Florida Catholic | Father Toups’ Book Helps Priests Live Call

Father David Toups, author of "Reclaiming Our Priestly Character."

Father Toups’ book helps priests live call as servants

JANET SHELTON | FLORIDA CATHOLIC ST. PETERSBURG BUREAU EDITOR

Published: 03.07.08

ST. PETERSBURG | A former St. Frances Cabrini Parish priest has published a book on a subject close to his heart — a subject he hopes is in the heart of every Catholic.

Father David Toups is long-known in the St. Petersburg Diocese. He graduated from Clearwater Central Catholic and entered the seminary shortly after high school graduation. As a diocesan priest, he served for four years as parochial vicar at St. Francis Cabrini Parish. He was also dean of men at St. Vincent de Paul Regional Seminary in Boynton Beach from 2004 to 2007 and taught liturgy and the sacraments there. He now serves as associate director of the Secretariat for Clergy, Consecrated Life and Vocations with the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops in Washington, D.C.

In “Reclaiming Our Priestly Character,” Father Toups looks at the graces given priests at ordination and shows how they can live out their call as servants of God in a way that is powerful and spiritually uplifting — for themselves and those they serve.

“Reclaiming Our Priestly Character” is available through www.ipfpublications.com
Cost: $25.95 for hardcover; $17.95 for softcover.

As a seminarian, Father Toups studied dogmatic theology at the graduate level and his efforts included studies at the Pontifical North American College in Rome. He returned to Rome five years after his ordination to complete his doctoral studies at the Angelicum.

That move was the start of his book.

In 2004, Father Toups completed his doctorate in dogmatic theology thesis: “The Sacerdotal Character as the Foundation of the Priestly Life: Including the Contribution of Blessed Columba Marmion.” His new book is, in many ways, a reader-friendly rewrite of that thesis.

“My doctoral studies in 2002 started me reflecting on the character of the priesthood and (started) the desire to write a book and put it all together,” Father Toups said. “I thought, ‘This is something that could be an encouragement and help for my brother priests.’”

He also believed seminarians and laypeople could grow in their appreciation for the priestly life and service if they understood, for example, the scriptural and traditional basis of the priesthood.

“The first chapter is all about the development of and the understanding of what the priesthood is all about, from the call of Christ to the moment of the first apostles in the upper room,” he said.

Today’s priests face challenges in their ministry. Constant administrative duties can be spiritually draining, the priest said. The recognition of the gifts bestowed at ordination and what it means to be a servant to Christ by ministering to his people can get lost in the day-to-day running of parishes.

Father Toups said his book provides the ordained with an affirmation of their mission. Its purpose is to energize.

“You know, there are long days and you get tired,” he said. “It’s important for us to reflect on who we are; it’s important to get us to reflect and to refocus on our ministry.”

The book is the first publication produced by The Institute for Priestly Formation in Omaha, Neb. The institute was developed to assist bishops in the spiritual formation of diocesan seminarians and priests. People at the institute encouraged Father Toups to publish the book and kept him moving forward until the book was completed July 23, 2007.

“I would have let it die a quiet death quite a few times,” the priest said. “But the encouragement of the IPS kept the project moving forward.”

The book has been popular. According to the publisher’s Web site, it is on back order.

“It’s been out two to three weeks and it’s done really, really well,” Father Toups said. “A few bishops have put in huge orders for their entire presbyterate.”

Those who reviewed the book before publication gave glowing comments. Jesuit Cardinal Avery Dulles wrote, “If the priesthood is to be renewed — and it surely must be — the renewal must take the form described by Father Toups. With clarity, simplicity and a thorough mastery of the literature, he shows that the essence of the ministerial priesthood consists in the sacramental character that configures the ordained to Christ the High Priest.”

Scott Hahn, a Franciscan University of Steubenville professor of theology and Scripture, called the book “a ‘must read’ for anyone desiring to receive a foundational understanding of the sacrament of holy orders in the living tradition of the church.”

When his work is done in D.C., Father Toups is scheduled to return to Florida — God willing.

“I’m always a priest of the Diocese of St. Petersburg, so when my term is finished up here, whenever that is, I will certainly be back to be a priest in the diocese,” he said.

“I keep telling Bishop (Robert N.) Lynch, ‘Don’t forget me up here!’”

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Father Toups’ book helps priests live call as servants

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