BTW, how does the vocation of priesthood differ from the one of brother/monk/friar? How does one discern one from the other? I have always been curious about this?
Thank you for all the info!
A diocesan priest is always a secular man. He is not a member of a religious order or a religious congregation. He responds to the bishop. He makes two promises before he is ordained a deacon. If he is single, he promises to remain single. This is the promise of celibacy. He also promises obedience to his bishop.
A religious man or woman makes a vow of chastity. He/she enters into a covenant of love with his religious family. That’s why it’s considered a marriage and there is no way that a religious can be married and a religious at the same time. Whereas a secular man can marry first and then be ordained a deacon or even a priest if the bishop allows it. In the Eastern Churches it is always allowed.
Bishops must always be celibate in the Latin Church, the Eastern Churches and the Orthodox Churches.
A brother is a man whom God has called to consecrate his life to him for himself. He gives up everything to follow the call. He joins a religious family and is consecrated to that family for life. He may never leave that family without permission from the Holy Father. He may never have any other family. Even his parents and siblings take a second place to his religious family. We usually do not see much of our biological families. I get to see mine 10 days a year. We do stay in touch via email and telephone calls. But that’s about all the contact that we have. Our home is our religious house, not our parents’ home.
We make a vow of obedience to our religious superior, to our founder, to the rule and constittuions of our community and to the voice of the brothers. The brothers meet in what is called a chapter. At this time we discuss our life, our work, our spirituality, our vocation. Decisions are made and voted on. When that happens we are bound by the vow of obedience to follow what was decided by the brotherhood, even the superior is bound to it. His job is to make sure that everyone complies. We do not question authority. When we do question authority, it is with the permission of the superior. If the superior says that something is not up for discussion, there is no more discussion, no matter what your opinion is. Usually, superiors want to hear what you have to say, but they do not have to agree or give in. You must ask for permission for the simple things such as buying clothes, going away on a trip, changing jobs, missing prayers, missing a community activity and so forth.
Diocesan or secular priests do not have this obedience. The bishop does not interfere in their daily life. The bishop regulates their ministry. He assigns them and monitors that they perform their duties appropriately and with virtue as is appropriate for a priest. That’s it. Other than that they have no community obligations or other authority.
We religious brothers also make a vow of poverty. We vow to live without property. Everything that we have is owned by the community or on loan. We do not own our own cars. We do not own the computer that I’m working on righ tnow. When we are transferred the only thing we take with us is our habit, our prayer books and our toothbrush. Everything else must remain behind. It belongs to the house and the brothers who are there. We do not have money in the bank or in our pocket. We get an allowance of $10 a week for emergencies or a soda. We ask for permission to use the car. We share the car.
Diocesan priests have their own cars. They get paid a salary for their work. They have retirement insurance that the diocese provides for them and they have medical insurance.
Religious do not have retirement insurance. We do not have salaries paid to us. Some religious hold jobs outside of the religious house. In those cases they get paid a salary that they must turn in to the community treasurer. This money goes to support all the members of the community and to pay for expenses such as taking care of our older brothers and educating our younger brothers. We can’t claim that we get some of that money because we worked for it. Our work and our bodies are not our own. They belong to the order. You see, it’s a real marriage.
Finally, we are totally obedient to the Church. We practice silence when the Church speaks. If we disagree with the Church, we may do so in a very respsectful manner. But we must always accept the answer of the Church as the final answer. We believe that we are nothing and the Church is the voice of Christ, because she is his bride.
Secular or diocesan priests can also ask for permission to retire from active ministry. They do this in two ways. They ask for a leave of absence. This is usually for one year and no more than five years. During that time the man is still a priest or a deacon, but does not function as one.
He may decided to ask for a dispensation. The dispensation is only from obedience to the bishop and from celibacy. He may marry and be a member of the faithful. But he will be a priest for life. The trade-off is that he does not use his priestly powers except in an emergency when there is no priest around.
Some religious brothers are both, consecrated relgious and priestsl. If they are priests they can celebrate the sacraments, but they must have the permission of their superior to do so. The superior need not be a priest. But he represents the voice of Christ, the voice of the Church, the voice of the founder and the voice of the community. As you can see, he has a great deal of power.
How do you know which one is for you? I knew when I felt called to consecrate my entire life to living as St. Francis lived. Francis was a brother and our founder. He lived the Gospel very literally, in a community of brothers with the same calling. I wanted to be part of a community of brothers. I did not hear Christ calling me to be a priest and serve and live alone as diocesan priests do. I also heard God’s call to be totally poor and totally obedient, even when I have a better solution to a problem or a better idea. To me this life is the fulfillment of all my desires and all the desires of God for me and for my fiuture.
Wheather you are a secular priest or a religious brother, you become one because you believe that this is the only way that you can save your soul. This is not the way for everyone to save their souls, but it is the way for you. Yes, the salvation of our souls is our prinary reason for joining. We want to save our souls, because of our love of God. We want to spend eternity with him, loving him and praising him.
Fraternally,
Br, JR, OSF
, it breaks my heart to now she is like this. I found out last year that she didn’t believe in our Lord. I felt betrayed. I watched her show for awhile, with no hints toward her not being christian. However when the Secret came out, something did not sound right at all. That’s when I connected the dots…she was beginning to plant her seed of cult like worship…one step at a time. So sad. Such influence, gone to waste.
I may have affection for him, and I pray for him, but I cannot honestly say that I feel respect for him…[sorry…
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NOT compared to the Eucharist!