Program of Priestly Formation 6th edition

Seminary Formation: Structural Elements

AN INTEGRAL FORMATION

114. Formation, as the Church understands it, is not equivalent to a secular sense of schooling or, even less, of job training. It begins for all Christians at Baptism and continues throughout life. God uses the entirety of one’s life experiences continually to invite the believer to draw closer to him. He is always at work in the soul as the master craftsman, shaping and molding us. So too, for those he has chosen to pursue the path of priesthood, whether in a diocesan or a consecrated vocation, his quiet yet constant presence is always at work. “The formation of priests means following a singular ‘journey of discipleship,’ which begins at Baptism, is perfected through the other sacraments of Christian Initiation, comes to be appreciated as the center of one’s life at the beginning of Seminary formation, and continues through the whole of life.” 167 While formation is a lifelong journey, the time spent preparing for ordained ministry is a privileged time of growth in self-knowledge and deepening intimacy with Jesus Christ. At the beginning of the seminary journey, “the seminarian is a ‘mystery to himself,’ in which two aspects of his humanity, that need to be integrated, are intertwined and exist side by side. On the one hand he is characterized by talents and gifts that have been molded by grace; on the other he is marked by his limits and frailty. The task of forma tion is to help the person to integrate these aspects, under the influence of the Holy Spirit, in a journey of faith and of gradual and harmonious maturity, avoiding fragmentation, polarization, excesses, superficiality or partiality.” 168 Formation to the priesthood is described in the human, spiritual, intel lectual, and pastoral dimensions. However, one must always keep in mind

167 Ratio Fundamentalis , Introduction, no. 3. 168 Ratio Fundamentalis , no. 28.