Guide to Ongoing Formation for Priests

12 | GUIDE TO ONGOING FORMATION FOR PRIESTS

with other priests, as well as the good judgment needed to maintain healthy friendships with both men and women. 20

30. Finally, a thriving human life is one that keeps in balance the legit imate needs of both soul and body. Finding the time and energy to pray, to establish a healthy lifestyle, to get enough sleep, to exercise, and to relax without shirking our priestly duties demands prudence and discipline. We might not always get it right, but the mature individual always strives for that balance and rhythm.

PRIESTLY IDENTITY

31. Our masculine identity is given a specific direction through our Christian discipleship. Neither our faith nor our manhood can be under stood in isolation from the other. The same can be said of our vocation as priests. The priesthood is not an isolated part of our lives; it is not merely our professional work or a set of pastoral responsibilities that we fulfill. The priesthood penetrates every aspect of our lives, touches every moment of our day, and gives purpose and meaning to our existence. This is not to say that priests do not have a personal life with family and friends, interests and hobbies, and time away from pastoral work. To the contrary, as mentioned above, such components of a healthy life contribute to a thriving priesthood. At the same time, we became priests knowing that the priesthood is a vocation that would demand much of us. A priest does not belong entirely to himself; he has given himself in a radical and sacrificial way to be “anxious about the things of the Lord, how he may please the Lord” (1 Cor 7:32). This self-giving is the pastoral charity of the priest. 21 It is intrinsic to the logic of his priesthood. It flows from his configuration to Christ the Head and Shepherd, by which he participates in Jesus’ pastoral charity. The essential content of this pastoral charity is the total gift of self to the Church, following the example of Christ. When a priest accepts the call to Holy Orders, he also accepts the vocation to offer himself for the sake of others. Struggles in the priesthood often begin 32.

20

PPF, nos. 187g and 186. See CIC, c. 277 §2.

21 “Pastoral charity is the virtue by which we imitate Christ in his self-giving and service. It is not just what we do, but our gift of self, which manifests Christ’s love for his flock. Pastoral charity determines our way of thinking and acting, our way of relating to people. It makes special demands on us.” PDV, no. 23.