Recommended Reading for a Future Priest (3)

Conformed to Christ Crucified: Meditations on Priestly Life and Ministry.

The author of this book, Fr. Joseph Carola S.J., is a professor of Patristics at the Gregorian University in Rome. The book consists of a compilation of talks and homilies he has given to Seminarians and Deacons of the Pontifical North American College (PNAC) in Rome over the past number of years. Additionally the book has two homilies which Fr. Carola preached at the first Mass of two of his former students.

As a former student of Fr. Carola myself, I can highly recommend anything that he would say or write. He is an impressive priest, highly gifted intellectually, absolutely faithful to Holy Mother Church and overall quite a humble man.

The book is published by the Gregorian Bibilical Press, but Fr. Carola mentioned that it would soon be published by the Midwest Theological Forum.

Recently Fr. Carola gave an address at the International Conference for Clergy held in Rome January 4th-8th. His Talk had the rather long title: "Three Patristic Texts on the Priesthood: Gregory Nazianzus' De Fuga, John Chrysostom's Six Books on the Priesthood and Gregory the Great's Pastoral Care". Hopefully that address will be available online somewhere soon as it didn't fail to disappoint those of us who hold Fr. Carola in such high esteem, both as a priest and as an academic.