Guide to Ongoing Formation for Priests

CHAPTER 3: HUMAN FORMATION | 51

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. Given its importance, the priest should pursue the virtue of chas tity with particular determination. Many circumstances can aggravate the fight for holy purity. Excessive trust of self, lack of prayer, failing to appre ciate 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 obsta cles, often in spiritual direction, makes the priest’s progress in holy purity much easier. 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, imag ination, 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 confession, daily morti fications, sincerity with close priest friends and with a spiritual director, and filial devotion to Our Lady and St. Joseph. Continued progress in chas tity is a lifelong endeavor, but countless celibate priests have lived their vocation with integrity and peace and have demonstrated that it can be a joyful, healthy way of life. More generally, candid self-awareness and sincerity with a spiritual director or trusted friend will help identify where the priest needs other growth, especially in the markers of human maturity. Fears, blind spots, and bad habits can hamper his free exercise of the will, and such limitations are important topics of examination for personal prayer and spiritual direc tion. Gaps in maturity, especially affective maturity, need to be addressed methodically and energetically so that the priest can approach pastoral ministry with well-governed emotions. At times, the struggles and wounds that emerge (sometimes, reemerge) in the pursuit of human formation are best addressed in the context of regular pastoral counseling by a therapist who adheres to the Catholic understanding of the human person, or at least understands the 134. 135. 136. 137.

110 See CIC, c. 277 §2.