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Chapter 5
SUMMARY, CONCLUSION AND RECOMMENDATION

Philosophy starts from mans sense of awe and wander. Man is

fascinated by everything that he sees in the vastness of reality. With the
sense of fascination, man is coupled with the sense of awe and wander
leading him to ask questions of what he/she observes. This same sense of
awe and wander leads many people outside and even seminarians and priests
alike (before entering the seminary) to wander on what the seminary is all
about.

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The researcher-writer has made an evaluation on what seminary

formation really is in the light of Hannah Arendts Political Philosophy. This
evaluation tries to answer the main inquiry, which is: Is seminary Formation
in the Mary Help of Christians College Seminary a way to achieve the
proposed political Philosophy of Hannah Arendt? The sub-questions are:
First, What is the political philosophy of Hannah Arendt? This is answered
in chapter 2. Second, What is the present situation of the Mary Help of
Christians College Seminary Formation? This is answered in chapter 3.
Thirdly, Is the Mary Help of Christians College Seminary a political, prepolitical, or an apolitical institution? This is answered in chapter 4. Here the
researcher-writer evaluated the seminary formation using the political
philosophy of Hannah Arendt.
5.1. Summary
In chapter I the researcher-writer gave an essential overview of this
humble opus. It contained the many interpretations of different people of
what seminary formation is all about. There rises the many queries and
answers of some people interviewed. The researcher-writer posted a question
that became the starting point of this opus. How do you see seminary

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formation? The researcher-writer posted this question because he noticed

that many people are intrigued with seminary life. They are intrigued
because they know very little of what the seminary is all about. They notice
that the seminary is a very private place and that seminarians are being
drawn away from the world. And with this he conducted interviews with
people outside the seminary and people inside the seminary alike. Moreover,
one of the striking findings of the researcher-writer is that a friend of him
answered: The seminary looks like a place of isolation. We do not know what
you do inside; or even how you live your life there. It seems to me that you
have a world of your own.
With this powerful statement in mind the researcher-writer thought of
using the political thought of Hannah Arendt to look at seminary formation
in a new perspectivea political perspective. In the political thought of
Hannah Arendt, she has the notion of world alienation and private realm,
which is suited for the study.
In chapter II, however, the researcher-writer discussed the political
philosophy of Hannah Arendt, which will be the main philosophical
discourse of this opus.

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Hannah Arendt lived in a very chaotic society, where people favoured

to have a private world of introspection and the pursuit of economic
interests. This is because of the influence of modernity. Modernity, she says,
is the age of bureaucratic administration, an age when totalitarian forms of
government have emerged as a result of institutionalization of terror and
violence. She was convinced that the problem in society is that people are
merely concerned in satisfying their own private interests. They are no
longer concerned with other aspects of society which are essential in
building a stable human world. Arendt argues that human life must have a
public dimension to it. She clearly emphasizes that every citizen must have a
greater involvement in society. In order to carry this out, she introduces her
political thought, which would lead every person to participate in politics.
In order to understand Arendt and the complexity of her work the
researcher-writer is mainly guided by her work the Human Condition. The
Human Condition is interesting because it is a study of opposites. It looks
more at the death of life, the freedom of life and the fitting and
understanding of life. The Human Condition is also very complex for it can
be interpreted in many ways. In her political thought, she viewed man in his
worldly conditions. She addresses the different activities which correspond

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to the human conditions. The human condition has three fundamental

activities, Vita Activa and the Human Condition. The human conditions are
the conditions given to every person by which he cannot escape as long as
he is living in this world. The human conditions are labor being a biological
process, work which is unnaturalness of human existence and actionthe
human condition of plurality. All three of these activities are intimately
connected to human existence. They are fundamental because they are
activities which are found within the range of every person. Labor
corresponds to the condition of life, which characterized as unfree because it
is subject to necessity. It is primarily concerned in sustaining the biological
needs of every human person. It maintains the survival of individuals and
the species as a whole. Therefore, in the condition of humanness, labor is a
survival. It is actually an action of life. That it is not created, but it is there in
order for the species to survive. All must labor. Work is a product. Work
creates something. Work gives us permanent durability. Work corresponds to
mans worldliness, because it is concerned in the fabrication of the artificial
world of things where each individual is housed. It is a way for us to have
meanings in our lives. To counteract the futility of being mortal. We can
make things that will persist when we die. And this will be important later.

