Configured to Christ: On Spiritual Direction and Clergy Formation by James Keating

Abstract

Reviewed by: Configured to Christ: On Spiritual Direction and Clergy Formation by James Keating Christopher R. Armstrong James Keating Configured to Christ: On Spiritual Direction and Clergy Formation Steubenville, OH: Emmaus Road Publishing, 2021 314 pages. Paperback. $19.95. It has been said that, on one occasion, St. Thomas Aquinas asked St. Bonaventure about the source of his wisdom, about the books he read, by which he gained such unparalleled knowledge. St. Bonaventure pointed to the crucifix in his library. James Keating has done that for his readers in his book, Configured to Christ: On Spiritual Direction and Clergy Formation, a selection of his previously published essays. The author hopes that such selected essays will help those responsible for forming clerics to be "seized by the beauty of God" (xxvii). To that end, the essays are arranged into three parts. The first part is on the interior life of the clerics. Its paradigm and exemplar is the life and thought of St. John Henry Newman, "Theologian of Prayer" (21–47). The second part is on the formation of the cleric, the longest section with nine essays devoted to the subject. Of all of those essays, the one which is most salient is "Seminary Formation and Interior Silence," "the main task" (143) of seminary formation. In that essay, Keating unpacks the nature of interior silence, reflects on how to learn to be silent, and concludes with some practical tips for the consideration of formators. The third part addresses the pastoral mission of the cleric. One of the principal duties of a cleric is to preach. To that end, two essays worth reading and re-reading are "Contemplative Homiletics" (237–253) and "Contemplative Homiletics: Being Carried into Reality" (255–274). Those two essays emphasize the twin values of brevity in preaching and providing a space of silence in which to allow God the Holy Spirit to work in the hearts of one's hearers. In short, all of the essays contemplate the beauty of God and draw from the science of the cross. Clearly, everyone engaged in seminary formation should read this book, especially in the United States in light of the Program of Priestly Formation in the United States of America, Sixth Edition, which is being implemented in seminaries across the nation. Seminarians [End Page 319] themselves could profit from reading this book as a means of understanding the responsibilities of their formators. As most seminaries are also responsible for the formation of permanent deacons, the chapter on "The Deacon: Identity and Holiness" (213–234) is noteworthy. If there be a lacuna in the selection of essays, it would be the lack of one devoted to bishops, both for their role in the formation of clerics in the diaconate and presbyterate but also for their own formation as clerics in the episcopal order. As I read the essays, I took extensive notes and recalled my own formators to whom I am most grateful in solidifying my priestly identity. These beautifully written essays are worth reading and re-reading, a real school in Divine Beauty. Christopher R. Armstrong Mount Saint Mary's Seminary & School of Theology Cincinnati, Ohio Copyright © 2022 Society for Catholic Liturgy