Program of Priestly Formation (Ascension)

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Program of Priestly Formation

n. Simplicity of life : Spiritual formation encourages a simple approach to the material goods of this world, cultivating a “spirit of poverty in practical ways.” 299 Freed from excessive concern about possessions, priests and seminarians, particularly those in religious institutes and societies of apostolic life, are able to serve in an unencumbered way. To live with evangelical simplicity is to exercise responsible stewardship over God’s creation by using material goods in a way that is both responsive to the call of the Gospel and ecologically responsible. 300 The witness of a genuine simplicity of life and of detachment from riches 301 is especially important in the context of affluence in the United States. Spiritual directors and priest formators must be sensitive to seminarians’ stewardship of their own, the seminary’s, and the Church’s material resources. Spiritual formation for simplicity of life and stewardship flows directly from striving to have the mind of Christ Jesus, “who, though he was in the form of God, / did not regard equality with God something to be grasped. / Rather, he emptied himself” (Phil 2:6-7). This is the Lord Jesus who, again according to St. Paul, “for your sake . . . became poor although he was rich, so that by his poverty you might become rich” (2 Cor 8:9). o. Reconciliation : Spiritual formation fosters a reconciling spirit in those who aspire to be priests in the spirit of Jesus, who prayed that “all might be one.” A peacemaking and nonviolent way of life marks out those who have been entrusted with the ministry of reconciliation (see 2 Cor 5:18). The power that is entrusted to God’s ministers, a power that takes many forms, must always be used for the good, peaceably and in a way that expresses the trust invested in God’s priests.

299 Ratio Fundamentalis , no. 111. 300 See Laudato Si’ , nos. 216-221. “Living our vocation to be protectors of God’s handiwork is essential to a life of virtue; it is not an optional or a secondary aspect of our Christian experience.” Laudato Si’ , no. 217. 301 See Catechism of the Catholic Church , no. 2544.

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