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THE CATHOLIC UNIVERSITY of AMERICA the Spiritual Formation THE CATHOLIC UNIVERSITY OF AMERICA The Spiritual Formation of the Catholic Teacher A TREATISE Submitted to the Faculty of the School of Theology and Religious Studies Of The Catholic University of America In Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements For the Degree Doctor of Ministry © Copyright All Rights Reserved By Domenico Pullano Washington, D.C. 2017 The Spiritual Formation of the Catholic Teacher Dominic Pullano, D. Min. Director: Rev. Raymond Studzinski, OSB, Ph.D. Although the faith formation of Catholic teachers is recognized as an essential aspect of their training by both church documents and Catholic school boards, their spiritual formation is often overlooked. In order to be effective in transmitting the faith to their students, Catholic teachers also require on-going, life-long spiritual formation. Since there are no spiritual formation programs in the Catholic school boards of Ontario in which he works, the researcher attempts to design a spiritual formation program for Catholic teachers. Based on a survey of both contemporary and Catholic spirituality, the researcher maintains that a spiritual formation program begins with the concrete issues faced by the participants and then matches them with practices from the Catholic spiritual tradition. The researcher examined the challenges that characterize the lives of Catholic teachers, such as work/life balance, stress, low morale, and decision-making and determined that modern understandings of Sabbath keeping and Ignatian spirituality, among others, would especially benefit Catholic teachers. The researcher then took twenty-five Catholic teachers through the spiritual formation program that he designed. The program consisted of eight sessions. In four of the sessions, the researcher presented various aspects of the Catholic spiritual tradition and provided the participants with spiritual practices to employ between sessions. These presentation sessions were interspersed with small faith-sharing group sessions where the participants discussed the materials in the program. After the eight sessions, the participants filled out two surveys, one immediately at the end of the program and the other four months after the program ended. The surveys indicate that the Catholic teachers found the spiritual formation program extremely meaningful. Among the benefits of the program, the Catholic teachers discovered the importance of self-care and taking time to nurture their spiritual side. They appreciated being introduced to the various spiritual tools, such as the Ignatian Examen, to assist them in their spiritual formation. They found the faith-sharing groups beneficial, as they discovered that they are not alone in their professional struggles This treatise by Deacon Dominic Pullano fulfills the treatise requirement for the doctoral degree in Ministry approved by Rev. Raymond Studzinski, O.S.B., Ph.D., and by., Rev. Emanuel Magro, Ph.D., Reader. ________________________________________________ Rev. Raymond Studzinski, O.S.B., Ph.D., Director ________________________________________________ Rev. Emanuel P. Magro, Ph.D., Reader ii TABLE OF CONTENTS ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS ……………………………………………………………………v INTRODUCTION ………………………………………………………………………………1 CHAPTER 1: TOWARD A CATHOLIC SPIRITUALITY…………………………………..7 Spirituality in Contemporary Western Culture …………………………………………...7 The Study of Spirituality …………………………………………………………………13 A Catholic Spirituality ……………………………………………………………...…...16 Spiritual Formation ………………………………………………………………...…...36 CHAPTER 2: THE LIFE OF A CATHOLIC TEACHER …………………………………51 A Pastoral Examination of the Teaching Profession ……………………………………52 The Sources of Teacher Stress …………………………………………………………...55 Manifestations of Teacher Stress ………………………………………………………...59 Teacher Realities and Spiritual Formation ………………………………………………61 CHAPTER 3: THE CATHOLIC SPIRITUAL TRADITION #1: SABBATH REST …….64 Sabbath Rest …………………………………………………………………….……….64 CHAPTER 4: THE CATHOLIC SPIRITUAL TRADITION #2: IGNATIAN SPIRITUALITY …………………………………………………………………………...…...75 The Examen and Finding God in All Things …………………………….………………80 Discernment – For the Greater Glory of God …………………………………………...86 Ignatian Prayer – Contemplation in Action ……………………………………………...89 iii CHAPTER 5: THE DOCTOR OF MINISTRY PROJECT ……………………………...…94 An Overview ………………………………………………………………………...…...94 The Spiritual Formation Sessions ……………………………………………………….96 Survey Results – …………………………………………………………………...…...110 Survey #1: Introductory Session ……………………………………………………….112 Survey #2: At the Conclusion of the Program …………………………………………117 Survey #3: Four Months After the Program …………………………………………...127 CONCLUSION ……………………………………………………………………………….131 A Final Recap of all three Surveys …………………………………………………….131 APPENDICES ………………………………………………………………………………...134 APPENDIX #1: Email to Potential Participants………………………………………...