Permanent Formation

by the Word News Team with Fr. Michael Cheong, FMVD

​A fun-filled sportsfest and lights on synodality. These were the special features of 2023’s annual post-Christmas Day permanent formation for the members of the Verbum Dei Fraternity. The Fraternity consists of the consecrated members of the Verbum Dei Family - consecrated women (sisters), men (priests and brothers) and married couples with special bonds.

​“No one was expecting a sports festival,” recalls Fr. Michael Cheong, “but everyone thoroughly enjoyed it— the bonding, the team building, the games, the laughing together, the competitiveness. It was truly a refreshing moment of just having fun together, a fraternal bonding in a very natural and uncomplicated way.”

A day of formation followed. The resource person was Fr. Jason Laguerta who heads the Office for the Promotion of New Evangelization of the Archdiocese of Manila. He gave rich input on synodality as a way of “being church”. Later, Fr. Michael recalls, “seeing Verbum Dei’s three branches there, listening to how we worked together and realizing that the spirit of synodality was already there right in front of him, he said, ‘I think that you can teach us what synodality is.’ He told us to value and to share this gift that our community has—because what we have been living since our foundation is really something new in the church in the Philippines.” Everyone felt quite encouraged and motivated to share the gifts of Verbum Dei even more.

The next day was devoted to preparing for the 2024 Congress on Mission using the dynamics of synodality. Fr. Michael says, "We were able to practice what we learned from the formation by sharing with each other our dreams as individuals, as branches, as a Fraternity - all in the spirit of really listening to one another."

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This article is part of the 7th issue of the Verbum Dei newsletter in Quezon City, Philippines (page 8).
​You can read the whole newsletter at this link. 
​Verbum Dei QC Word News - Issue 7