Benedictine Tradition & Priestly Formation

As Vocation Director and Director of Seminarians for the Diocese of Jefferson City, I believe it is safe to say I look at formation differently than I did as a student at Conception Seminary College. I don’t think I was ever outright insubordinate or rejecting of formation, but it has been a blessing to look at it from another perspective.

It is often said to young men discerning the seminary that their time will not be wasted, and formation will be beneficial, regardless of where they are called. When I look back at my time at Conception Seminary College, I see this to be true. I once heard Abbot Benedict make a comment that “the same things that make a good monk make a good diocesan priest.” I would expand that to also say that the things that make a good monk, make a good diocesan priest, and also a good man of God.

I find this to be true of two areas in particular: a seminarian’s formation to be a man of prayer and a builder of community.

The monastic traditions that are at the foundation of Conception Seminary College and community provide a pattern of life integrated with prayer. The rhythm of the Benedictine tradition allows for those of us in formation to grow in a love of the Liturgy of the Hours and become more docile to the transforming effects of Scripture in our daily lives. Receiving this model so early in formation allows prayer a place of primacy within our later ministerial work. Regardless of whether a man ends up a priest, a monk, a dad, a boss, or a friend, everything we will do has to flow from an established relationship and dialogue with our Lord. The habits of prayer that seminarians practice, particularly our communal prayer, are a reminder later in life that, even if I’m sitting down to pray alone, I am actually entering into a universal action of a community. The Church needs her priests to be men of prayer.

I have found the priesthood, and more importantly, the Christian life, to also be one of receptivity and hospitality—a life of building relationships and community. To be formed as a man of communion is fundamental to those who desire a life of charity. The Rule of St. Benedict speaks of receiving others as Christ, and the presence and model of Benedictine hospitality sets an example for those of us being formed in the seminary. This habit of receiving others as Christ gives us, down the road, the ability to converse with others in charity, to support those around us, to uphold the dignity of others, and to set the example of allowing others into our lives—creating a space where people are seen, known, and loved. When I hear people articulate fears of the priesthood being a place of loneliness or isolation, my heart aches for them, as I wonder if they have never experienced the transforming effects of hospitality. The Church needs her priests to be men of community.

Let us continue to pray for our men in formation, not just that they will become priests, but that they will truly be formed into men of prayer and men of community, for our Church and for our world. 

—Fr. Paul Clark
Diocese of Jefferson City

Fr. Paul Clark stands with Jefferson City seminarians, Sam Cramer and Garrett Lammers.