…….134 APPENDIX #2: D. Min. Project Description…………………………………………………...…...135 APPENDIX #3: Introductory Session Materials………………………………………………141 APPENDIX #4: Session One Materials……………………………………………......…...…143 APPENDIX #5: Session Three Materials……………………………………………………...145 APPENDIX #6: Session Five Materials………………………………………………….……150 APPENDIX #7: Session Seven Materials……………………………………………………...156 APPENDIX #8: Questions for Faith-Sharing Groups………………………………...…...….160 APPENDIX #9: Survey Questions……………………………………….………………………...162 APPENDIX #10: Survey Results from SurveyMonkey……………………………………………...165 BIBLIOGRAPHY …………………………………………………………………………….189 iv ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS I most grateful to my wife Gina for encouraging me to follow my dreams of completing a doctorate and for sustaining me throughout the entire D. Min. program. I wish to thank my children Alexandra and Daniel for their understanding when I was not as present as I should have been. I am very appreciative of the Catholic teachers from the Durham Catholic District School Board who participated in my project: for my friends, who took time out of their busy schedules, to support my endeavors. I am grateful to David whose encouragement assisted me through the process. I would like to thank my two superintendents, Bob and Rosemary, who supported me along my journey as well. Finally, I would like to thank Fr. Studzinski, Fr. Magro, and all my professors at the Catholic University of America for a wonderful learning experience. v TREATISE INTRODUCTION The formation of adult Catholics has received much attention in ecclesial circles in more recent times.1 In this postmodern age, adult faith formation has taken on a new urgency. Living in a post-Christian culture, adult Catholics require a more intentional form of faith formation and adult faith formation has become a central concern for the Catholic Church, at least in the west. This renewed interest in adult faith formation is illustrated in the document issued by the Bishops of the United States titled, “Our Hearts Were Burning Within Us.”2 In this pastoral letter, the Bishops begin with the rather bold statement, We, as the Catholic bishops of the United States, call the Church in our country to a renewed commitment to adult faith formation, positioning it at the heart of our catechetical vision and practice. (#6)3 In this letter, the Bishops suggest, not only that the ministry of adult faith formation should have a higher profile, but that adult faith formation should have a pivotal role in all catechetical endeavors. For the U.S. Bishops, adult faith formation should assume a new priority in the life of the church, as they state: But to teach as Jesus did means calling and equipping all Christians of every age and stage of life to fulfill their baptismal call to holiness in family, Church, and society—their mission to evangelize and transform the world into a more caring and just society. Ongoing faith formation is essential to accomplish this mission; it does not end at confirmation or graduation but continues until one's death. Accordingly, we strongly reaffirm that, "without neglecting its commitment to children, catechesis needs to give more attention to adults than it has been accustomed to do." (#44)4 1 For a brief history of contemporary adult faith formation and the current direction of this ministry, see Derek Evans and Janet Gear, “Beyond Critique and Lamentation: Towards an Integrated Approach to Adult Faith Formation,” Touchstone, vol. 22 no 2 (May 2004), 20-29. 2 United States Conference of Catholic Bishops. Our Hearts Were Burning Within Us: A Pastoral Plan for Adult Faith Formation in the United States, (Washington, DC: United States Conference of Catholic Bishops Inc., 1999). 3 Ibid., 2. 4 Ibid., 14. 1 2 As this pastoral exhortation affirms, regardless of the quality or quantity of formation that Catholics may receive as children or youth, adult Catholics require further formation specific for this stage of life. The formation that Catholics receive in their early years cannot be expected to sustain them throughout the adult life cycle. In the adult years, the Catholic Church must provide a more suitable, deeper level of faith formation to its adult members if they are to grow and develop in their faith. In more recent years, those involved with faith formation have come to the recognition that faith formation is a lifelong enterprise and that every stage of life requires its own unique format of faith formation. If adult faith formation is vital to the mission of the Catholic Church, then, the formation of lay Catholic teachers can only be that much more essential. Certainly, those who are entrusted with the sacred task of
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