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system
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The priest can offer mass. Which do you believe is the higher calling?
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system
Guest
I have also found that out through research. I do believe that because a priest can offer the Holy Mass, he would have to have the higher calling, wouldn’t you agree? Theologically speaking?
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Matt16_18
Guest
vicia3:
Who has the higher calling, Peter or the Mother of God?
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ComradeAndrei
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That isn’t a valid comparison-an apples and oranges type of thing. Did Mary’s greatness come from her merely being married or from her being chosen as the Mother of God?
That would be like if I threw something out like this, “Who has a higher calling, Pope St. Piux X or Mrs. Jane Doe down the street?”
Care to back that up with a source? There can be a lot of difference in what His Holiness wrote and what you took it to mean.
Yes, it is true that life in the lay person’s life can be hard…so? That doesn’t make it equal to the call to the Priesthood.
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RyanL
Guest
For those who would seek to subsume the vocation of marriage into the priestly vocation, please visit the following site and sign the petition:
Married Priest Petition
For those who would seek to keep marriage as a separate vocation from the priesthood, please visit the following site and **read **the petition:
Married Priest Petition
God Bless,
RyanL
Married Priest Petition
For those who would seek to keep marriage as a separate vocation from the priesthood, please visit the following site and **read **the petition:
Married Priest Petition
God Bless,
RyanL
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Gottle_of_Geer
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I see there are some questions:
**Question: Who will financially support the married priest’s family (not happening on current weekly collections!) ? ****Question: Where are these families supposed to live…in a rectory with a celibate priest? **
Question: What sort of unity will exist in the presbyterate if some are married and others are celibate?
This, IMO, is a question which does not make much sense: why must marriage have any effect on the unity & esprit de corps of the priests in a diocese ? Priests seem to be undivided by differences in race or intelligence or talents or morals or membership of religious orders or age or time of vocation - so why should difference as to marital state be divisive, where these are not ?
Why shouldn’t the family of a priest live under the same roof as him ? How do Eastern Rite clergy solve these questions ? They must have ways of so doing, otherwise they would all be celibates. As to staying solvent - maybe, eventually, the example of St.Paul will be followed - for he, though an Apostle, was also a tent-maker; for like every Jew, he had been taught a trade. Maybe that is what will happen to the priesthood: priests will unite being priests, with having a trade. Of course, that is speculation - but speculation is not always a bad idea. ##Just a few questions some should ponder before they jump to so called quick solutions!
To adopt “quick solutions”, without proper consideration, would be very rash: equally, to require a more or less universal celibacy in the Roman Rite as a matter of course may be no longer the best course for the Church’s mission. Certainly the Church should not act in a rash or ill-considered or faddish fashion - equally, fear of what might happen if there is a change in this matter can’t be a reason for no change whatever; sometimes, growth requires change; and the Church has to serve Christ in the world as it is - not in a world as the Church might like it to be; for that does not exist. If serving Christ requires change from what is familiar, then so be it. The question is, whether His service does require this or thar change.
As to the question in the thread - I don’t think either is superior to the other. ISTM that to worry about a which is “superior” and which is “inferior”, is the wrong sort of question - I don’t think one can ask this question in the abstract anyway.
ISTM that the question to ask is, “In what vocation can I fulfil God’s Will for me & for His Church ?” God does not deal with us abstractly, but as individual persons, in our particular situations - so abstract questions about vocations and states of life seem just a bit unreal. ##
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barsapp
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I voted “Yes (my opinion)”. If so many votes went to “**Yes (not just my opinion; it’s clearly Church teaching)” and “No (not just my opinion; it’s clearly Church teaching)” maybe “The Church’s stance is unclear”…
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system
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Mary was immaculately conceived. Peter is the first pope. How do you compare? Mary brought Jesus into the world; Peter did so in the Holy Eucharist. How do you differentiate?
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HappyCatholic01
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I daresay that is why I am so frustrated with the American Catholic Church.
To those whom much is given (assuming a higher calling for Priests for a moment), much is expected.
The calling may be higher, but so is the price for their failures in that role.
To those whom much is given (assuming a higher calling for Priests for a moment), much is expected.
The calling may be higher, but so is the price for their failures in that role.
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ComradeAndrei
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I have yet to hear a good reason why a married priesthood should be allowed in the Roman Rite Catholic Church. Most reasons I’ve heard are just childish taunts relating to the abuse scandal.
However, most people who want a married priesthood (and not for childish reasons) do so out of ignorance of the life of a priest. Quite frankly, I at one time thought that a married priesthood might be a good idea. Then once I began to discern my vocation, talk to priests and learn a little bit about their lives I can see that the idea of a married priesthood is not practical and would just not be in line with priestly duties and I would think that the priests I’ve talked to would agree.
The life of a priest is too busy to have to deal with a family, and I think we’d lose an important part of our Catholic life if we were to relegate the celebate priest to the dustbins of history. We want priests to be there at the bedsides of our dying relatives, there to answer our questions, hear our confessions, etc. Priests lead by good moral example and also many by their selfless sacrifice of their lives or well-being, how are they going to do this attatched to a wife and kids? I know that even if priests were allowed to marry that if I (by God’s will) become a priest, I will not marry. As a priest, you are married to the Church, and you are to sacrifice your life, health, and well-being for Her if necessary.
And thus why they should especially strive for holiness. We should never lower the bar and shoot for the lowest common denominator.
Many people (especially in the secular or non-Catholic world) like to heap condemnation on priests when they err or fail. Anything from minor and imaginary failings to major sins are scrutinized especially hard. Remember though, why do they wish to pick the sliver out of their brother’s eye while ignoring the beam in their own? We should not always be so sensitive to the criticisms of the secular world, their motives are often not good or charitable.
