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How do ministers, whether lay or ordained, form their spiritual life? What practices do they need to foster in order to become good and to be holy in their services? To answer these questions, Richard Gula invites readers to think along with him about the kind of minister they want to be.
He writes that if we don’t know where we want to go, we will easily end up somewhere else.
Gula presents a variety of virtues, including gratitude, self-care, humour and courage, he explains how these are essential to for the moral and spiritual life of a minister. By grounding a spirituality for pastoral ministry in the virtues, Gula provides a way for ministers to bridge the gap between who they are and who they hope to become in imitation of Christ Jesus.
RHCHARD GULA is a Sulpician priest, has been involved in ministerial formation and seminary education for many years. He has become a popular lecturer and workshop presenter for pastoral ministers throughout the country. Gula is the author of several books on spirituality and the moral life.
‘Christianity is not a set of doctrines, but a way of life. How that life may be nourished is the subject of Gula’s book. A veteran ethicist, Father Gula combines the best insights of virtue ethics with classical Christian spirituality. This work will repay anyone who is serious about the one who says, ‘I am the way’.’Lawrence S Cunningha is the John A O’Brien Professor of Theology at the University of Notre Dame
‘What a splendid job Richard Gula has done in closing the gap between spiritual theology. His key is the pursuit of virtue by which we become both good and holy. This book is of such importance that lay ministers, religious and clergy, at whatever stage of formation or ongoing formation, will recognise that ‘The Way of Goodness and Holiness’ is required reading.’Michael Downey, editor, The New Dictionary of Catholic Spirituality
‘Father Richard Gula’s book, The Way of Goodness and Holiness, is not a manual or how-to book of spirituality for pastoral ministers. Instead, he provokes the hearts and souls of pastoral ministers. He persuasively insists that they embrace fully the life in God that they proclaim and serve in others’. Reverend Louis J Cameli, cardinal’s delegate for formation and mission, Archdiocese of Chicago
