The 2013 Directory for the Ministry and the Life of Priests states: ‘In order for ongoing formation to be complete, it is necessary for it to be structured not as something haphazard but as a systematic offering of subjects …’ There, we could quite correctly substitute the words ‘spiritual reading’ for ‘ongoing formation.’ Like ongoing formation, spiritual reading needs to be structured rather than haphazard. And it needs to be systematic in two senses: with regard to content, and with regard to habit.
In these reflections, I will not be particularly careful of the distinction between spiritual reading and ongoing study.