Guide to Ongoing Formation for Priests

24 | GUIDE TO ONGOING FORMATION FOR PRIESTS

you, O priest, but much will also be demanded of you.” 42 The responsibility is great, and the demands are great. But we do not carry these burdens alone. This chapter surveys some ways for a priest to receive help to become the priest he is meant to be.

FORMATION IS A LIFELONG PROCESS

GROWTH IS A SIGN OF LIFE

64. Every one of us began our priestly formation in childhood. Ideally, a boy destined for the priesthood is born into a loving and intact family, learns the rudiments of his faith along with his elementary education, and enjoys a formation in virtue and self-control from his earliest years. The Second Vatican Council called the family the “first seminary,” 43 because his childhood home is where the future priest begins the personal and spiritual formation that will become the foundation of his vocation. None of us, of course, was raised in a perfect family; many suffer the lingering effects of a family life that was far from the ideal. Nevertheless, whatever its strengths and weaknesses, our family provided the impetus for our initial growth, and it is to our family, especially our parents, that we owe much of our vocation. 44 By the time we entered our teenage years, we started to discover our own personality, talents, and weaknesses. We began to differentiate ourselves and were molded by our interests, the influence of our friends, and increasingly, the pressures of social media. Graduating from high school was a significant milestone, but we soon realized that our growth was not complete. We continued to be stretched by continuing our educa tion or starting a career; we acquired more skills, built new friendships, and expanded our horizons. That forward momentum is part of thriving. If 65. 42 St. Faustina, Diary of Saint Maria Faustina Kowalska: Divine Mercy in My Soul (Stockbridge, MA: Marian Press, 2005), no. 941. 43 Second Vatican Council, Optatam Totius (Decree on the Training of Priests) , no. 2, in Vatican Council II: Volume 1. The Conciliar and Post Conciliar Documents , new rev. ed., ed. Austin Flannery (Northport, NY: Costello, 1996). Subsequently cited as OT. 44 “The Church is called to cooperate with parents though suitable pastoral initiatives, assisting them in the fulfillment of their educational mission. She must always do this by helping them to appreciate their proper role and to realize that by their reception of the sacrament of marriage they become ministers of their children’s education. In educating them, they build up the Church, and in so doing, they accept a God-given vocation.” Francis, Amoris Laetitia (On Love in the Family) (Vatican City: Vatican Press, 2016), no. 85. See CIC, cc. 226, 233 §1, 793, and 1136.