Configured To Christ: On Spiritual Direction And Clergy Formation

The best clerical formation today prepares men to be divinely loved in their humanity. In Configured to Christ: On Spiritual Direction and Clergy Formation, Deacon James Keating shares what makes a priest or deacon peaceful, personally happy, and—to the extent he keeps receiving the love of God in prayer as a man of interiority and sacrament—a minister of God’s love to his people.

This volume includes the following essays:

Part I: The Interior Life of the Cleric

Theology as Thinking in Prayer
Newman: Theologian of Prayer
I Will Not Leave You Orphans
Spiritual Direction: Navigate Your Life Toward God
Part II: The Formation of the Cleric

The Seminary and Western Culture: Relationships That Promote Recovery and Holiness
From Fantasy to Contemplation: Seminarians and Formation in a Paschal Imagination
Christ Is the Sure Foundation: Priestly Human Formation Completed in and by Spiritual Formation
Human Formation and Communion with Christ
Seminary Formation and Interior Silence
Beyond Schooling: Seminaries, Integral Formation, and the Role of Academics
Teaching Seminary Theology
Real Celibacy Is an Invitation from Divine Beauty
The Deacon: Identity and Holiness
Part III: The Pastoral Mission of the Cleric

Contemplative Homiletics
Contemplative Homiletics: Being Carried into Reality
Growing in Love of the Lay Life: Evangelizing Martyrs
Teaching Parishioners to Pray
The Eucharistic and the Healing of Affection for Sin

Perry J. Cahall
“Few people are more qualified to write on the topic of clergy formation than James Keating. . . . Anyone involved in the formation of clergy should read this book, as they will most certainly benefit from Keating’s wisdom and insights.”Perry J. Cahall, Pontifical College Josephinum

Christopher Ruddy
“These essays center on a paradox: the more open and receptive we are to God in prayer, the more active and whole we become in our service to Christ and his Church. Offering astute cultural analysis and discernment, Deacon Keating summons us to see contemplation as the deepest, surest, most fruitful source of mission.”Christopher Ruddy, The Catholic University of America

Fr. Dennis J. Billy, C.Ss.R.
“This fine collection of essays emphasizes the importance of integrating prayer and contemplation into every aspect of diaconal and priestly formation: the human, the spiritual, the intellectual, and the pastoral.”Fr. Dennis J. Billy, C.Ss.R., St Mary’s Seminary & University

Deacon James Keating, PhD has nearly thirty years of experience in the area of clerical formation in the Catholic Church. He is currently Professor of Spiritual Theology at Kenrick-Glennon Seminary in St Louis, MO. Previously, he was Director of Theological Formation in the Institute for Priestly Formation (IPF) at Creighton University in Omaha, NE from 2006-2020. He also served as Director of Deacon Formation for the Archdiocese of Omaha. Before ministering at IPF he was Professor of Moral and Spiritual Theology at the Pontifical College Josephinum in Ohio from 1993-2006. He is the author or editor of twenty-eight books on spirituality, morality, and clerical formation. Among these is his latest book, Remain in Me: Holy Orders, Prayer and Ministry. He is married to Marianne and has four children.