Guide to Ongoing Formation for Priests (Ascension)

GOFP 228

Guide to Ongoing Formation for Priests

of your body? Until you have done all of these, do not think that you have tried everything.” 209

228 In addition to these extraordinary measures, a priest offers sacrifices for his people in ordinary ways every day. Self-denial, after all, is an essential component of discipleship. “Whoever wishes to come after me,” Jesus insisted, “must deny himself, take up his cross, and follow me” (Mt 16:24). In the life of a priest, such mortifications also reinforce his pastoral ministry. Small self-denials at meals, patient submission to illnesses and other sufferings, kindness and patience with tiresome people, the cheerful omission of small comforts, and other little crosses—those that he voluntarily chooses and those that he encounters in the course of a day—can all be occasions to encounter the Lord, offer him our love, and intercede for God’s people. Perhaps the most important self-denial a priest can practice is simply keeping his hand on the plow and doing his work faithfully and without fanfare, day after day. 210 These ingredients of fidelity and perseverance in the priesthood make up the recipe of genuine joy in pastoral ministry. 229 A final personal means of growth in the pastoral dimension is analogous to ongoing formation in other professions: namely, training in ministerial skills. 211 A priest can take advantage of many opportunities for professional development and tailor his studies to his own needs. By broadening his knowledge of various ministries, for example, he can stretch his pastoral abilities and widen his experience. By developing better leadership skills, he can improve his governance of the parish. By learning new management skills in areas 209 St. John Vianney, quoted in St. John XXIII, Sacerdotii Nostri Primordia , no. 72. 210 “The priest should act under the impetus of a receptive and joyful spirit, the fruit of his union with God through prayer and sacrifice, which is an essential element of his evangelizing mission of becom ing all for everyone (see 1 Cor 9:19-23) in order to win them over to Christ.” DMLP, no. 46. 211 See PPF, nos. 268, 288.

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