“As I see them share their spiritual journeys, express their doubts and hopes, or recognise God’s action in their lives, I feel privileged to witness the discreet yet powerful work of grace.” Father Augustin Fene-Fene Santime shares about his commitment as a formator.
It’s been almost a year since I joined the Comboni Missionary Novitiate in Lusaka, Zambia. I’m happy to be part of a vibrant community of 20 novices. Seven are from Uganda, four from Mozambique, two from Zambia, two from Malawi, two from Ethiopia, and the remaining three from South Sudan, Kenya, and South Africa. Fr. Aquiles, the novice master, is Ugandan, and I am Congolese. This community is a mosaic of cultural, linguistic, and ecclesial diversity.
Rather than posing a problem for community life, diversity offers us extraordinary richness, allowing me to experience a very pleasant atmosphere of brotherhood and cohesion every day. The novices are animated by a joyful simplicity and the ability to adapt. I sense in them a profound serenity and a sincere desire to dedicate themselves to consecrated life and the Mission.
It is in the heart of the community that I carry out my missionary service, patient and discreet, yet profoundly fruitful and, at the same time, demanding, because it requires the ability to inspire, enlighten, and sometimes correct, but always with gentleness and trust. I am often moved to discover how the Lord is present in the vocational story of these young people.
Each arrives with a different path, sometimes fragile, sometimes luminous, but always marked by an inner calling they seek to understand. As I see them share their spiritual journeys, express their doubts and hopes, or recognise God’s action in their lives, I feel like a privileged witness to the discreet yet powerful work of grace.
Life in the novitiate offers me a period of personal formation. Fifteen years after completing my novitiate, finding myself in an atmosphere of prayer, lived solitude, and discernment is a true grace. In a moment of confidence, I said to Father Aquiles, “Father General must have thought I hadn’t done my novitiate well and sent me here to do it again.” We laughed heartily.
Inevitably, I also encounter some difficulties. Perhaps the hardest part is making the novices understand that religious life goes against the trends of some values promoted by modern society, such as an easy life or the pursuit of comfort. Many would like to undertake this Comboni vocational journey without giving up anything, as if it were possible to follow Christ and, at the same time, hold on to everything the world has to offer.
I face this challenge with patience and empathy. As for all formators, the great personal challenge is to accompany these young people on a journey of vocational discernment in a context characterised by globalisation, multiple influences, and the complexity of their stories. Accompanying them requires great sensitivity, a broad vision, and a heart deeply rooted in the Gospel.
