Program of Priestly Formation 6th edition

62 | PROGRAM OF PRIESTLY FORMATION

CONFIGURATION STAGE

135. In the configuration stage, the seminarian models his life on the self-donation of Jesus Christ, Shepherd and Servant, as he prepares more immediately for Holy Orders. “This configuration demands that the semi narian enter profoundly into the contemplation of the person of Jesus Christ, the beloved Son of the Father, sent as Shepherd of the People of God. It will make the relationship with Christ more intimate and personal and, at the same time, will lead to an awareness and an assumption of priestly identity.” 188 Formation in priestly spirituality involves a heartfelt dedication to his ecclesiastical entity in loving obedience. The configuration stage demands from the seminarian a great commitment, as it challenges him to acquire a proper priestly spirituality; this includes a greater awareness and personal assumption of priestly iden tity as he conforms himself to the sentiments and attitudes of the Son, understood as self-offering for the pastoral care of the sheep. Conferral of the ministries of lector and acolyte is appropriate during this stage, marking the progressive deepening of this self-configuration to Christ both liturgically and in catechesis, evangelization, and active service to the poor. 189 The vocational synthesis stage begins upon the completion of the configuration stage. It is intended primarily as a time not of evaluation, but of integration and transition. Based on the principle of gradualism as found in the Ratio Fundamentalis , the vocational synthesis stage is a gradual realization of the cleric’s responsibility for the care of souls while he resides full-time in a pastoral setting, usually the parish. The goal of the vocational synthesis stage is to help the deacon make this essential transition before assuming the full responsibilities of priestly life and ministry in the context of his particular ecclesiastical entity. Thus, the 136. VOCATIONAL SYNTHESIS STAGE 137.

188 Ratio Fundamentalis , no. 68. 189 See Ratio Fundamentalis , no. 72; CIC, c. 230 §1; USCCB, “Complementary Norms, Canon 230, §1 - Installed Lay Ministries,” (2000).