May 22, 2005

Men who say yes to the priesthood begin ‘an adventure in God that embraces the whole of humanity.’

Responding to God’s call to be a priest is not as dramatic as Moses and the burning bush. Nor is it totally one man’s decision. The call is one that is both individual and ecclesial, personal and communitarian. In other words, the body of Christ, the church, also must say, “Yes, we believe this man is being called by God to serve as a priest and that he has the gifts necessary to live out that vocation.”

That is where the role of vocation director comes in. As representative of the bishop in the area of priestly formation, a vocation director has the responsibility to speak for the community of believers in determining a man’s suitability for orders.

Pope John Paul II’s apostolic constitution Pastores dabo vobis (PDV), “I Will Give You Shepherds,” specifically addresses the formation of priests and guides seminaries and dioceses in designing programs of formation.

The document outlines four areas of growth and formation: human, spiritual, intellectual, and pastoral. Regular evaluations of seminarians include an assessment in each of these areas.

Human formation is the basis of all priestly formation. God has created each of us as unique human beings. Priests, conformed to Christ, still have all of their unique personality traits. Pastores dabo vobis says, “it is important that the priest should mold his human personality in such a way that it becomes a bridge and not an obstacle for others in their meeting with Jesus Christ. . . . [He] should be able to know the depths of the human heart, to perceive difficulties and problems, to make meeting and dialogue easy, to create trust and cooperation, to express serene and objective judgments” (PDV, No. 43).

The psychological examination before acceptance in seminary is helpful, but evaluating a seminarian’s competency in the area of human formation is not as simple as assigning a letter grade. It is a matter of constantly helping the man grow and be introspective as well as reflective on how his behavior affects others. The commitment to celibate love brings forth unique ways of loving Christ and the faithful whom priests are called to serve.

Spiritual formation aids the seminarian in growing in his specific call to holiness. At diaconate ordination a man makes a commitment to pray the church’s prayer, the Liturgy of the Hours. This is part of his daily union with Jesus Christ in prayer. The seminarian’s spiritual life must be fostered in such a way as to grow more intimately in love, through personal and community prayer, with the Lord so he can show forth his affection and charitable service to the faithful.

“The high point of Christian prayer is the Eucharist. . . . For priests, as ministers of sacred things, are first and foremost ministers of the sacrifice of the Mass: the role is utterly irreplaceable because without the priest there can be no eucharistic offering. This explains the essential importance of the Eucharist for the priest’s life and ministry and, as a result, in the spiritual formation of candidates for the priesthood” (PDV, No. 48).

Daily Mass and love of the church’s liturgies are important for spiritual formation. Such formation also involves seeking Christ in people. A man who doesn’t practice charity toward others lacks a quality necessary for holy orders.

Intellectual formation is knowledge of the faith and is rooted in philosophy. All seminarians must have an adequate background in this discipline before studying theology. This area is more easily quantified because of testing. A seminarian must have a proficiency in sacred Scripture, systematic theology, moral theology, and the doctrines and traditions of the church as well as in ecumenism and interfaith dialogue in order to minister in our diverse world.

“The very situation of the church today demands increasingly that teachers be truly able to face the complexity of the times and that they be in a position to face competently, with clarity and deep reasoning, the questions about meaning which are put by the people of today, questions which can only receive full and definitive reply in the Gospel of Jesus Christ” (PDV, No. 56). A seminarian must have a comprehensive understanding of the Catholic faith that he will share with others.

“The whole formation imparted to candidates for the priesthood aims at preparing them to enter into communion with the charity of Christ the Good Shepherd. Hence, their formation in its different aspects must have a fundamentally pastoral character” (PDV, No. 57). Throughout the years of seminary a man not only studies in classes and seminars but also actively participates in various internships and programs that are pastoral in nature. He may teach religious education to adults or youth; he may be part of an RCIA team; he visits people in the hospital; he collaborates with Christians of other denominations; he immerses himself in activities that promote the social teachings of the church, such as working for peace, the protection of human life, and the care of the environment; he goes on mission to learn about the universal character of the Catholic Church by learning other languages and cultures; he makes a preferential option for the poor and makes sacrifices out of love in order to be the person of Christ to those to whom he ministers, especially new immigrants to the United States.

Pope John Paul II urged bishops, priests, and seminarians of the United States to welcome Christ in the stranger who comes into our country, immigrants with or without documents. Pastoral formation involves all of these mission-driven activities.

The vocation of a priest is not narrow in scope. It is an adventure in God that embraces the whole of humanity and calls each man who has received the sacrament of holy orders to be truly “catholic” in his vision of the world and his ministry to Christ’s flock. Forming a seminarian into a priest is at times challenging, as one can understand from the vision of Pastores dabo vobis. It is also rewarding, especially when we realize during an ordination that we are all instruments of God’s grace. All of the faithful are important in a seminarian’s vocation because the call of Christ to be a priest is to be a servant to all, as the Lord demonstrated when he washed the feet of the disciples and gave us the mandatum to do the same.

Priestly vocations are not just one-on-one relationships between a man and God. They bear fruit in the relationships priests have with the entire body of Christ. Therefore the community of the church must say yes to God on behalf of a candidate in the same way that a man himself agrees to give his life in service as a priest.

Father Iorio is the diocesan vocation director and the pastor of St. Augustine Parish in Signal Mountain. He can be reached at 423-886-3424.