Goals of the Master of Divinity Program
Pope St. John XXIII National Seminary seeks to prepare the second-career seminarian for priestly ministry in the Roman Catholic Church. The academic program seeks to assist candidates in attaining the various competencies and skills necessary for pastoral ministry today which will enable them to articulate and communicate to others what it means to be a follower of Jesus Christ. In order to achieve this goal, students must come to know
- Jesus Christ, their Lord
- the ways that Christians throughout the centuries have understood this person
- themselves, as the earthen vessels who are called by God to proclaim the good news in our society
- their brothers and sisters, with whom they form the community of Christians
Objectives of the Master of Divinity Program
Specifically, that Master of Divinity program aims to develop in the students a personally interiorized integration of spiritual development, theological knowledge, and pastoral skills, and the formation of a lifelong habit of theological reflection by means of the following objectives:
- knowledge of the documents of the Christian tradition and the official teachings of the Catholic Church;
- understanding of traditional theological disciplines as well as their meaning and relevance in the Church and world;
- cultivation of pastoral identity, skills, and practice in the context of a theology of ministry;
- ability to communicate the Christian message through preaching, teaching, and the exercise of leadership in the community, in fulfilling the mission of the Church;
- development of a sound spiritual foundation based on a life-giving relationship with Jesus Christ, vocational discernment, and understanding of the human in its various dimensions;
- attainment of a theological education which recognizes and takes account of the global dimensions of priestly ministry in today's world.