Day Three: TRANSFORMING
Here we are on our third day of this movement of informing-forming-transforming. Today we focus on the third call: to be ‘transformed’ – ‘to change shape, metamorphose’. This process takes the information and the formation we receive in scripture and clarifies the gifts and distills the wisdom into messages of hope, faith and Love. It is the powerful process that prepares the soul and propels us outward. It is the intersection of our openness and God’s offer of covenant relationship. It often comes unannounced in mysterious ways. Often it’s other who notice the changes in us before we aware. Perhaps they see us the light of God’s love shining in our eyes through our compassion, hospitality or in our acts of mercy. Maybe we are more patient listeners or share our faith more readily.
In my life, I was witness to this process as a leader of the Catholic Church’s RCIA (Rite of Christian Initiation of Adults) inquiry-based process. In the weekly sessions, during a time called “Share the Word”, personal reflection on the Gospel passage for that day was paired with instruction on the historical context of the passage. Prayer-led discussion broke open foreign terms and led to further inquiry. At its best, the process led to a discussion of how God was calling each of us to put the passage into practice in our lives that next week. In my mind and in my experience this RCIA model supported the inform-form-transform process. Of course it wasn’t and never is something we can control the outcome of, nor is it a simplistic linear model. God’s Spirit and our Response are continually at work.
Have you personally experienced this process?
Walking with Benedict 