The November Newsletter of St. John's Seminary reflected on the 1992 Apostolic exhortation of Pope John Paul II, Pastores Dabo Vobis ("I Will Give You Shepherds") and the U.S. Catholic Bishops' Program of Priestly Formation (fifth edition issued in 2006). These crucial and inspiring texts offer a challenging vision of the nature of the ministerial priesthood and the mission of priestly formation today.
These documents emphasize priestly formation as involving four key dimensions --- human, spiritual, intellectual and pastoral formation. Human formation is the focus of this article.
Human formation recognizes that the ground for a life of ministry is the priest's fundamental relationship with Jesus Christ which enables him to participate intimately in the "mission" of Christ in the Church (PDV, n. 16). Pope John Paul emphasized, however, that this is possible only when ministers have attained the sufficient personal growth that allows them to be "balanced people, strong and free, capable of bearing the weight of pastoral responsibilities" (PDV, n. 43). This, of course, is not a new idea; it expresses powerfully the ancient principle that "grace builds on nature."
The Program of Priestly Formation emphasizes that human formation is a necessary foundation if candidates are to grow into Christ-like priests. Seminarians commit to a program that challenges them to personal growth as human persons along with growth in communion with God (spiritual), in understanding of the mysteries of faith (intellectual), and in pastoral charity and practice (pastoral).
Human formation "seeks to prepare men to be bridges for, not obstacles to, the spread of the Gospel" (PPF, n. 83). A seminarian is to be "a man of communion who "makes a gift of himself" and who is "able to receive the gift of others." This demands integrity and self-possession and requires "the affective ability to engage in pastoral leadership with Jesus as the model shepherd" (PPF, n. 83).
The goals of human formation are to develop qualities of freedom, openness, honesty and flexibility, joy and inner peace, generosity and justice, personal maturity, interpersonal skills, common sense, aptitude for ministry, and growth in moral sensibility and character (PPF, n. 85).
At St. John's our seminarians are challenged to develop qualities that make them men of integrity and prudence, people of communion, capable communicators and preachers of the Word. They must possess affective maturity so as to embrace a life of celibate chastity and assume the responsibilities in their role as public persons in the Church (PPF, n. 76).
This is no easy task in light of the complexity of the human personality and cultural influences. St. John's provides many resources for seminarians to attain these goals. Critically important are Formation Advisors who, with other faculty, offer support and encouragement for growth. The ongoing discernment of the seminarian's progress is reflected in his self-assessment within the annual review process.
In all, the human formation program at St. John's provides a grace-filled means of growth for those discerning a life of priestly service. Father Leon Hutton is director of Human Formation at St. John's Seminary, Camarillo. This article first appeared in the Seminary Newsletter of January 2008.
To view "Pastores Dabo Vobis" online, visit www.vatican.va/holy_father/john_paul_ii/index, and click on Apostolic Exhortations. |