1.
TO LIVE IS CHRIST
AND TO DIE IS GAIN…
-Phil. 1:21

2.
SCHEDULE FOR THE DAY
8:00 – ARRIVAL/GATHERING/REGISTRATION
8:15 – OPENING PRAYER
8:20 – ORIENTATION
8:30 – TALK 1- RADICAL DISCIPLESHIP
9:30 – GROUP SHARING
9:45 – BREAK (SILENCE)
10:00 – FILM SHOWING
12:00 –ANGELUS/LUNCH BREAK (SILENCE)
12:45 – HOLY ROSARY
1:00 – TALK 2- SYNODALITY
2:30 – GROUP SHARING
2:45 – WRAP-UP/CLOSING PRAYER
3:00 – ANNOUNCEMENT/END

3.
We stand before You, Holy Spirit, as we
gather together in Your name. With You alone
to guide us, make Yourself at home in our
hearts; Teach us the way we must go and how
we are to pursue it. We are weak and sinful;
do not let us promote disorder. Do not let
ignorance lead us down the wrong path nor
partiality influence our actions. Let us find in
You our unity so that we may journey
together to eternal life and not stray from the
way of truth and what is right. All this we ask
of You, who are at work in every place and
time, in the communion of the Father and the
Son, forever and ever. Amen.

4.
TO LIVE IS CHRIST
AND TO DIE IS GAIN
-Phil. 1:21

5.
We want to know Christ better and
better each day. Not just a set of facts
about Christ, but Christ Himself. “I
want to know Christ—yes, to know the
power of his resurrection and
participation in his sufferings,
becoming like him in his death, and so,
somehow, attaining to the resurrection
from the dead” (Philippians 3:10-11).

6.
means that we
imitate the example
of Christ.

7.
Everything that Jesus did and
said, that’s what Paul wanted to
do and say. The church benefitted
from his godly example: “Follow
my example, as I follow the
example of Christ” (1 Corinthians
11:1). What would Jesus do?
That’s what we want to do.

8.
 Paul’s testimony in this regard: “Whatever
were gains to me I now consider loss for
the sake of Christ. What is more, I consider
everything a loss because of the surpassing
worth of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord, for
whose sake I have lost all things. I consider
them garbage, that I may gain Christ and
be found in him” (Philippians 3:7-9). We
cling to the promise of our Lord in Mark
10:29-30 that our sacrifices for Jesus’ sake
will be repaid a hundredfold.

9.
“To live is Christ”

10.
Christ is the center point of our mind,
heart, body and soul. Everything that
we do, we do for Christ’s glory. As we
run the “race marked out for us,” we
lay aside the entangling sin and
worldly distractions, “fixing our eyes on
Jesus” (Hebrews 12:1-2). He is our
life.

11.
CHRISTO-CENTRISM
Formation is the occasion for the
transformation of the person into
Christ, the conformation of the person
into the image of Christ. Formation first
of all involves a centering onto Christ
and an imitation of his way which is
none other than love.

12.
The formation of an acolyte is Christo-
centric. That is to say, it is not centered
on modern psychology, sociology,
human words, logic, nor worldly
philosophy and reasoning. It is
focused and centered on the living
Christ.

13.
A. SELF-CONSCIOUSNESS TO CHRIST
CONSCIOUSNESS
 This means an awareness of Christ that is
so acute or so sharp that one’s awareness
of oneself pales in comparison. It involves
the forgetfulness of oneself and a
concomitant attention given solely and fully
to Christ. Paul was more aware of Christ in
his life than he was to himself. Christ was
more real to him than Paul was to himself.

14.
Such is the experience of a lover
towards his beloved. Obsessed with
the love he has for the beloved,
everything that matters to him then is
only the beloved. Paul lived for Christ
alone and in Christ alone.

15.
That is why Paul’s understanding and
presentation of himself has always
been in terms of Christ, namely as
“the slave of Christ,” “the servant of
Christ,” “the apostle of Christ,” or
even fool for Christ.” In other words,
it is one’s relation to Christ that
matters so much so that even death
does not seem important anymore.
“For me to live is Christ and to die is
gain.”

16.
B. CHRIST-POSSESSION
It means the loss of personal freedom
and the taking over of one’s will, or
one’s own center and source of
actions by that of another. Thus driven
by somebody else, one no longer is in
control of himself or of one’s actions.

