Guide to Ongoing Formation for Priests

62 | GUIDE TO ONGOING FORMATION FOR PRIESTS

162. For a priest, indeed for all Catholics, the most important means of formation is the daily celebration of Holy Mass. 130 The Second Vatican Council taught that the Eucharist “is the summit toward which the activity of the Church is directed; at the same time it is the font from which all her power flows.” 131 That is true not only of the Church, but of the priest too. In the reverent celebration of Mass every day, the priest is himself nourished at the font of grace and offers to God all the fruits of his priestly activity. The Mass is the source and the summit of his priesthood. St. John Vianney stated bluntly that the “reason why priests are remiss in their personal lives is that they do not offer the Sacrifice with attention and piety.” 132 If a priest wishes to grow in his interior life, he can find no better place to start than by offering the Holy Mass with greater love. 133 Closely allied to the Mass and flowing from it are two other important personal means of spiritual growth. The first is the Liturgy of the Hours, through which the priest gives voice to the prayer of the Church and takes part in the ceaseless praise of God through the centuries. 134 Through these prayers, priests “extend to the different hours of the day the praise and thanksgiving of the Eucharistic celebration. . . . [offered] in the name of the Church on behalf of the whole people entrusted to them and indeed for the whole world.” 135 Giving the breviary more time and attention, even if he sometimes struggles to align his emotions to the words, is another way, ready at hand, for the priest to grow in spiritual depth. 163. 130 See CIC, cc. 276 §2, 2°, 904, and 906. For the priest, the daily celebration of the Holy Mass has irreplace able value—it is the “source and summit” (see LG, no. 11; PO, no. 18) of the priestly life—even if it is not possible to have the faithful present. In this regard Pope Benedict XVI teaches: “To this end I join the Synod Fathers in recommending ‘the daily celebration of Mass, even when the faithful are not present.’ This recommendation is consistent with the objectively infinite value of every celebration of the Eucharist, and is motivated by the Mass’s unique spiritual fruitfulness. If celebrated in a faith-filled and attentive way, Mass is formative in the deepest sense of the word, since it fosters the priest’s configuration to Christ and strengthens him in his vocation.” Benedict XVI, Sacramentum Caritatis (On the Eucharist as the Source and Summit of the Church’s Life and Mission) , February 22, 2007, no. 80, www.vatican.va/content/benedict-xvi/en/ apost_exhortations/documents/hf_ben-xvi_exh_20070222_sacramentum-caritatis.html . See also DMLP, no. 67. Reflection on and study of the General Instruction of the Roman Missal , especially nos. 78-79, can deepen the spiritual fruitfulness for the priest 131 Second Vatican Council, Sacrosanctum Concilium (Constitution on the Sacred Liturgy) , no. 10, in The Documents of Vatican II , ed. Walter M. Abbott (New York: Corpus Books, 1966). Subsequently cited as SC. 132 St. John Vianney, quoted in St. John XXIII, Sacerdotii Nostri Primordia (On St. John Vianney) , August 1, 1959, no. 58, www.vatican.va/content/john-xxiii/en/encyclicals/documents/hf_j-xxiii_enc_19590801_sacerdotii. html . 133 See PO, no. 13. 134 See CIC, c. 276 §2, 3°. 135 PO, no. 5.