Discipleship Stage

Kenrick School of Theology

Everything in the Discipleship Stage is ordered toward the question of Candidacy: is God calling this man to the priesthood, does he desire the priesthood, and does he have good reasons for this desire?

While pursuing two years of philosophical studies, the Discipleship Stage aims to give greater focus to a man’s intimacy with God. In service of that end, our discipleship program aims to deepen the human and spiritual foundations of intimacy with the Lord, broaden a man’s knowledge while focusing his intellectual habits, and introduce pastoral initiative and discernment. But every programmatic element is meant to serve a greater attention to this point: what is the Lord doing with this man?

The measure of success for the discipleship program is not whether a man becomes a priest. The measure of success is whether the man is listening to and following the Lord.

Intimacy with the Lord is the integrating principle for all dimensions of formation in our discipleship program. Some key highlights of that program are:

• Human: yearlong curriculum of formation seminars; in-house counseling (both individual and group)

• Spiritual: silent directed retreats; spiritual directors trained in contemplative spiritual direction

• Intellectual: historical and systematic sequence of philosophical studies

• Pastoral: exposure to the underprivileged (1st year) and PSR teaching (2nd year).

Our hope and aim is that the fruit of the discipleship program will be reflected in the men – how they speak and act. These are men who have fallen in love with the Master: they listen attentively to how he speaks and are willing to follow wherever he goes.