17.
 a. It is not the same as demonic possession
but a mystical experience. It is ineffably
sweet, gentle and delightful
 Demonic possession: The demon which
possesses him becomes source and driving
force of all his actions. The devil torments
his victim, causes him to go to convulsions,
casts him into fire and water, and makes
him run about, foam at the mouth, and cry
out. Indeed, such a creature comes across
as a pitiful human specimen.

18.
 Christ- Possession: This mystical experience is
ineffably sweet, gentle, and delightful. Christ
Himself refers to the delight of this experience when
He says in the Gospel:

19.
b. Since the person involved is Christ
himself, the meek and humble of
heart, there is no force of entry into the
soul of anyone whom he seeks.
Personal freedom is therefore not
taken away without one’s consent nor
is it done in a violent manner.

20.
 It is a personal response to an invitation gently laid
before us. Such a response takes the form of
a self-surrender
that is freely
and joyfully
made.
“In the book
of Revelations,
Jesus says: 

21.
 c. Faith and Love are the conditions for the
possibility of such an act of surrender. These
alone can motivate one to surrender oneself to
Jesus and these alone can make Jesus
accede to or accept our act of self-surrender or
self-offering. In the words:
“Only if I freely
surrender myself
to Jesus will he
seize my
consciousness
and take
possession of
my liberty. .

22.
1. Ecstasy of Love: means standing out,
getting out or going out. It means freedom
from the self. It means that the self stands
outside the confines of the self, getting out
or going out from the tyranny of the self. It
is love that makes this experience
possible. When one is truly in love one is
out of himself or out of herself, one
discovers what St. Paul says, the glorious
freedom of the children of God.

23.
2. Hypostatic Union: It is a term used by
the Church to describe the union of the
human and the divine nature in the one
person of Christ. The possession by
Christ of one’s self involves a kind of
simulated “hypostatic union” where the
soul is immersed in Jesus and lost in
Him. It is possessed by Him to such an
extent that there remains only the one
Person, Christ Jesus.”

24.
 3. Communion: It refers to that oneness of
heart and soul, the oneness of heart and mind
between two persons so that one can really
speak no longer of two hearts or two minds but
of one heart and one mind, or one heart and
one soul. Thus in formation where one is
supposed to learn Christ and the way of Christ,
Communion with Christ involves the process of
continuous renunciation or detachment of the
self from the things that the self loves—
everything including the very self. The love of
Christ becomes everything and all others
become nothing but a refuse.

25.
We must be
Christians in our
very life and
person. We
must lived
Christ and
imitate Christ,
we must teach
Christ and
model Christ
…..to the end.

26.
GROUP SHARING
1. WHAT ARE THE THINGS THAT WE
CLING TO THAT PREVENT US FROM
BEING CLOSE TO JESUS.

27.
-Phil. 1:21

28.
Communion: By his gracious will, God
gathers us together as diverse peoples of one
faith, through the covenant that he offers to
his people. The communion we share finds its
deepest roots in the love and unity of the
Trinity. It is Christ who reconciles us to the
Father and unites us with each other in the
Holy Spirit. Together, we are inspired by
listening to the Word of God, through the
living Tradition of the Church, and grounded
in the sensus fidei that we share. We all have
a role to play in discerning and living out
God’s call for his people.

29.
Participation: A call for the involvement of
all who belong to the People of God – laity,
consecrated and ordained – to engage in
the exercise of deep and respectful
listening to one another. This listening
creates space for us to hear the Holy Spirit
together, and guides our aspirations for the
Church of the Third Millennium.
Participation is based on the fact that all
the faithful are qualified and are called to
serve one another through the gifts they
have each received from the Holy Spirit.

30.
In a synodal Church the whole
community, in the free and rich diversity
of its members, is called together to
pray, listen, analyse, dialogue, discern
and offer advice on making pastoral
decisions which correspond as closely
as possible to God’s will (ICT, Syn., 67-
68). Genuine efforts must be made to
ensure the inclusion of those at the
margins or who feel excluded.

31.
Mission: The Church exists to
evangelize. We can never be centred on
ourselves. Our mission is to witness to
the love of God in the midst of the whole
human family. This Synodal Process
has a deeply missionary dimension to it.
It is intended to enable the Church to
better witness to the Gospel, especially
with those who live on the spiritual,
social, economic, political, geographical,
and existential peripheries of our world.

