Guide to Ongoing Formation for Priests (Ascension)

GOFP 195

Guide to Ongoing Formation for Priests

the theological masters and still not have this interior longing to know more about our beloved God.

195 This final marker of formation, then, is not an intellectual goal but rather the fruit of a relationship. As the priest gives himself more generously to God, the Father plants in the priest’s mind the seeds of a desire to know him still more profoundly. 162 This desire is the most precious sign of being “transformed by the renewal” of the mind, in the words of St. Paul; it cannot be secured by our effort but can only be received in love. This desire is the reward of fidelity and a gift that God promises to every humble believer. No matter what our intellectual capacity or educational background, another tier of wisdom is always waiting for us. God stretches our desire to seek that wisdom, to seek himself, through the gift of intellect. 196 The most important means of growing in the intellectual dimension is very practical: establishing regular habits of personal study. St. Francis de Sales called study the “eighth sacrament” in the life of the priest. 163 There is simply no substitute for doggedly setting aside time for daily reading, making it a priority, and using it effectively. In the busy life of a priest, this is no easy task. Our daily goal cannot be so trivial that we make no progress, but neither can it be so ambitious that we soon grow discouraged. Even fifteen or twenty minutes a day is often enough to keep alive the spark of intellectual growth. MEANS OF INTELLECTUAL FORMATION Personal Means

162 “Let no one think that it is enough for him to read if he lacks devotion, or to engage in speculation without spiritual Joy, or to be active if he has no piety, or to have knowledge without charity, or intel ligence without humility, or study without God’s grace, or to expect to know himself if he is lacking the infused wisdom of God.” St. Bonaventure, quoted in PDV, no. 53. 163 St. Francis de Sales, quoted in E. J. Lajeunie, Saint Francis de Sales: The Man, the Thinker, His Influ ence, vol. 2 (Bangalore, India: S. F. S. Publications, 1987), 36.

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