A pastor mentioned to his priest friends that he had not taken a vacation in 10 years. A brother priest responded, "You ought to take one for the sake of your people."

After you stop laughing, be sure to encourage your parish priest to join the bishop and his brother priests for our Lenten overnight. We are all going to Eagle Creek Resort near Shelbyville on Feb. 26 to hear a presentation on compassion fatigue.

Pope John Paul II in his 1991 letter entitled Pastores Dabo Vobis (I Will Give Them Pastors) said that a priest's humanity is the bridge by which his parishioners can experience Christ in his sermons, pastoral care, and sacramental celebrations. All the more reason for him to hear the invitation of Christ to his disciples, "Come away with me and rest awhile." (Mk 6:31)

For the last three years, beginning in early December 2004, Bishop Lucas has encouraged priests to take seriously the pope's insistence that ongoing formation is a necessary condition for effective ministry for every priest. The bishop has relied upon the cooperation of Father Joe Ring, the vicar for clergy, and myself working with a team of priests, religious and laity to implement both the papal document and the strategy worked out by the American bishops in what is called The Basic Plan for the Ongoing Formation of Priests.

Our Lenten overnight is part of that effort. We have also worked with the National Organization for the Continuing Education of Roman Catholic Clergy (NOCERCC) on a two-year program to develop unity among the priests and with the bishop. We invited a team of psychologists to interview the priests to determine what each most sought from his vocation and ministry. This year we will offer two days on the theology of priesthood at our September convocation and a June retreat on finding the true image of ourselves as priests in the person of Jesus.

Coming away and resting awhile with each other during an overnight is clearly something Pope John Paul would recommend. He said in 1991 that a priest by ordination is not a lone ranger but is inserted into a community of service to the people of God. A priest's unity with his brother priests and his bishop forms a single presbytery in a diocese so that all the people may receive pastoral care that unites them as one in Christ.

Just as importantly, the pope emphasized that all ongoing formation is dependent on the human development of the priest. Human development includes not only the ability to be compassionate to others but also the ability to receive care and develop appropriate ways of recreating and resting, which is the compassionate care of self necessary for the care of others.

Both the pope's letter and the plan published by the bishops indicate that life-long human development is the foundation for all the intellectual, spiritual, and moral development necessary for a rich priestly vocation and effective ministry.

Compassion fatigue is the result of the ongoing care of others whose troubles and traumas affect our lives and too little compassion toward ourselves in meeting the need the minister has for the rest and refill Christ offers. If your parish priest has not signed up for the overnight for his own sake, ask him to do it for your sake.

Father Richard Chiola is a certified counselor, pastor of St. Cabrini Parish in Springfield and diocesan director for the ongoing formation of clergy.