Discipleship Stage
Cardinal Glennon College
The Discipleship Stage at Cardinal Glennon College comprises the final two years of the college seminary formation program (i.e., junior and senior year). During these years, the college seminarian, building on the foundation of the Propaedeutic Stage, engages the study of philosophy and more intentionally discerns the call to the priesthood, all within the context of growing as a disciple of Jesus Christ.
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In Discipleship, external discipline gives way to interiority, and the seminarian begins to take ownership of his formation. Responding generously to grace and motivated by rightly ordered desires, he develops moral virtues and psychological strengths, integrating his self-awareness “into a desire to grow in affective maturity” (PPF 6, no. 193).
“The disciple of Jesus is a person who is free to be who he is in God’s design,” free because he is ‘moving with God’ out of ignorance, error, and self-defeating habits of thinking, desiring, feeling, and behaving (PPF 182).
Components of Human Formation in the Discipleship Stage include:
Community Living
Formation Meetings
Counseling and Groupwork
Growth Plan
Fraternity Days
Fraternity House System
Formation Conferences
Leadership and Mentoring
House Jobs
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“The seminarian is called ‘to live in intimate and unceasing union with God the Father through his Son, Jesus Christ, in the Holy Spirit.’ This is the foundational call to discipleship and conversion of heart. Those who aspire to be sent on mission, as the apostles were, must first acquire the listening and learning heart of disciples. Jesus invited these apostles to come to him before he sent them out to others” (PPF 6, no. 226, quoting PDV no. 45).
Components of Spiritual Formation in the Discipleship Stage include:
Spiritual Direction
Days of Recollection
Annual Silent Directed Retreat
Annual Pilgrimage
Lectio Divina
Marian Devotion
Sunday Parish Assignments
Saturday Mass
Other Devotional Practices
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“Disciples are learners” (PPF 6, no. 263).
“The study of philosophy is not just part of intellectual formation but is also connected to human, spiritual, and pastoral formation. Issues about priestly identity and the apostolic and missionary dimensions of priestly ministry are ‘closely linked to the question about the nature of truth.’ Philosophy serves ‘as a guarantee of that certainty of truth’ which is the only firm basis for a total giving of oneself to Jesus and to the Church” (PPF 281, quoting PDV 52).
Spanning two years, the philosophical curriculum proceeds through two overlapping and complementary tracks: historical and systematic.
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Men in the Discipleship stage learn to receive affirmation and correction, to develop listening and conversation skills, to collaborate, to take initiative, to exercise leadership, to practice conflict-resolution, and to care for others.
“The whole formation imparted to candidates for the priesthood aims at preparing them to enter into communion with the charity of Christ the Good Shepherd. Hence, their formation in its different aspects must have a fundamentally pastoral character” (PDV , no. 57).
Features of the Pastoral dimension of the Discipleship Stage include:
Discipleship I seminarians take part in a Soup Kitchen apostolate. Accompanying lectures, practicum, journal-keeping, and reflection meetings help seminarians come to an understanding of the root causes of poverty, powerlessness, and the need for systemic change.
Discipleship II seminarians take part in a PSR teaching apostolate. They also receive lectures, maintain a journal, and participate in practicum sessions and reflection meetings to further integrate their apostolic work with the other dimensions of formation. Before their teaching apostolate, the seminarians attend a class on catechetical methods and teaching the faith to children.