Is Marriage Inferior To Religious Life

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In the first verses of 1 Corinthians 7, it seems as though Paul implies celibacy is superior to marriage. Except for those who couldn’t control themselves.

Does choose to marry a person instead of marrying the church mean you aren’t as devoted to God?
 
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There are really two questions here:
  1. Is marriage inferior to religious life?
  2. Does choosing to marry mean you aren’t as devoted to God?
The answer to both is no. All vocations come from God and can be pleasing to God. However, the priesthood (and I don’t know if that’s what you’re referring to, OP) is viewed differently:

The Council of Trent:
CANON X.-If any one saith, that the marriage state is to be placed above the state of virginity, or of celibacy, and that it is not better and more blessed to remain in virginity, or in celibacy, than to be united in matrimony; let him be anathema.
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Pope Pius XII Sacra Virginitas:
This doctrine of the excellence of virginity and of celibacy and of their superiority over the married state was, as We have already said, revealed by our Divine Redeemer and by the Apostle of the Gentiles; so too, it was solemnly defined as a dogma of divine faith by the holy council of Trent,[57] and explained in the same way by all the holy Fathers and Doctors of the Church. Finally, We and Our Predecessors have often expounded it and earnestly advocated it whenever occasion offered. But recent attacks on this traditional doctrine of the Church, the danger they constitute, and the harm they do to the souls of the faithful lead Us, in fulfillment of the duties of Our charge, to take up the matter once again in this Encyclical Letter, and to reprove these errors which are so often propounded under a specious appearance of truth.
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Vatican II Optatam Totius:
Students ought rightly to acknowledge the duties and dignity of Christian matrimony, which is a sign of the love between Christ and the Church. Let them recognize, however, the surpassing excellence of virginity consecrated to Christ, so that with a maturely deliberate and generous choice they may consecrate themselves to the Lord by a complete gift of body and soul.
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No it doesnt. Both vocations are equally as important.
 
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Nonzi said:
In the first verses of 1 Corinthians 7, it seems as though Paul implies celibacy is superior to marriage. Except for those who couldn’t control themselves.

Does choose to marry a person instead of marrying the church mean you aren’t as devoted to God?
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St. Paul explains it there.
28 Yet those who marry will experience distress in this life, and I would spare you that. 29 I mean, brothers and sisters, the appointed time has grown short; from now on, let even those who have wives be as though they had none, 30 and those who mourn as though they were not mourning, and those who rejoice as though they were not rejoicing, and those who buy as though they had no possessions, 31 and those who deal with the world as though they had no dealings with it. For the present form of this world is passing away. 32 I want you to be free from anxieties. The unmarried man is anxious about the affairs of the Lord, how to please the Lord; 33 but the married man is anxious about the affairs of the world, how to please his wife, 34 and his interests are divided. And the unmarried woman and the virgin are anxious about the affairs of the Lord, so that they may be holy in body and spirit; but the married woman is anxious about the affairs of the world, how to please her husband. 35 I say this for your own benefit, not to put any restraint upon you, but to promote good order and unhindered devotion to the Lord.
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There has been a report saying that marriage has fallen to new lows. Today, we need the witness of solid marriages and good families to be the salt and light in this world.

To me it’s team work. There’s the farmer who hitches the horse to the plow, and the three work together to prepare the soil to receive seed. They need rain and sunshine both. No need to ask who is more important. As long as each is doing what is assigned to them, there will be a crop at harvest which each will enter into the celebration.
 
Nonzi said:
Does choose to marry a person instead of marrying the church mean you aren’t as devoted to God?
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Religious make a lot of sacrifices for God and it counts for something.
 
I can’t remember which saint said it, but the best vocation is the one God has planned for you. If he wants you to be married, then that is the best vocation for you. If he wants you to be in religious life, then that’s the best vocation.
 
VanitasVanitatum said:
Religious make a lot of sacrifices for God and it counts for something.
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Do you honestly think that married people don’t also “make a lot of sacrifices for God”?

The fact that one has a spouse and usually, children doesn’t mean that one’s life is necessarily less sacrificial. I have seen plenty of married folks having to live out their vows through difficult and sometimes truly terrible circumstances. Even in good times, many married people do a certain amount of self-sacrifice for the good of their spouse and/or children.
SPBlitz said:
I can’t remember which saint said it, but the best vocation is the one God has planned for you. If he wants you to be married, then that is the best vocation for you. If he wants you to be in religious life, then that’s the best vocation.
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^^This. It’s not all one person’s own choice. It is what God calls you to do.

Seminaries and religious orders are not going to just take anyone and everyone who applies, they will be looking to see if you have a vocation. There have been very holy people who applied to religious life and were turned away because those in charge felt the person’s vocation lay elsewhere.
 
