|
|
|
Apostolate
Jesuits are men on mission. Throughout the period of formation, the focus of this mission will vary: sometimes the focus will be study, or (as during the novitiate) prayer and reflection. But Jesuit formation is formation for mission, for the building of the kingdom of God.
At each stage of formation, direct involvement in apostolic work is expected: a man may work in a parish setting, or guide others in their prayer lives, or teach children. To work with God's people in this way is not only to offer them something from our own formation and experience: it is to be formed by them and by their experience of God and God's world.
All Jesuits in formation will have some apostolate, perhaps for a few hours a week and a period in the summer. Each man's programme of formation includes a two or three year period when he is given a full-time apostolic mission, perhaps teaching in school, or working in a retreat centre: maintaining a traditional title for a teacher, a man in this stage is called a 'Regent.'
|
spiritual life
