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phoage
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Degree or no, you can still start being a prayer warrior. As Tis_Bearself said, all you need to do is pray, on a regular basis. That will not hurt your studies either.
Patrick
AMDG
Patrick
AMDG
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Greenfields
Guest
Prayer aids actions.Don’t under estimate the power of prayer .Thoughts and prayers have not and will not win any wars. Only the actions and positive words and acts of charity or generosity or sacrifice can win Wars through peace and love.
M
Michael16
Guest
Amen, Greenfields! If it wasn’t for prayer, especially the Rosary; I wouldn’t be alive.
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PapyrusDouay
Guest
I love reading your posts, because they remind me of my own vocational journey to an extent, and discerning how God may want things to come together. I love reading and following the “development” of someone so genuinely trying to discern God’s will for them. It takes time, but as time goes and you continue your journey in prayer, you’ll continue to see how things fit together, and discover new opportunities you may not have considered, that speak to you in a special way. You definitely have my prayers as you continue discerning God’scwill for you.
Spiritual directors are not just for priests and religious. I think finding a spiritual director may be good for you. You can start with talking to your priest about that. Also know that you don’t NEED to have it all planned out yet. God tends to draw us in a direction, then reveal more to us as we listen and follow Him…one step at a time.
I think the idea of becoming a mental health therapist is a wonderful and beautiful one. A clinical social worker is another similar career. Both are beautiful and wonderful careers , with the ability to help change lives and relieve suffering. If you feel called to that, begin putting together a plan of action, and work toward it.
You’re clearly already a man of faith, and we need plenty of faithful Catholic therapists. But I think for now, if you work toward the therapist goal, focus on just maintaining a healthy and faithful life, grounded in prayer and the sacraments. You can’t go wrong with that. And it will help you in whatever you do in the future. I’m not saying you don’t do that already, but “advanced” is really just mastering the basics, which we all need to work on. It’s fine to read about angels and demons out of curiosity, but i’d recommend focusing on mastering the basics until you achieve your therapist/counselor license. Like really “master” a life of prayer. Attend some retreats if you can. If God really is calling you to deliverance ministry one day, a grounding in years of a solid sacramental and prayer life will be far more important than any knowledge of angels and demons. That stuff is easy to learn, but leading a healthy spiritual life is much harder. And if that is your calling, Evil will do everything it can to derail your spiritual life., that grounding would help you in that case as well. If it turns out to not be your calling, the spiritual life will make your ministry, whether mental health or anything else, so much more effective. Study St Theresa of Avila, John of the Cross, Ignatius of Loyola, and other saints considered masters of the spiritual life. But don’t just study them. Pray with them too. I would say that’s most important, along with the sacraments.
And a final vocational thought… perhaps one day it might be worth considering becoming a permanent deacon if/when you meet those requirements. I could see God putting some very powerful ministerial opportunities before someone who is both a deacon and a therapist.
Maintain an open heart and mind as you discern Gods will for you. Sometimes he leads us places we never thoughts we’d end up.
Spiritual directors are not just for priests and religious. I think finding a spiritual director may be good for you. You can start with talking to your priest about that. Also know that you don’t NEED to have it all planned out yet. God tends to draw us in a direction, then reveal more to us as we listen and follow Him…one step at a time.
I think the idea of becoming a mental health therapist is a wonderful and beautiful one. A clinical social worker is another similar career. Both are beautiful and wonderful careers , with the ability to help change lives and relieve suffering. If you feel called to that, begin putting together a plan of action, and work toward it.