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No it doesn’t. I’ll tell you, w/o marriage we have no continuation of life. A Religious SHOULD have more time for Godly work, Jesus was part of a Family. That makes FAMILY HOLY. We can see some Mothers raise their children in the Lord & church. It works. A working Mother May sacrifice the Holiness needed to raise the children in Christ. Example isn’t enough. It is structured, continual teaching of God in the church & programming behaviors. Praying the rosary as a family. Going to mass faithfully. Sharing the sacraments. Teaching tithing w allowances. I’ve seen it done successfully. I missed the boat.
Praying.
Tweedlealice
 
St. Faustina’s Diary speaks to this topic:

424 In the evening, I just about got into bed, and I fell asleep immediately. Though I fell asleep quickly, I was awakened even more quickly. A little child came and woke me up. The child seemed about a year old, and I was surprised it could speak so well, as children of that age either do not speak or speak very indistinctly. The child was beautiful beyond words and resembled the Child Jesus, and he said to me, Look at the sky. And when I looked at the sky I saw the stars and the moon shining. Then the child asked me, Do you see this moon and these stars? When I said yes, he spoke these words to me, These stars are the souls of faithful Christians, and the moon is the souls of religious.

Kowalska, Saint Maria Faustina. Diary of Saint Maria Faustina Kowalska: Divine Mercy in My Soul . Marian Press. Kindle Edition.
 
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And everyone who has given up houses or brothers or sisters or father or mother or children or lands for the sake of my name will receive a hundred times more, and will inherit eternal life. (Matthew 19:29)
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Men and women in the consecrated religious life give up property and marriage and family and more to live the consecrated life. It may turn out that they receive a greater reward as in “a hundred times more”. There are different callings and we should fulfill ours and make the most of it.
 
Nonzi said:
it seems as though Paul implies celibacy is superior to marriage.
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Certainly the priesthood and religious life are higher callings than marriage. In the priesthood and religious life, the soul is completely sacrificed to God, whereas in marriage it is shared between God and the spouse. Scripture and doctrine is clear on this point. I am unsure how gracepoole can give such excellent sources and then come to the conclusion that marriage is not inferior to religious life.
However, it does not mean that marriage is bad or should be shunned. Not at all. In fact, when we speak of a “crisis” in the priesthood and religious life, I think we should, at the same time, speak of the crisis in marriage and family life, which I believe is at the root of the problem of lack of vocations.

Now, that being said, many married people are holier than priests and religious, so, no, it does not mean a married person is less devoted to God. Rather, this is the path that God has used to call that particular soul to holiness.

These are two different questions and need to be answered separately.
 
JHFamily said:
I am unsure how gracepoole can give such excellent sources and then come to the conclusion that marriage is not inferior to religious life.
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Because, quite simply, the Church doesn’t teach that marriage is an inferior vocation.

If one took that position, then one would be saying that God calls a huge number of his people to be inferior. Indeed, Mary and Joseph would be inferior because they were a married couple rather than single monastics somewhere. That’s obviously ridiculous.

Muting this now, as someone will come back with Pope JPII on “objective superiority” or the Council of Trent, and in this era of putting the family on a pedestal I stand by what I said.

And if somebody wants to make the statement that “well Joseph and Mary were celibate” then it’s obviously not the marriage that’s the issue, it’s whether you have sex.
 
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Of course not. Paul thought that Christ was about to return any day and so it seemed to him that religious life was the way forward soon as there wasn’t much time left. His opinion changes once it becomes clearer that the end of the world might be not quite so imminent. We need marriage to bring children into the world and we need priests and religious to care for our spiritual life. We need both. God makes sure we have both.
 
Be devoted to whatever your vocation is. Marriage is one such Sacramental vocation.
 
Nonzi said:
In the first verses of 1 Corinthians 7, it seems as though Paul implies celibacy is superior to marriage. Except for those who couldn’t control themselves.

Does choose to marry a person instead of marrying the church mean you aren’t as devoted to God?
Click to expand...
If God gives one a fire hose and gives another a shovel, does that mean grave diggers are less devoted to God than fire fighters? Continence to consecrated virginity happens by grace, not by the force of human will.

To do what God called you to do is to give glory to God. We should not envy the places given to others or doubt the value of our own call. Rather, we may want to realize that we are far better to be excellent with a shovel than to be poor with a fire hose.
 
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Tis_Bearself said:
Do you honestly think that married people don’t also “make a lot of sacrifices for God”?

The fact that one has a spouse and usually, children doesn’t mean that one’s life is necessarily less sacrificial. I have seen plenty of married folks having to live out their vows through difficult and sometimes truly terrible circumstances. Even in good times, many married people do a certain amount of self-sacrifice for the good of their spouse and/or children.
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That’s twisting my words.
 
I mean technically the consecrated life is considered a higher calling than marriage. I believe even consecrated religious who take solemn vows(usually just cloistered religious) are considered as having a higher calling than a priest that is not part of a religious order.

Of course just because one is considered a higher calling doesn’t mean everyone should become a religious. It just been objectively it’s a higher calling
 
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