VOCATION VIEWS

What Does it look like to Prepare for the Priesthood? By Seminarian Jeb Key

If you would like more information on the priesthood, contact Fr. Jerry Daigle: jdaigle@dioshpt.org, or call 318-868-4441. I n the day to day life of seminary formation, one of the things that seminarians hear is that we are being “Prepared for the Priesthood.” But what exactly does this mean? The “Program of Priestly Formation” outlines that seminarians are to be prepared for the Roman Catholic Priesthood by being formed according to four different dimensions of Priestly Formation. These dimensions, or pillars, are the Human Pillar, the Spiritual Pillar, the Intellectual Pillar and the Pastoral Pillar.

To be a good priest, a seminarian must first and foremost be a good man. St. Thomas wrote “Grace Builds on Nature,” so if we are not men of God how can our ministry help anyone. When a seminarian prepares himself for the Priesthood, he looks at himself as a man and asks, “What are some of the ways that I can become a better man.” Often times this means that the seminarian works to become a more kind, caring, and dedicated servant of the Lord. He must work to become a man that can live a life of selfless service in order to do the work that the Lord asks of his priests. Just as a father must put the needs of his wife and children before his own needs or wants, so the seminarian must learn to lay down his own selfishness and put himself completely at the service of the Church.

A seminarian preparing for the priesthood must also consider the Spiritual Pillar of Formation in his day to day life. Contrary to what some may think, living a life of intense prayer while remaining in the world of distractions and noise is extremely difficult. Preparing for the Priesthood in the spiritual sense means that the seminarian is preparing himself to be a man of prayer. If we rightly consider that the priest gives himself to the Church in the same way that a man might give himself to a woman in marriage, his prayer life is the way in which he becomes closer to God. Through prayer, the seminarian also comes to love the Church more, because it is for and with the Church that he prays in all of Her liturgies. If a seminarian has not prepared himself to be a man of prayer, how could he possibly be a priest who is able to help others pray more fervently.

Any time we have a problem, we always want to go and see the best and most knowledgeable person in a given field to help us fix this problem. In preparing for the priesthood, the seminarian must prepare himself to be an expert in all things having to do with God and His Church by intellectually preparing himself for the priesthood. We study 2000 years of Church Tradition, Scripture Studies, Spirituality classes, and even classes on the Law of the Church. In order to truly be a trustworthy source of spiritual information for the people we will serve, the seminarian has to be knowledgeable in a vast number of topics. Our studies help us to understand God in a very academic and intellectual way, but this new understanding only helps the seminarian to deepen his own spiritual understanding of God.

The final dimension of Priestly Formation, the Pastoral Dimension, is in a way the synthesis of the other three dimensions. In this pillar of formation, the seminarian works to prepare himself to be a pastor of the Church. As we all know, it is not an easy job. A pastor is responsible for a vast number of things in the parish, including the souls of every single parishioner he serves. To help his parishioners he must be a good man who is capable of teaching and preaching well so that he can spread the Gospel of Jesus Christ. Being a good pastor requires that the priest uses all of his prayer, all of his personality, and all of his intellect to provide for his flock in whatever way they need and ultimately bring them closer to the Lord.

If a priest is not well formed in the spiritual, human, intellectual and pastoral dimensions of priestly formation, he will be ineffective at leading his flock and teaching them the path to Heaven in his words and in his actions.