Guide to Ongoing Formation for Priests (Ascension)

GOFP 186

Guide to Ongoing Formation for Priests

186 The intellect is made to grasp reality and penetrate its meaning. Since no part of our life falls outside its influence, ongoing intellectual formation is a thread that binds the four dimensions of priestly formation together. In the human dimension, for instance, study is a way for us priests to broaden our perspective, stimulate creativity, generate enthusiasm for new ideas, and encourage healthy habits. 187 In the spiritual dimension, study increases our knowledge of God and the things of God, fostering a habit of theology in the widest sense, that is, seeing everything from a supernatural point of view. In disciplining the mind to focus, study promotes interiority as well as the self-control needed to live a regular plan of life, including the spiritual practices that are the “occasions of grace” described in chapter four. By providing matter for prayer and opening a space for solitude and quiet, study can contribute to a more contemplative life for us as priests. 188 In the pastoral dimension, study gives rise to new ideas for our preaching, teaching, and counsel as priests. Much of the intellectual matter for our pastoral mission arises from steady growth in the intellectual life. 154 It educates us in the doctrinal richness and spiritual Tradition of the Catholic faith and gives us something to hand on. It ensures that we remain faithful to the mind of the Church, as St. Paul did when he conferred with the Apostles in Jerusalem to ensure that he “might not be running, or have run, in vain” (Gal 2:2). On a more personal level, regular study offers a healthy balance against the practical realities of priestly ministry and helps us integrate those realities into a larger vision that can keep our daily ministry fresh and dynamic.

154 “Therefore, the priest, with the help of the Holy Spirit, the study of the Word of God in the Scrip tures, and in light of both Tradition and the Magisterium , discovers the richness of the Word to be proclaimed to the ecclesial community entrusted to his care.” DMLP, no. 10, emphasis original.

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