PRIESTLY FORMATION ACCORDING TO PASTORES DABO

VOBIS
Introduction
The church, the people of god needs a shepherd who will guide and
show them the right way to salvation. So god chose the Apostles and anointed
them with the Holy Spirit, so that they can carry out this difficult task of
spreading the gospel to the Jews first, to the gentiles and to the end of the
world.
These men were trained by the lord himself. They were trained to fully
human and to be fully spiritual persons. Though ignorant in everything but
they were the instruments that silent the wisdom of the wise and enlightened
the weak and the poor. The maturity
In our context these two dimensions of formation is very well needed.
The priest who is the leader of the church is expected to have a sufficient
numbers of years of training and formation in these twin dimensions. Problems
and confusions that arose in our days are due to the lack of maturity in the
person. Maturity will come when the priest is sufficiently trained in these two
dimensions i.e., human and spiritual dimensions.

1. HUMAN FORMATION: The Basis of All Priestly Formation

Human formation is one of the important areas in a priestly formation.

The synod fathers voiced on this aspect as a fact which our everyday
experience teaches them of the need and requirement which has a deeper
and specific motivation in the very nature of the priest and his ministry. 1 A
priest is called to be the living image of Christ must necessarily reflect in
himself the perfection of Christs Humanity, His relationship with others, and
his attitudes toward others as we see in the Gospels. The entire ministry that
the priests undertake like proclaiming the word of God, celebrating the
1 . pope John Paul II, Pastores Dabo Vobis: to the Bishops, Clergy and Faithful on the
formation of Priests in the circumstances of the present day, Vatican: The Holy See,
p. 36, March 15, 1992.

Sacraments and guiding the Christian community should be done in the

name and in the person of Christ2. In other words the priests serve the lord
by serving the people whom he is entrusted with. Therefore every high priest
chosen from among men is appointed to act on behalf of men in relation to
God (Heb.5:1)3. So in this way the human formation of a priest is necessary
and important in fact the whole work of priestly formation would be deprived
of its necessary foundation if it lacked a suitable human formation (123) 4.
The ministry that he renders to the humanity should be humanly and
acceptable by all! And in this way he is the link between man and God and not
an obstacle for this he should mould his human character and personality.
In cultivating the human qualities, priest should not do for the sake of
personal growth and self realization but what is required for him is that he
should keep his mission in his mind. So to say he should form his human
character in view of his ministry. He should be like a shepherd who will lead
and guide others in the right way. He should be a trusted person, people
should see in him as a person who is able to bear the weight of pastoral
responsibilities, a person who loves the truth not just loving the truth but who
is truthful to himself and loyal to his call! He should be a person who has a
sense of respect to others, who is true to his words, who is genuine and
compassionate! Without forgetting the other important aspect of life, that is
integrity and justice which should be the important qualities of a priest. In
other word he should be a man of justice or a person who loves justice and
truth especially when it comes to the matter of making a judgment and so on.
In his interaction with others especially with the complementary sex he must
behave in a mature and responsible way. There should be a balance in his
character and behavior he should not go to the extreme, and he should be
able to control himself from the pleasure of the eyes and so on. St Paul has
highlight the important aspect of human formation in his letter to the
Philippians: whatever is true, whatever is honorable, whatever is just,
whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is gracious, whatever is
excellence, if there is anything worthy of praise, think about these things (phil.
4: 8)5. And what is interesting in Paul was his own example in life; his life was
a message to all of us.
2 . ibid.,p. 37.
3 . ibid.
4 . ibid.,p. 36.

Another aspect of a priest is that he should be able to love as St Pope

John Paul II himself wrote in his encyclical letter, Redemtor Hominis that, man
cannot live without love6. So a priest as a man should necessarily encounter
love, a love which is pure and perfect. In this kind of love the entire person is
involved. This love will help the priest to respect the other person and their
nuptial bodies. He is able to love all and relate with all irrespective of sex and
gender such kind of maturity in the priest demands a strong formation in the
human aspect. In this case a sexual education in necessary to be imparted to
them because this is one of the ways in which the priest can develop the
sense of true human love. But sexual education may be difficult and at the
same time it should be taken as the need of the hour because there are
widespread social and cultural atmosphere which, largely reduces human
sexuality to the level of something commonplace, since it interprets and lives
it in a reductive and impoverished way by linking it solely with the body and
with selfish pleasure (127)7. And even the family background of a priest may
be the serious cause for this. In this way the sexual education should be taken
seriously and it should be taken as a personal responsibility and chastity
should be presented in a way that the consecrated or priest should love it as a
virtue that develops a persons authentic maturity and makes him or her
capable of respecting and fostering the nuptial meaning of the body (128) 8.
Along with this, the priest should also have a personal love and care for Christ
and his church. This seems to be the important criteria for a human formation
in a priest, because celibacy is not possible if the genuine love of God is not
rooted in the individual. As the synod Fathers have expressed, a love for
Christ, which overflows into a dedication to everyone, is of the greatest
importance in developing affective maturity. Thus the candidate, who is called
to celibacy, will find in affective maturity a firm support to live chastity in
faithfulness and joy (129)9. This affective maturity or human maturity which
the Synod Fathers have said needs a strong and clear training but this training
5 . ibid.,p. 37.
6 . ibid.
7 . ibid.
8 . ibid., p. 38.
9. Ibid.

should be in done in convincing way and in a spirit of freedom and it should be

a responsible freedom of the moral conscience no one is to be force, this will
automatically lead the individual to realize the truth of his very existence,
that is to the sincere gift of self 10 and this is the call form the depths of
ones own self obedience to moral obligations and at the same time reveals
the deep meaning of such obedience11. It should be a free and conscious
response which is a loving response to Gods love. When this aspect is done in
a spirit of freedom then the individual will be a master of himself who forms
himself with conviction, and overcomes all that threatens his vocation.
Therefore:
The human maturity of the priest the Synod Fathers write
should include especially the formation of his conscience. In order that
the candidate may faithfully meet his obligations with regard to God
and the church and wisely guide the conscience of the faithful he
should become accustomed to listening to the voce of God, who
speaks to him in his heart, and to adhere with love and constancy to
his will (132)12.