You’re clearly already a man of faith, and we need plenty of faithful Catholic therapists. But I think for now, if you work toward the therapist goal, focus on just maintaining a healthy and faithful life, grounded in prayer and the sacraments. You can’t go wrong with that. And it will help you in whatever you do in the future. I’m not saying you don’t do that already, but “advanced” is really just mastering the basics, which we all need to work on. It’s fine to read about angels and demons out of curiosity, but i’d recommend focusing on mastering the basics until you achieve your therapist/counselor license. Like really “master” a life of prayer. Attend some retreats if you can. If God really is calling you to deliverance ministry one day, a grounding in years of a solid sacramental and prayer life will be far more important than any knowledge of angels and demons. That stuff is easy to learn, but leading a healthy spiritual life is much harder. And if that is your calling, Evil will do everything it can to derail your spiritual life., that grounding would help you in that case as well. If it turns out to not be your calling, the spiritual life will make your ministry, whether mental health or anything else, so much more effective. Study St Theresa of Avila, John of the Cross, Ignatius of Loyola, and other saints considered masters of the spiritual life. But don’t just study them. Pray with them too. I would say that’s most important, along with the sacraments.
And a final vocational thought… perhaps one day it might be worth considering becoming a permanent deacon if/when you meet those requirements. I could see God putting some very powerful ministerial opportunities before someone who is both a deacon and a therapist.
Maintain an open heart and mind as you discern Gods will for you. Sometimes he leads us places we never thoughts we’d end up.
M
Michael16
Guest
Thank you, Papyrus. Umm, I do have a tendency to go off and try to master the advanced stuff once I get an idea of the basics. Thank you for pointing me towards the basics of living a prayerful and sacramental life.
Saint Ignatius of Loyola is one of my my favorite saints. I’ll add a devotion to him and Saint Benedict in my devotions.
Funny you should mention the diaconate. I have considered the permanent diaconate as a possible vocation; once I get married again.
What are the requirements and duties of a deacon?
Saint Ignatius of Loyola is one of my my favorite saints. I’ll add a devotion to him and Saint Benedict in my devotions.
Funny you should mention the diaconate. I have considered the permanent diaconate as a possible vocation; once I get married again.
What are the requirements and duties of a deacon?
P
PapyrusDouay
Guest
The requirements for the permanent diaconate seem to vary slightly from diocese to diocese. But it usually involves having attained a certain age (35 years old?), and if you are married, having been married for a certain period of time (8-10 years ?), demonstrate you can hold a steady job, be of sound moral character, be a man of prayer, etc. When a friend of mine applied to become a permanent deacon, the application process did not seem terribly different from when I applied to religious life. Which also wasn’t terribly different from applying to the priesthood (essay, medical exams, psychological exams, many letters of recommendation, etc). You can become a deacon if you’re married, but a deacon cannot get married (neither for the first time nor remarry if a spouse dies) after ordination to the diaconate.
Deacons are ordained clergy, along with priests and bishops. Deacons cannot preside at mass or hear confessions, but they can preach homilies at mass, assist the priest at mass, give blessings, baptize, witness marriages, conduct funerals, and a wide variety of pastoral ministry to the poor, sick, and grieving, or anyone else. They work for the bishop, who could assign them to any manner of ministry. When they are assigned to a parish, the pastor usually oversees them. Deacons also undergo quite a bit of training. In some dioceses that involves an academic degree, in others it involved several years of diocesan-run classes on theology, ministry as well as pastoral and spiritual formation.
This website outlines diaconate formation for the Archdiocese of Los Angeles, and is one of the more detailed descriptions I found online. It should give you a decent idea of their formation and what kind of ministries they prepare for. http://www.la-archdiocese.org/org/odf/Pages/formation.aspx . Your diocese may vary slightly .
Deacons are ordained clergy, along with priests and bishops. Deacons cannot preside at mass or hear confessions, but they can preach homilies at mass, assist the priest at mass, give blessings, baptize, witness marriages, conduct funerals, and a wide variety of pastoral ministry to the poor, sick, and grieving, or anyone else. They work for the bishop, who could assign them to any manner of ministry. When they are assigned to a parish, the pastor usually oversees them. Deacons also undergo quite a bit of training. In some dioceses that involves an academic degree, in others it involved several years of diocesan-run classes on theology, ministry as well as pastoral and spiritual formation.
This website outlines diaconate formation for the Archdiocese of Los Angeles, and is one of the more detailed descriptions I found online. It should give you a decent idea of their formation and what kind of ministries they prepare for. http://www.la-archdiocese.org/org/odf/Pages/formation.aspx . Your diocese may vary slightly .
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