Episode 34 – Can Priests Prepare Couples for Marriage?

2 Comments

1. 

   Paul

   July 28, 2018 at 1:35 pm — Reply

   Yes. Going through formation requires that personal integration above all else (‘integrity’/’individuation’)

   It’s one thing to be able to write theses or pass exams – ‘Discuss the impact of the phenomenological insights of of Max Scheler and Edith Stein on the formation of The Personalistic Norm in the work of Karol Wojtyla and the Lublin School’ – and actually grasp the import of Personalism for the Church and Pastoral care ‘in one’s bones’, the ‘core of one’s very being’, for example. It’s not ‘experience’ in the sense people mean, but a deep understanding. To me, it’s what I think Newman was getting at in his Grammar in the notion of the ‘illative sense’.

   To the degree a priest’s interiority is an alien planet to themselves, they are incapable of counselling anyone about anything, it seems to me, as empathy, and other aspects of understanding persons, relies on ‘getting people’ and understanding ourselves intimately.

   – And this is just as true of lay people, too.

   To the degree priests or laity fail in their personal integration, it’s likely to have a negative impact on formation and catechesis: priest or lay, seminary or parish.

   In any parish I am in, I often fall into the role of counsellor, even though I have no role as such, because people just seem to grasp I understand them at a deeper level which, I hope, affirms what you’ve been saying, but from just as much a lay perspective.

   They feel a sense of connection, of empathy, and that one is capable of reading between the lines, so allow them to save face and keep their dignity, whilst realising you also appreciate the challenge they face and how difficult it is, but you are willing to accompany them, encourage them, hold their hand, metaphorically speaking.

   According to George Weigel, St JPII used to exhort his priests to ‘meet others wisely’, and I think that’s what’s sorely lacking at the current time. 🙁

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     Ian VanHeusen

     August 18, 2018 at 12:26 am — Reply

     Thanks for the comment