562. Claretian formation is a lifelong process of becoming conformed to the person of Christ, the missionary of the Father, whereby the missionaries view the world through God’s eyes and love with God’s heart. God’s love for humanity is the origin of the mission of Christ, which we share by our baptism and for which we have been graced to dedicate our lives totally through our religious consecration. All the formative processes, methods, and programs are at the service of growing in Christ and sharing his mission.

563. The unfolding of Claret’s missionary vocation at the service of the mission of Christ through the vicissitudes of his life culminating in his death in exile is, for us, an exemplar of missionary formation. We see how beautifully the seed of missionary vocation sprouts, grows, and transforms the whole life of a cooperating person at the service of the mission of Christ by the action of the Spirit. Claret saw himself as one formed in the forge of the Heart of Mary as an arrow to be sent in mission.^[149] Every Claretian finds his own special place in the Heart of Mary where he is forged into the likeness of her Son, each in a unique way.

564. Suffering and persecution have an accelerating effect on the process of growing in conformity with Christ as happened in the life of the Claretian martyrs, most of whom were very young. None of them gave up on Christ to prolong their earthly life. The life of our Founder taught our martyrs how to remain faithful in times of trials and give witness to the truth of the Gospel until the end. The General Plan of Formation aims to embody this process of growing in conformity with Christ and becoming capable of laying down one’s life for Christ and his Gospel.

565. The continuity and adaptation of Claretian formation to the changing times is life-giving to the Congregation because the protagonist of Claretian vocation, formation, and mission is the same Holy Spirit who animated Claret in his time. Now it is the turn of the present generation of Claretians to make themselves available to the action of the Holy Spirit and fulfill our mission in the Church as sons of the Heart of Mary.

^[149] Cf. Aut 270.