Bishop Anthony Fisher's Homily for Institute for Mission, Votive Mass of the Holy Spirit and Commissioning Liturgy, 4 March 2011

When recently preparing a reflection for our school leaders on the meaning of spiritual formation I Googled ‘formation’ and the first three references that came up – out of approximately 149 million – were Wikipedia entries on aerobatics, geology and soccer. Their immediate application to the work of our Institute for Mission and its new graduates may not be obvious, but might be instructive.

The reference to ‘formation flying’, the disciplined flight of two or more aircraft under the command of a flight leader, points us to the fact that ministry and thus formation for ministry is very much an up-in-the-air or spiritual activity: something focussed upon God and the things of God.

By this I don’t mean that it is about being a religious high-flyer whose spectacular manoeuvres thrill the crowds. No, our readings and prayers tonight make very clear that if formation is to be more than clever aerobatics it requires engagement with the Holy Spirit and reception of His gifts (1 Cor 12:4-13). He is the flight leader for this formation. Without the Spirit of the Lord upon us, as He was upon Isaiah the prophet (Isa 61:1-3,6,8-9) and Jesus the Christ (Lk 4: 16-22), we cannot bring Good News, healing, hope.

As people engaged in pastoral activity, in formal and informal settings, much of your work will be helping others to identify the Spirit’s gifts in them, to understand the tasks to which He is calling them and to have the courage to respond generously.

Such discernment must be guided by the Holy Spirit. As Jesus still tells us: “many crave to see what you see, yet never notice it; need to hear what you hear, but never get it” (cf. Lk 10:23).

Only those with the trusting, open hearts of God’s children receive such spiritual sight and insight. Only those who, as Paul puts it, have the spirit of God rather than the spirit of the world will understand these things (1 Cor 2:12).

So much for the aeronautic: how about geological formation? If all Christian ministry must be heavenward in its goal, it must also be down-to-earth in its enactment. Isaiah proclaims good news not in the abstract but to the poor, hope to the heartbroken, liberty to those trapped physically, psychologically or spiritually.

Those named ‘priests of the Lord’ and ‘ministers of our God’ are given not just recognition but a very tangible task to do, a program of vigorous action: for there are many in our parishes and world today who need ‘the oil of gladness’ from you.

What’s more, given the diversity of faith backgrounds, experience and maturity amongst our people, it is more important than ever that those who minister to them can offer something substantial. Simon was called ‘Peter’ or ‘Rocky’ because his faith was rock solid and ours in turn must be solidly grounded on the Scriptures and Tradition of the Church, not merely on personal experience or passing fashions.

Sound knowledge of the faith goes hand in hand with good formation: you can’t be well formed in faithful discipleship if you do not know the Master to whom you are discipled or the ways He has called His followers to live and breathe and have their being.

Let me be very direct here, as I was with our education leaders. There is a kind of Christianity lite that reduces our faith to moralising, moral life to eco-justice, Scripture and Tradition to fables, and Christian identity to human kindness and good citizenship. It merely echoes our secular world.

But full-cream Catholicism should deeply challenge and convert our culture and ourselves, again and again, always calling us to more and better – to the communion of saints with the Holy Trinity in this life and the next.

There is a version of Jesus, for instance, offered in our culture in which He is a special person, an inspiration, a friend, all of which is true. But pastoral ministers must be ready to proclaim that He is also the Creator made creature, the mediator of eternal life, the sole Redeemer and guide to saving truth, the judge of the living and the dead. A cosy therapeutic Jesus may be an easy sell but it sells short both Jesus and those to whom we bring Him.

Or think of the way the Eucharist is sometimes portrayed as holy bread in a sacred meal which celebrates the community who attend. Again, that’s true as far as it goes. But why shy away from saying the love of Christ in the Eucharist is so total He willingly gives His all – His Body and Blood, His humanity and divinity, for us – and this is so much more wonderful to be part of than a nostalgia trip with holy bread as a souvenir.

Cosy prayer spaces with nice-smelling candles, tulle and gum-nuts may have their place, but they are no substitute for the confronting stone of altar and tomb which speak of the ‘the great mysteries’ of innocent suffering and sacrifice at the core of real love.

So our Institute does not shy away from what you might call the hard or even geological Mysteries of the Faith and neither, I am hopeful, will you in your future roles.

We have tried to give you a formation both broad and deep, within the confines of the possible for those of you juggling many lives: keep nourishing your souls and enriching your minds with the Catholic Faith in all its fullness in the years ahead. Read, study, pray, contemplate.

Back to Google and its third kind of formation: the placement of footballers on a pitch. Happily it does not really matter which code – teamwork is essential in them all!

This Institute has offered you a mini seminary or convent experience of being formed within a community. Your Diocese, parish and family continue to offer such a setting for both giving and receiving spiritual gifts.