32.
In this way, synodality is a path by which
the Church can more fruitfully fulfil her
mission of evangelization in the world,
as a leaven at the service of the coming
of God’s kingdom.

33.
It involves:
DISCERNMENT
ACCESSIBILITY
CULTURAL AWARENESS
INCLUSION
PARTNERSHIP
RESPECT
ACCURATE SYNTHESES
TRANSPARENCY
FAIRNESS

34.
We see throughout the Gospels how
Jesus reaches out to all. He does
not only save people individually but as
a people that he gathers together,
as the one Shepherd of the entire flock
(cf. John 10:16). The ministry of Jesus
shows us that no one is excluded from
God’s plan of salvation.

35.
The work of evangelization and the message
of salvation cannot be understood without
Jesus’ constant openness to the widest
possible audience. The Gospels refer to this
as the crowd, composed of all the people who
follow Jesus along the path and everyone that
Jesus calls to follow him.

36.
We see throughout the Gospels how
Jesus reaches out to all. He does
not only save people individually but as
a people that he gathers together,
as the one Shepherd of the entire flock
(cf. John 10:16). The ministry of Jesus
shows us that no one is excluded from
God’s plan of salvation.

37.
-Being synodal requires time for sharing:
We are invited to speak with authentic
courage and honesty (parrhesia) in
order to integrate freedom, truth, and
charity. Everyone can grow in
understanding through dialogue.

38.
-Humility in listening must correspond to
courage in speaking: Everyone has the
right to be heard, just as everyone has
the right to speak. Synodal dialogue
depends on courage both in speaking
and in listening. It is not about engaging
in a debate to convince others. Rather, it
is welcoming what others say as a way
by which the Holy Spirit can speak for
the good of all
(1 Corinthians 12:7).

39.
-Dialogue leads us to newness: We
must be willing to change our opinions
based on what we have heard from
others.
-Openness to conversion and change:
We can often be resistant to what the
Holy Spirit is trying to inspire us to
undertake. We are called to abandon
attitudes of complacency and comfort
that lead us to make decisions purely on
the basis of how things have been done
in the past.

40.
We are signs of a Church that listens
and journeys: By listening, the Church
follows the example of God himself, who
listens to the cry of his people. The
Synodal Process provides us with the
opportunity to open ourselves to listen in
an authentic way, without resorting to
ready-made answers or pre-formulated
judgments.

41.
Leave behind prejudices and
stereotypes: We can be weighed down
by our weaknesses and sinfulness. The
first step towards listening is freeing our
minds and hearts from prejudices and
stereotypes that lead us on the wrong
path, towards ignorance and division.

42.
Overcome the scourge of clericalism:
The Church is the Body of Christ filled
with different charisms in which each
member has a unique role to play. We
are all interdependent on one another
and we all share an equal dignity amidst
the holy People of God. In the image of
Christ, true power is service. Synodality
calls upon pastors to listen attentively to
the flock entrusted to their care, just as it
calls the laity to freely and honestly
express their views.

43.
Cure the virus of self-sufficiency: We are
all in the same boat. Together we form
the Body of Christ. Setting aside the
mirage of self-sufficiency, we are able to
learn from each other, journey together,
and be at the service of one another.
We can build bridges beyond the walls
that sometimes threaten to separate us
– age, gender, wealth, ability, education,
etc.

44.
-Overcoming ideologies: We must avoid
the risk of giving greater importance to
ideas than to the reality of the life of faith
that people live in a concrete way.
-Give rise to hope: Doing what is right
and true does not seek to attract
attention or make headlines, but rather
aims at being faithful to God and serving
His People. We are called to be
beacons of hope, not prophets of doom

45.
Overcoming ideologies: We must avoid
the risk of giving greater importance to
ideas than to the reality of the life of faith
that people live in a concrete way.

46.
Overcoming ideologies: We must avoid
the risk of giving greater importance to
ideas than to the reality of the life of faith
that people live in a concrete way.

47.
GROUP SHARING
In the Church and in society we are side
by side on the same road.
1. In our local Church, who are those
who “walk together”?
2. Who are those who seem further
apart?
3. How are we called to grow as
companions?
4. What groups or individuals are left
on the margins?