Guide to Ongoing Formation for Priests (Ascension)

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Chapter 5: Intellectual Formation

197 As priests, our primary intellectual interests will likely be in the areas of theology, catechesis, and apologetics. Twenty centuries after Christ, we can be sure that we will never run out of worthwhile material. The DMLP mentions several categories: “The first place among reading materials must be occupied by Sacred Scripture; followed by the writings of the Fathers, the Doctors of the Church, the ancient and modern Masters of spirituality, and by the documents of the Magisterium of the Church , which constitute the most authoritative and updated source of ongoing formation; the writings and the biographies of saints will also be most useful.” 164 198 A privileged place in our topics for study should be given to the Holy Scriptures, which the Second Vatican Council calls the “soul of sacred theology.” 165 By attentive study of the Bible, 166 as well as the great commentaries and sermons of the Fathers and other faithful interpreters, we can come to a better understanding of the sacred texts and more fruitfully share them in our preaching and teaching. As the Council reminds us: “In the sacred books, the Father who is in heaven meets His children with great love and speaks with them; and the force and power in the word of God is so great that it remains the support and energy of the Church, the strength of faith for her sons, the food of the soul, the pure and perennial source of spiritual life.” 167 199 The primary theme of study for the priest will therefore be drawn from the content of the faith. Nevertheless, a priest also does well to include in his study regimen, at least periodically, material with a 164 DMLP, no. 105 (emphasis original). 165 Second Vatican Council, Dei Verbum (Constitution on Divine Revelation) , no. 24, in The Documents of Vatican II , ed. Walter M. Abbott (New York: Corpus Books, 1966). Subsequently cited as DV. 166 “I would like to speak first to the Church’s ordained ministers, in order to remind them of the Synod’s statement that ‘the word of God is indispensable in forming the heart of a good shepherd and minis ter of the word.’ Bishops, priests, and deacons can hardly think that they are living out their vocation and mission apart from a decisive and renewed commitment to sanctification, one of whose pillars is contact with God’s word.” Benedict XVI, Verbum Domini , no. 78. 167 DV, no. 21.

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