A Brief History of the Emergence of Indonesian SMM Aspirants

The echo about the establishment of a new Formation House, namely the Indonesian SMM Aspirants -if you want to trace back-in fact, appeared several years earlier. It's just that when exactly this idea came about, and how the format of mentoring the candidates is not very clear. Likewise, the Formation House specifically provided for that does not yet exist. What is being done is that SMM Indonesia tries to start by organizing, assisting, and organizing it through the communities that have been entrusted with it, such as the Deo Soli Monastery Community, Putussibau (West Kalimantan), and the Menyurai Monastery (Sintang). Furthermore, mentoring and coaching prospective Aspirants in the two communities. 
The idea of establishing a formation house for the SMM Indonesia Aspirants was getting stronger, when SMM Indonesia through its Councils discussed and decided to immediately start it and the SMM Novitiate Community, Ruteng was given ample space to think about, discuss and begin to draft a program for the development of prospective Aspirants. In addition, they were also given the trust to start looking for a rented house which would later serve as the first SMM Indonesia Aspirant Formation House. Fr. Stef, Fr. Anton, Fr. Marsel, Fr. Fidel, Fr. Borgias began to think hard to make this happen. After considering various aspects regarding the selection of houses and their locations, Fr. Marsel, as the Economist of the Novitiate Community, assisted by Fr. Fidel (postulant assistant) jointly searched and sold the houses to be leased. Several houses were targeted, and finally, only one was obtained and it was sufficient to fulfill the wishes, aspirations, and/or hopes of the novitiate formators. After the rented house was agreed to be used as the House of Aspirants (Mr. Valentinus Gara's house), the novitiate formators began to sit together again to draft the SMM Aspirant coaching program. The thing that is being done here is that they together work out the vision and mission of the Aspiran community and some of the daily rules of life in it.
After the vision mission and draft of Aspirant development were formulated, Fr. Fidel, who was entrusted as the animator of the Flores Region's call, slowly began to recruit the first batch of Aspiran candidates. His efforts and hard work were not in vain, from the twenty candidates who registered 13 candidates were definitively decided to be accepted into the Aspirant Community. The thirteen youths came from several regions or regions with different cultural backgrounds. They were then officially accepted on July 6, 2014, by Fr. Fidel, SMM who had been entrusted by Fr. Provincial as Community Leader (Domus Chancellor).

II BASIC INSPIRATION
Jesus is the God of all Christians. He also at the same time became a human being who incarnated, was present, and lived with His people. As a human, He appears to be a Person who is always close to anyone. In Him the divine and the human become one, becoming God, God, and Man for His people. He is the Transcendent and Immanent God, far but near to humans. During His life, He chose a group of people to be His disciples. He has taught many things that later become a beautiful legacy for Christian discipleship today. Peter, Paul, John, etc., are individuals directly drawn by Him to accompany, proclaim and continue God's mission in the world, to build God's Kingdom amid His people.
This beautiful legacy was then passed on by the Church to this day in the form of a unique vocation to life, namely to become priests, monks, and nuns. St. Montfort was one of the thousands of mentors whom He also drew to bring the Kingdom to life in this world. And it has been seen from the way of life, the preaching (evangelization) that he runs. Montfort's way of life seems to have animated thousands of young people to dedicate themselves to Jesus Christ in the spirit and charisma that he teaches. Now that spirit and charisma have been and are being sown in various lands (media) in this hemisphere. One of them is the land of monasticism (Montfortian) in Indonesia. The vocation to be Montfortian has grown and flourished everywhere.
Since the entry of the Montfortian Missionaries to Borneo in 1939 (Kalimantan), this vocation has continued to grow and bear fruit. This year, SMM Indonesia celebrates its 75th presence in a period that is no longer short. This gratitude is certainly expressed and celebrated with great enthusiasm by the Indonesian Montfortians. His presence was also extraordinary, marked by the start of a formation program for non-seminary high school graduates, known as SMM Aspirants. Praise be to God, on this initial trail, SMM Indonesia was able to accept the arrival of twelve youths who wanted to become SMM Aspirants. They come from various ethnic backgrounds, cultures, customs, and different languages. Now they are united by one new spirit and spirituality, namely, the Montfortian Spirituality. They are individuals who have indirectly been moved by Montfort to become the 'army' of Christ, into a small flock, specially called to become the Priory of Montfortian, as he aspires to be. We try to put their enthusiasm into what Jesus said in the Acts of the Call of the disciples who followed Him: What are you looking for? (John 1:38).
Aspirants are called to answer the words of Jesus, their Teacher, and their Spiritual Guide. Of course with a free heart, they will answer the footsteps they are walking in their calling in life at the Formation House, Aspirants Union of Maria Montfortian, Labe-Ruteng. Of course, before setting foot in this Aspirant Formation House, those who feel there is a seed of calling within them ask this: "Teacher, where do you live?" (John 1:38) and then Jesus answered, “Come and you will see” (John 1:39). Now they have come and seen him even begin to experience life with Him (in this formation). Because of that, as a consequence, they are invited to be able to fulfill the demands of His life, dare to let go of personal parameters, dreams, desires, and personal expectations, and then put them into the dreams and aspirations of the Mentor, St. Montfort.
Those who are called to be Aspirants are expected to be able to let go of their attachments (although at this initial stage this effort to release is not at all easy), able to direct their hearts to God who called them personally. The ability to do what is called 'release' oneself from various forms of attachment and self-love in the past, and then begin to put on the enthusiasm and love of Christ in the spirit of St. Montfort is a dream they have to fulfill hiec at nunc, now and here, in this initial formation. If it is successfully done, then they will experience an abundance of life, experience an immeasurable richness of life, even though they are still in the early stages.