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So the action between work and labor is that labor is a biologicalphysiological action. Work is an action that gives meaning to our existence.
Action equals the condition for remembrance. It creates a history. The key
with action is that each individual is born with the capacity to take action.
They are born with the ability to take and create action. Action begins
something new. It allows us to create history and to remember the past.
Action corresponds to the condition of plurality which signifies the equality
and uniqueness of every person. It also corresponds to the condition of
natality which signifies a new birth for an individual capable of bringing
something new in the world.
Among the activities in the vita activa, action is the most important
because it is where the heart of Arendts political philosophy lies.

It

occupies the top rung of her ordered hierarchy of essential activities that
enable people to respond to the human conditions without activity, labor and
work will be impossible. Furthermore, in society, Arendt says that there are
two realms in which activity takes place: public and private realm. The
public realm is where we find people who gather together for public concern
in a common world and at the same time prevent from falling from each

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other. The private realm is where economics and the necessities of life are
dealt with. Politics for Arendt can only be realized in the public realm.
In chapter III, the researcher-writer tries to illuminate the readers
about the MHCC Seminary formation, which will be the context of this
humble opus.
The seminary is the seed bed of vocation of those young men aspiring
to be priests. It is a formation house. It is where seminarians nurture their
vocations. In forming seminarians to be good and efficient priests, certain
aspects should be importantly considered throughout their formation. The
seminary is the best place for seminarians to undergo an integral formation.
For an integral formation, the Mary Help of Christians College Seminary
gives four facets. These facets are Human, Intellectual, Spiritual, and
Pastoral.
Human Formation aims at crystallizing the self-identity of

seminarian. It forms a seminarian to be a man of virtue, human excellence

and goodness of character, founded on psycho-emotional integration and
modelled on Christs example of authentic humanity. In terms of relationship
to self, the seminarian comes to know, accept and appreciate his unique

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humanity, both in its lights and shadows. Another main focus of human
formation is the achievement of

a balance between self-identity and

socialization.
Spiritual formation aims to develop the sense of the sacred. It also
aims to develop the personal prayerfulness of a seminarian and spirituality.
A seminarian is guided by a spiritual director for spiritual direction. It is also
encourage for the an MHCC seminarian to give importance to communal
prayers and the sacrament of reconciliation and the sacrament of the holy
Eucharist.
Intellectual formation is also an integral part of his formation. In aid
of a college seminarians need to search for self-identity and mission in life,
the intellectual formation seeks to develop not only academic excellence but
also his capacity to face intelligently whatever life he must pursue. The
intellectual formation in the seminary offers a liberal arts program.
The pastoral formation aims at forming seminarians with a deep sense
of pastoral leadership and service for the poor and suffering. It also aims at
forming seminarians with great commitment and competence on building up
a local Church. Pastoral exposure is done in order for a seminarian to be

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involved in a local community and ministry that will strengthen his selfidentity and to develop his mission, which can only occur when he has
discovered the meaning of service to others. Thus, leading him to interact
and collaborate with other people. Leadership is also acquired through
pastoral works, thus, inculcating sense of service.
In Chapter IV, the researcher-writer fused the political philosophy of
Hannah Arendt to see whether the seminary is political, apolitical, or prepolitical. The researcher first evaluated if the seminary really constitute
worldlessness as stated above. In his evaluation, the researcher-writer has
seen that seminary formation also gives a touchstone of reality for
seminarians because the focus of the seminary is not only the sense of the
sacred but also the sense of reality. The seminary has a sense of reality for
the mission of the Church happens within the world itself.
Secondly, the researcher-writer evaluated the seminary in the realms
of Hannah Arendt. Is the seminary in the public or the private. First, the
seminary is seen as drawing seminarians into a private place therefore it can
be found in the private realm. It is because most of the activities in the
seminary are hidden from the glaring eye of the public. Then the researcher-

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writer moved to evaluate whether the seminary is political, apolitical, prepolitical. Being in the private realm the seminary is pre-political. Prepolitical for it prepares seminarians to the politics of Hannah Arendt.

5.2. Conclusion
As mentioned every now and then, the seminary is one of the private
places in the society. Thus located in the private realm of Arendt. Seminary
formation, in this sense, prepares the seminarians to be political. Thus, the
seminary could also be considered pre-political. The satisfaction of the
private realm can bring an individual to the publicpolitical realm. This
means that the satisfaction of the formation leads a seminarian into the
public realm of Arendt where action and speech occurs. Therefore, seminary
formation helps in the realization of Arendts politics.
The realm of politics is very challenging. It is going out from ones
comfort zone and exposing himself to vulnerability so that he could make
his way to the public life and participate a political life. For someone to
move out of his comfort zone, he must takes a lot of guts in him. And this is
never an easy way out.

