Ongoing priest formation focuses on the 3 Pillars of Uniting in Heart
By Father Dominic Petan for the August 22, 2021 edition of
The Catholic Moment
In January, I shared with you that part of the Uniting in Heart 2030 Pastoral Plan is a focus on ongoing formation for the priests in our diocese. I shared that this effort aims to enhance their dedication to ministry by providing opportunities to grow as men who form a unique brotherhood in the ministerial priesthood of Jesus Christ, both intellectually and spiritually as intentional disciples, and pastorally so as to shepherd Christ’s flock more effectively. I shared that at the core of this effort are the monthly Priest Formation Days that began last September.
Starting in January and continuing through June, our bishop and priests (and some of our deacons, as well) have had varied opportunities to grow in each of these areas. In January, all of our clergy were given the opportunity to participate virtually in the Saint Paul Center’s Scripture Conference for Priests. This in-person, national event is usually limited in attendance because of the venue’s limited capacity. The Saint Paul Center decided to make the conference available virtually, however, which made it possible for our clergy to hear conferences by experts in Sacred Scripture and theology such as Scott Hahn, John Bergsma, Ralph Martin, Lawrence Feingold, and Father Boniface Hicks, OSB. Feedback from our clergy was consistent: these conferences helped enhance both our personal prayer and our preparation for preaching.
In February, our priests learned the basics of pastoral care for those with certain spiritual afflictions: a specialized topic that is not often covered in seminary formation. In March, our priests and pastoral leadership teams came together (virtually) for a presentation on how to plan for welcoming parishioners back to worship in-person and best practices for keeping those parishioners engaged, utilizing the new technological skills that the previous pandemic year has taught us. In April, we paused our formation to allow the grace and beauty of Holy Week and Easter to wash over us.
In May, our priests gathered in-person for the first time in over a year. There was joy in being together in one place as brothers united in the priesthood of Jesus. During that meeting, we discussed how we, as priests, can better promote and support the discernment of the priesthood and the religious life of the young men and women in our parishes. The feedback was that we felt both affirmed in our vocation and yet challenged to dig deeper in our efforts to call men and women to labor in these vocations for the Lord’s harvest.
In June, we gathered for our annual convocation: three days of fellowship and formation! Ms. Jen Settle of the
Theology of the Body Institute helped us to renew our understanding of the sacred priesthood through the lens of St. John Paul II’s Theology of the Body. We celebrated the milestone anniversaries and retirements of a number of our priests in a special celebratory dinner and acknowledged those whom we lost. We concluded our time in a very practical way with presentations to help us plan financially for retirement as well as estate planning for when God eventually calls us home.
Looking forward, it seems clear that the fall may bring a mixed-bag of virtual and in-person opportunities for formation. Nevertheless, our plan calls for formation sessions on pastoral care and evangelization of couples preparing for marriage, on liturgical practices to enhance our celebration of the liturgy, our annual retreat for priests, and on pastoral care in a multi-cultural context. However we end up gathering, our bishop and priests will continue to engage in formation so as to
never stop learning and to be “vital and vibrant” leaders in our parishes, building up the pillars of mission, community, and witness, so that we, as a diocese, may truly be united in the Heart of Jesus.