow the seed” of the Word of God “to mature within us and in our episcopal ministry”. In this regard, the Adjunct Secretary of the missionary Dicastery quoted the Second Vatican Council’s Dogmatic Constitution Dei Verbum: “God, who spoke of old, uninterruptedly converses with the bride of His beloved Son; and the Holy Spirit, through whom the living voice of the Gospel resounds in the Church, and through her, in the world, leads unto all truth those who believe and makes the word of Christ dwell abundantly in them.” .
The image of the seed, evoked by the Gospel parable proclaimed in the day’s liturgy, formed the core of the meditation. Archbishop Sangalli offered the bishops a long passage from St Charles de Foucauld, whom he described as “the mystical explorer of Christ’s daily life”. In the text, the French saint contemplates God’s tireless action in sowing the Gospel in human hearts, even when they appear distracted, unreceptive, ungrateful or hostile.
“How good You are, my God, You who not only deign to give us the word of life, and examples that show us the way, but who even take care to show us the obstacles that could prevent us from benefiting from them! How good You are, You who toil so much for us, who go and come, who speak all day long, who sow the seed of the Gospel without ceasing, and alas, so often sow it among distracted souls, souls ill-disposed, ungrateful, at times hostile.”
From this came the invitation not to select the recipients of the proclamation, but to embrace the very logic of Jesus, who sows generously and without reserve.
“Let us preach the Gospel to every creature as Jesus did, whether well or ill-disposed; let us cast the seed of our prayers, of our good example, of our good deeds, and, if God wills, of our words, into every human soul; God will make it germinate in His own time, if they are receptive to it; it is His work and theirs; ours is to sow, as He does, for every human being, the Holy Gospel, whether by speaking or in silence, as God asks of us.”
The same passage from de Foucauld also recalls the responsibility of those who receive the seed of the Word.
“And when the divine Sower lets His seed fall upon us, let us receive it and be good soil for it: let us not be ‘light-hearted’, allowing the devil to carry the seed away from us; let us not be ‘inconstant’, receiving the word and making great plans for perfection, only to abandon them at the first difficulty that arises in putting them into practice let us not be ‘attached to earthly things’, neglecting to carry out our plans for perfection.”
Every circumstance of life, the Archbishop recalled, once again quoting the Saint, can become a seed entrusted to human freedom: “This divine seed falls upon us at every hour; at every minute, at every second, He casts it into every human soul. Every good inspiration, every good desire, every good thought, this good example we have received, this good book we have read, this good word we have heard, this beautiful soul we have glimpsed, this trial, this illness, this event, this consolation, this suffering – in short, everything that happens to us in life, everything that follows one moment after another, is good seed cast by the tender Sower to bear fruit in our soil and produce in us fruits of eternal life: ‘all things work together for good for those who love God’ .”
At the conclusion of his homily, Sangalli entrusted the bishops’ journey to the care of Mary and St Januarius.
“May the Lord therefore help us to make fruitful, according to his will, the seed he has sown in us during these days.”
He concluded with the words of Psalm 56: “This I know, that God is on my side. In the Lord, whose word I praise. In God I trust; I shall not fear.”
The formation course for bishops held in Nemi was organized with the support of the Pontifical Foundation “Aid to the Church in Need.” On Friday afternoon, 18 September, Dr Regina Lynch, Executive President of Aid to the Church in Need, with responsibility for the regions of East Africa, took part in a working session and presented the Foundation’s activities to the course participants.
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