Guide to Ongoing Formation for Priests (Ascension)

GOFP 135

Chapter 3: Human Formation

internal poverty. A priest’s surroundings and possessions may be ever so simple—but if he is not internally detached from his goods, then he is not yet living the virtue of temperance.

MEANS OF HUMAN FORMATION Personal Means

133 Many of the personal means of human formation are immediately obvious from the markers identified above. Virtues of fatherhood like responsibility, patience, humility, and courage all call for continual effort, correspondence to grace, and concrete resolutions to grow. There are no shortcuts to growing in virtue. Forging friendships, too, requires a personal investment of time and initiative. Building habits of temperance demands self-denial and daily mortification in the use of food, drink, the Internet, and possessions. 134 Given its importance, the priest should pursue the virtue of chastity with particular determination. Many circumstances can aggravate the fight for holy purity. Excessive trust of self, lack of prayer, failing to appreciate one’s vulnerabilities, loneliness, love of comfort, discouragement in the face of temptations, and inadequate boundaries in friendships, among others, can present obstacles. 110 Identifying and surmounting these obstacles, often in spiritual direction, makes the priest’s progress in holy purity much easier. 135 The means of ongoing growth in chastity are no different from what priests first learned in the seminary, and they include both natural and supernatural means. Natural means include guarding the senses, imagination, and memory; developing good friendships; cultivating an ordered and balanced life; and regularly exposing oneself to beauty in nature and art. Supernatural means include regular prayer and

110 See CIC, c. 277 §2.

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