1) Stop! Set aside some time. Away from phones. Perhaps in the parish church. Pray. Ask for God's help and the Holy Spirit's guidance. Understand that you are about a holy task. Your plans are not simply for your self-improvement. Your discernment is meant to find a path to serve the Lord and his people better, more effectively.
2) Identify Your Strengths. Build off of your strengths. What do you do well? What do you enjoy doing? What are the circumstances as you review your life - when and where the Lord's grace touched you most deeply? Jot these down on a piece of paper.
3) Listen to Your People and Your Staff. How do they express their wants of the parish? Of you as their priest? Check the results of any review instrument that can help you understand how and where people want you to grow. Recall end-of-the-year staff day discussions. Has the parish council or any other consultative body offered you a helpful perspective? Again, jot down the results on a piece of paper.
4) Pray into Your
People's
Needs and Yours as Well.
People and staff can
express
their wants of the parish and of you. Still, they may not be able to
name
all the real needs that your and the parish have. Expressed wants and
desires
do not always successfully catch all the real needs. Ask the Lord to
help
you read more deeply into your needs and the needs of the parish. Do
not
rush to figure things out. Allow elements of need to surface. Jot down
what you discover in prayer and reflection.
5) Round it out. The
Apostolic Exhortation Pastores dabo vobis speaks of four kinds
of
formation: human, intellectual/theological, pastoral, and spiritual.
Using
these categories and your previous prayer and reflection, specify
directions
for your ongoing formation and continuing education. Human
Formation
has
to do with the cultivation of our humanity so that it becomes a more
and
more apt bridge for communicating Jesus Christ to men and women today.
(See Pastores dabo
vobis,
43.) The issues of human formation may include, for example, the
capacity
for relationships, communication, emotional integration, and physical
health.
Intellectual/theological
formation means growth in understanding the world and humanity
from
the perspective of faith. Pastoral formation
is the cultivation
of those practical skills in spiritual leadership, counseling,
administration,
and teaching that enable us to exercise our threefold ministry of word,
sacrament, and governance. Spiritual formation
is the ongoing conversion
of heart that enables "the priest to become a believer and ever more of
one." (Pastores dabo vobis, 73.)
6) Check the Resources. Look through the resources that are cited in the following pages with an eye to matching your needs, which have surfaced through prayer and reflection. Use the jottings you have done as a lens in viewing the resources.
7) Make a choice, Make a Commitment. Choose what you think will be helpful, and make a commitment to do it. Be realistic and selective. Try to anticipate obstacles as you make your choices. Recognize that ongoing formation is ongoing, that not every need can or ought to be addressed in one year's time. At the same time, be generous in allowing yourself opportunities to grow as a more effective servant of the Lord and his people. Mark the dates and times in your calendar. Give these events priority.
8) Make Yourself Accountable. One important way of making yourself accountable is by sharing your choice and commitment with your staff and your people. Let them know: "This is what I am going to do in the coming year to serve you better." Share your decisions with your spiritual director, friends, and priest support group. Invite them to check back with you about your progress through the year.
9) Look Ahead to a
Year
from Now. Anticipate a year from now as a time to review the past
year
and to plan ahead. Over time, attending to your ongoing formation and
continuing
education will become a deeply embedded habit.