SPIRITUAL FORMATION: In Communion with God And In Search

Of Christ

When we speak human formation in terms of anthropology regarding the

truth of human person we can find no completion in itself. Spiritual formation
is the one which completes the full process of human formation. every
human being, as Gods creature who has been redeemed by Christs Blood, is
caked to be reborn of the water and the Holy Spirit ( Jn. 3: 5) and become son
in the Son.13
The relationship and communion with God which arise as a need which
is fundamental and irrepressible for religious living may be the best guide to
spiritual life. It is the Spirit who initiates this process. In fact the spiritual
10. Ibid.
11 . ibid.
12 . ibid.
13. Ibid.

formation should be a core and central for all the faithful and especially those
who are called to be the living image of Christ. This may be the only way
which colors and gives meaning to their way of life. It helps them to have a
deep union and communion with their Master and Lord and lead them to a life
of radical submission of ones life and will to him.
The Councils degree Optatam Totius gave an insight of how a student in
formation should learn and form oneself spiritually i.e. to grow in intimate and
unceasing union with the Triune God, and seek him in the in their daily
activities like reading the word of God and meditating on it, participating
devoutly the paschal Mystery in the Holy Mass, praying the Divine Office and
so on. It also include seeking in their superiors and Bishops and above all
creating a genuine love and reverent to the Blessed Virgin Mary.
There is the value and demand of living intimately united to Jesus
Christ.14 This union with Christ has its root in baptism and is nourished with
the Eucharist, has to express itself and be radically renewed each day. 15
Intimate communion with the Blessed Trinity, that is, the new life of grace
which makes us children of God, constitutes the novelty of the believer, a
novelty which involves both his being and his acting. 16 This constitutes the
mystery of Christian existence and Christian living which is also the core and
Heart of spiritual life. Jesus in the Gospel of St. John has beautifully expressed
its importance and necessity in Christians life through the allegory of the vine
and the branches and again in the same Gospel Jesus called the Disciples to a
union with Himself in term of friendship.
Another important and great spiritual value that the council text has
pointed out is the search for Christ. This message is very clear to the
formators and the formees, in other words the formees should be taught how
to seek and find Christ in the course of formation and through out their life.
This search for God (Quaerere Deum) and the search for Christ occupy the
central place in the Christian spirituality. In fact it is the classical theme of
Christian spirituality. This search can be traced back to the time of Jesus
himself where the people constantly sought the healer but most of them
sought him for material satisfaction thats why Jesus said to them, very truly,
I tell you, you are looking for me, not because you saw signs, but because you
ate your fill of the loaves (Jn. 6: 26), the real search may be that of Johns
disciples in the Gospel of St. John. Jesus asked them, what do you search?
And the answer came immediately Rabbi where are you staying? This
search was the genuine one, it was a search for something higher and it was
14 . ibid.,p. 39.
15 . ibid.
16 . ibid.

not a mere search to satisfy ones selfishness but a search to merge with the
Divine. This probably made Jesus to give a positive answer, come and see.
This attitude of Johns disciples should be cultivated in the life of those who
aspire to follow Christ radically. But this search is not as easy as we put it in
the paper. It is easy to write and innumerate about it, but when it comes to the
daily experience of the person it is not that easy. The questions that arise in
our own time are, how to search? And where is he to be found? To these
questions the degree Optatam Totius gave suitable answers that will help
those in formation and even those who are responsible for formation to
combat the difficulties of searching him. These are the three ways and means
that the aspirant should follow i.e. meditation on the word of God daily,
actively participating the churchs Holy Mystery, and practice an act of charity
to the little ones! In these three ways, consist the real formula of searching
Christ. Searching for Christ also include a search for him in other. In other
word, this intimate relationship with Christ should help the priest to give
himself fully and totally to the cause i.e. serving others, it should also help
them to see the needs of others

Conclusion
The life and behavior of the priest should be a message for everyone.
This implies that those who are called to follow him should be a shepherd not
just a shepherd but a shepherd after his own heart. He should be a living
image of Christ, a reflection of God. This requires that he should know that he
is called out from his misery state of life to the glory of God, to unite with him
in spirit. This intimate communion with God is the essential requirement for
the person to be the better human being. Another requirement for him to
know is that the Grace of God is always available for those who cooperate with
it. It also means that those who are aspiring to become a priest should first
understand that God did provide every graces and blessings to everyone who
wants to imitate him, this also implies that a person who wants to unite with
him in spirit and truth, and possess a refine human qualities such as
compassion, love, kindness and so on, can both be acquired only if he works
hard, in other word he should form himself and cooperate with the promptings
of the Holy Spirit, the primary agent of formation. Only then the formees and
even those in ongoing formation can both be a spiritual person and a good
human being who can lead others with conviction to the Truth of God. Such a
priest is like a building built in the rock where no rain or storm can shake it. So
these two dimensions of formation i.e. human and spiritual dimension is
needed for those who are in formation.