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The private realm is like a nurturing home for an individual. It is a

nurturing home for it is the place of preparationa place of preconditioning
a man so that he is ready to face and cope up with the demands of political
life. It is like cock fighting wherein a cock is housed to a closed cage (the
observer cant see the cock unless the person opens the closed cage) in order
to precondition the cock to be aggressive when it goes to a cock fight. In this
opus, it is like the seminary wherein seminarians are nurtured, formed, and
prepared before they go to the public life or their ministry. Therefore, upon
evaluation, the seminary is one that can be considered as a private space
where one get some preparations before engaging in politics. Being prepolitical, seminary formation somewhat prepares the seminarians to being
political in certain aspects. Here are the points the researcher-writer
considered:
First, Seminary formation aims to crystallize a seminarians selfidentity. The political or public realm of Arendt is a realm of exposing ones
own unique identity. Having a crystallized self-identity a seminarian is now
prepared to enter the public realm of Arendt.

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Second, Seminary formation aims to build good leaders of a

communitya community of two natures: sacred (a community centered on
Christ) and mundane (a community of human beings). A good leader must
be a man of words and deeds. Action and speech are the vital elements
before entering the public realm of Arendt. Action and speech of a
seminarian is honed inside the seminary which is a private place. The
seminary provides practical and intellectual exercises in its human and
intellectual formation. Pastoral formation is the hands on of these two pillars
of formation. Seminarians, through their formation, are aided to inculcate
various virtues of actions and speech. Example of this virtues are the sense
of service and initiative taking and good homiletics.
Thirdly, Seminary formation to inculcate the church of the poor to a
seminarians heart. The researcher writer sees this church of the poor as a
way for seminarians participate in the here and now world. Seminarians
must know the trending issues of the Church which is situated in the world
of here and now ( not an alienated world). This will lead seminarians to be
men for others. Being a man for the other is being concern with the reality
happening to others and the world.

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Fourthly, The seminary is a communitya community of people

wanting to be priests. The seminary is composed of different individual
persons with different personal backgrounds and coming from different
cultures, beliefs, and places, that is multicultural. Seminary formation is all
about community life. In the seminary a seminarian does not live alone; but
he lives with his brothersa community of brothers. For Arendt, political
realm is a community also. In the world man does not live alone by himself.
He lives, act and interact with other peoplea community of people. Action
and interaction inside the seminary gives a seminarian a glimpse of the
public/political life of Arendt. The world is a community. This same respect
is also vital in Arendts politics.
On the other hand, community life could also be monstrous to
Arendts politics if there is a total submission of his whole individuality to a
common dictated life. The sense of brotherhood is so much present inside
the seminary. Wherein seminarians are to conform with the other members
of the community; because not doing so is not being commune with the
other and be considered as anti-community life. By this, a seminarian tries to
conform to others even if it is against his own pluralityuniqueness.

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Lastly, The seminary formation aims to produce men of excellence.

Seminary formation molds seminarians to be the best they can be in all
aspects of seminary formation. The years spent inside seminary is a
preparation for a greater world ahead of themthe public life. When a
seminarian goes out to the public realm he must be a role mode not only in
spiritual matters but also with human life matters. That is why the seminary
gives its best in forming a seminarian to be his best in everythinga man of
excellence. This kind of excellence is an aim in Arendts politics. Wherein
an individual must be at his best in doing a political activity.
5.3. Recommendation
How do you coerce the sacred to suit mundane? There are some
instances where these two can go together. In oriental philosophy, there is
this philosophy of yin yang (Chinese philosophy). With this in mind, it
opens a lot of perspective for the researcher-writer. Yin yang is like action
and reaction, day and night, emotion and logic, etc.
Instead of considering these two entities: the sacred and the mundane,
as Plato did and Arendt failed to reconcile, separately. The researcher-writer
thinks that these two entities stems from one source, therefore, the

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researcher-writer suppose they can be relative to each other. Absolutely! The

trick is trying to achieve and maintain a balance (but it is not easy!). Yin and
Yang! Dependent opposing forces that flow in a natural cycle, always
seeking balance. They are two aspects of a single reality called life.
Seminary formation is all about learning that art of balancing. The
balancing between the sacred and the mundane. The balancing among the
four facets of seminary formation. The balancing between what is personal
and what is communal. The balancing between submitting oneself to
authority and practicing responsible freedom and initiative taking. This same
balancing must be seen between seminary formators and the seminarians. If
all of these are in a balance then seminary formation will be fruitful and can
it can be a key in realizing Hannah Arendts political philosophy. The sacred
and the mundane comes from a single reality called life. So, there must be a
balance between them just like yin yang.