Guide to Ongoing Formation for Priests

88 | GUIDE TO ONGOING FORMATION FOR PRIESTS

MEANS OF PASTORAL FORMATION

PERSONAL MEANS

224. The strongest pastoral foundation for priestly work is a life of disci pleship and holiness. It is important for priests, as disciples ordained for ministry, to enter fully into the lives of people and understand the chal lenges they face. In the Parable of the Good Samaritan (Lk 10:25-37), Jesus reminds us that the love of neighbor means getting close to the other and making the other’s problems one’s own. Pope Francis echoes this: “It is important to maintain contact with the people, with God’s faithful people, because there is the anointing of God’s people: they are the sheep. By losing the smell of the sheep, by distancing yourself from them, you can be a theo rist, a good theologian, a good philosopher, a very good curial official who does all the things,” but you will have lost “the ability to smell the sheep.” 201 Forming relationships with the poor, migrants and refugees, and others through the St. Vincent de Paul Society, Catholic Charities, Catholic Relief Services—in other words, forming human relationships with those on the margins and those with whom he might be uncomfortable—helps a priest in his ongoing growth in all dimensions. Many of the means of ongoing formation already mentioned in the human and spiritual dimension also strengthen a priest’s pastoral work. After all, though a priest spends much of his day doing the work of God, he must still conform his heart to the good work that he is doing. 202 He therefore strives to embody the markers of the pastoral dimension in an intentional, generous way. He sanctifies his priestly work by consciously uniting it to the Lord, rectifying his intention as often as needed so that he gives greater glory to the Father. 203 He is above all attentive to his life of prayer and other spiritual practices that foster his union with God, through 225. 201 Francis, quoted in “Pope Francis: ‘Priests Must Be Close to the People,’” Vatican News , October 26, 2022, www.vaticannews.va/en/pope/news/2022-10/pope-francis-question-and-answer-seminarians-in-rome.html. 202 “Are you in charge of a parish? If so, do not neglect the parish of your own soul, do not give yourself to oth ers so completely that you have nothing left for yourself. You have to be mindful of your people without becoming forgetful of yourself.” St. Charles Borromeo, Acta Ecclesiae Mediolanensis 1599, 1178, quoted in Office of Readings for the Memorial of St. Charles Borromeo (November 4), Liturgy of the Hours (1974). 203 “The assimilation of the pastoral charity of Christ in order to make it become a form of his own life is a goal that requires the priest to live an intense Eucharistic life, as well as continuous efforts and sacrifices, since this charity cannot be improvised, knows no breaks, and cannot be considered as attained once for all. The minister of Christ will feel it his obligation to live and bear witness to this reality always and everywhere.” DMLP, no. 54.