Publication Release: Early 2025

Shepherding the Family of God: The Spirituality of Diocesan Priests in St. John of Avila

By Matthew Rolling

About the Book

Father Matthew Rolling’s book The Glorious Freedom of the Children of God: The Human Dimension of the Formation of Seminarians approaches one of the four aspects of priestly formation (as outlined in Saint John Paul II’s Pastores Dabo Vobis), that of human formation. The book is divided into four chapters and focuses on seminarians as: 1) human beings with a shared humanity, 2) human beings that are individual and unique, 3) young men who have already developed to a degree, and 4) young men in need of further formation and development. The formation of a seminarian’s human dimension is not simply that he might be disposed to receive the graces given him at his ordination but that in and through his own humanity, he would dispose others to receive the graces God wills to grant to them.

96 Pages

About the Author

Father Matthew Rolling, PhD, is a priest of the Diocese of Lincoln. He currently serves as Academic Dean, Associate Professor of Philosophy, and Formation Advisor at Saint Gregory the Great Seminary in Seward, Nebraska.

Endorsements

“Father Rolling’s text offers clear and engaging insights into the foundation of all priestly formation—that of the human dimension. With wonderful insights from both Thomistic philosophy as well as the very best in psychology, Father Rolling’s contribution to the field of priestly forum in the present age is a true gift.”

Father John P. Cush, STD
Professor of Fundamental and Dogmatic Theology, Director of Seminarian Admissions and Recruitment, Saint Joseph’s Seminary and College
Yonkers, New York
Editor-in-Chief of Homiletic and Pastoral Review

“Father Rolling gives a wonderful synopsis of the Church’s understanding of human formation. He draws on the ancient wisdom of the Church and uses that wisdom to inform the most recent developments in our understanding of the human person. Any formator would do well to spend some time with this work. It has greatly helped me.”

Father Brian Gross
Director of Pastoral Formation, Saint Paul Seminary
St. Paul, Minnesota