Program of Priestly Formation 6th edition

104 | PROGRAM OF PRIESTLY FORMATION

Growth in knowledge of God and of his saving works can strengthen the seminarian’s faith, hope, and charity. Likewise, the study of the traditions and the experiences of faith among the saints and the People of God serves to deepen one’s own spiritual journey. Pastoral formation is intimately linked with spiritual formation. In the process of spiritual formation, men are formed to receive the love of God in such a way that they desire to share that love by making a gift of their entire lives. As their hearts are gradually formed in the image of Christ, the Good Shepherd and Bridegroom, their interior life becomes a source of pastoral charity that enables them to lay down their lives gener ously in service of others. “This intimate relationship forms the heart of the seminarian in that generous and sacrificial love that marks the begin ning of pastoral charity.” 305 In this the seminarian learns to eschew any false independence in his labors and to live the words of Jesus: “without me you can do nothing” (Jn 15:5). It is important that spiritual formation is integrated with the other three dimensions of formation such that all formation allows the future priest to embrace pastoral charity as central to his ministry. 306 Human, intellectual, and pastoral formation are equally indispensable in developing the seminarian’s relationship and communion with God and his ability to communicate to others, in pastoral charity, God’s truth and love in the likeness of Jesus Christ, the Good Shepherd and eternal High Priest. One of the primary objectives of the propaedeutic stage is to provide an introduction to the spiritual life and to develop a solid foun dation in the seminarian’s life of prayer. Those elements in the spiritual dimension to be achieved prior to beginning the discipleship stage include growth in prayer and the spiritual life (e.g., elementary discipline in public and private prayer, interest in and attention to spiritual direction, under standing of the importance of silence, and a growing habit of silence), growth in an understanding of the celibate life (e.g., ability to articulate 233. 234. PROPAEDEUTIC STAGE BENCHMARKS 235.

305 Ratio Fundamentalis , no. 101. 306 See Presbyterorum Ordinis , no. 14.