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Fr. James Brent, O.P.
Born and raised in a Catholic home in the suburbs of Detroit, Fr. Brent attended Catholic schools through high school. He studied philosophy in college and found himself increasingly compelled by the wisdom of St. Thomas Aquinas, who first introduced him to the Dominicans. More and more, the writings of Dominicans impressed him. When he arrived at graduate school in Detroit, he became involved with a community of Dominican priests. He was impressed by their life of common prayer, study, community, and preaching Christ, so much so that he decided to become a Dominican himself. Although it was at first difficult for him to come to terms with the sacrifices that Dominican life would entail, Fr. Brent says that since becoming a Dominican, he has "known a happiness, a joy, and a peace that is nowhere to be gained from any books of philosophy. For there is a happiness that comes from knowing Jesus Christ. There is a happiness that comes from living out His call. There is a happiness that comes from having a heart consecrated to Him by vows. And it is a happiness so deep and so profound that all the happiness of this world pales by comparison to it."
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The Priestly Character
It Is for Real
Posted by Fr. James Brent, O.P. on September 01, 2009
Dominican-educated, Fr. David Toups, associate director of the Secretariat for Clergy, Consecrated Life and Vocations at the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops in Washington, D.C., has written a remarkable book about the actual change in the being of the man as he is ordained—“Reclaiming Our Priestly Character” (Institute for Priestly Formation, 2009). The author rejects the notion that the priesthood is merely another ministry alongside the ministries held by non-ordained clergy and the laity.
“The renewal of the priesthood will come when the ontological character imparted to a man in ordination, far from being dismissed as a ‘medieval’ invention and ‘cultic’ fiction, is embraced for what it really is — a grace,” writes Br. James Brent, O.P., who himself was ordained a deacon this month at the Dominican House of Studies in Washington, D.C. Fr. Toups recently completed his doctorate in Sacred Theology at the Angelicum, the Domincan-run Pontifical University in Rome. His dissertation formed the basis of the book. To read Br. Brent’s review, please click here.