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Matt16_18
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vicia3:
Seeking to know God’s will, and then being faithful to the vocation to which one is called is what is important.
I don’t compare. That is why I wrote: “The highest calling one can have is accepting the calling that God gives you.”
Seeking to know God’s will, and then being faithful to the vocation to which one is called is what is important.
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ElizabethAnne
Guest
As a married woman, I have been honestly wondered whether religious life is a higher calling. I have seen evidence that it is (usually citing Pope Pius X) and evidence that both callings are equal (citing Pope John Paul II).
The idea that religious life is a higher calling greatly troubles me. Some people on this thread say that God expects more from those who receive a higher calling. Does this mean that God expects less from married people? He gives them the gift of sex because he knows they cannot live a celibate life? How can anyone celebrate this great gift and argue that it is part of a lower calling?
I honestly want to know the Truth and seek it about this issue. I think it is unfair for some posters to assume that those of us who see contradictory evidence presented here are obviously prideful.
God bless.
The idea that religious life is a higher calling greatly troubles me. Some people on this thread say that God expects more from those who receive a higher calling. Does this mean that God expects less from married people? He gives them the gift of sex because he knows they cannot live a celibate life? How can anyone celebrate this great gift and argue that it is part of a lower calling?
I honestly want to know the Truth and seek it about this issue. I think it is unfair for some posters to assume that those of us who see contradictory evidence presented here are obviously prideful.
God bless.
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barsapp
Guest
Matt 19, 10-12: “(His) disciples said to him, “If that is the case of a man with his wife, it is better not to marry.” He answered, “Not all can accept (this) word, but only those to whom that is granted. Some are incapable of marriage because they were born so; some, because they were made so by others; some, because they have renounced marriage for the sake of the kingdom of heaven. Whoever can accept this ought to accept it.”
Do you understand this?
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AquinasXVI
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Both vocations (Matrimony and Holy Orders) will require humble and heroic sacrifice to fulfill. Instead of thinking one superior over the other, we need to remind ourselves that these are vocations. Our job is to discern and to follow the particular vocation revealed to us.
Many priests look at the exhausted father in the pew and think him a saint. The father with his wife and his kids look at the priest and admire his singleminded will to serve God this way.
These vocations are symbiotic. They are both a sign to each other of God. The priests are living out the anticipation of the eternal union with God. The faithful married are signs of the united love of God in Heaven. This is from the theology of the body.
in XT.
Many priests look at the exhausted father in the pew and think him a saint. The father with his wife and his kids look at the priest and admire his singleminded will to serve God this way.
These vocations are symbiotic. They are both a sign to each other of God. The priests are living out the anticipation of the eternal union with God. The faithful married are signs of the united love of God in Heaven. This is from the theology of the body.
in XT.
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system
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This is true, individually. I am not so sure that this is what the question is geared twords. “Is the priesthood a higher calling than marriage?” It is pretty clear what is being asked and that is what I was responding to. I agree with you, but I was trying to convey that overall, the priesthood is a higher calling than marriage. Generically speaking, I believe this to be true.
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esr
Guest
I found this thread particularly interesting. I read through some of the posts on Tuesday and then in the evening I went to a talk given at my parish about the Theology of the Body. After having discussed an adequate anthropology of man in 3 previous talks on the TOB, the focus was on living the TOB as redeemed man in anticipation of eschatological man. We first discussed celibacy in order to truely understand the full beauty of marriage. We focused on Jesus’ own words in Matthew 19:10-12, which a previous poster has already mentioned. Celibacy is a gift that “ought to be accepted” if offered. When a person is discerning their vocation, they should first discern regarding the celibate life. A celibate renounces earthly marriage “for the sake of the kingdom of heaven.” A celibate foregoes the sacrament of holy matrimony in anticipation fo the ultimate reality of marriage in heaven (they skip the sign and live the reality now). A celibate is proclaiming to the world through their body that the Kingdom of God is here and they live the resurrection here on earth. In addition to living the foretaste of heaven on earth, a celibate is also able to love and serve Christ with an undivided heart (see I Corinthians 7: 32-34). For these reasons, and using the TOB as our perspective, I believe that the celibate life is a higher calling than marriage. However, both are called to the same level of holiness. What is most important is that every person carefully discern what their calling is.
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Matt16_18
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Prometheum_x
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What exactly is the meaning of “a higher calling”?
I am not asking for evidence of a higher calling, but the meaning of the phrase itself.
My suspicion is that it means something on the order of “a calling to that which models a more direct anticipation of heaven”. It has a higher function in terms of the sacramental/spiritual life of the church and serves as a more poignant reminder that we live not for this world but for the next.
However, we all have a universal vocation to Love. The greatest commandment is this, “Love the Lord your God with all your heart, soul, and strength.” and the second is this: “Love your neighbor as yourself.” We all have a vocation to a life lived with complete and total dedication to God, for what else can “all your heart, soul, and strength” mean?
I think this notion of “higher” relates to function rather than merit. An analogy would be this: in the body, the brain fulfills a higher function, processing information and directing the movements of all the other organs. However, were the heart to stop beating, the brain would die in short order.
I am not asking for evidence of a higher calling, but the meaning of the phrase itself.
My suspicion is that it means something on the order of “a calling to that which models a more direct anticipation of heaven”. It has a higher function in terms of the sacramental/spiritual life of the church and serves as a more poignant reminder that we live not for this world but for the next.
However, we all have a universal vocation to Love. The greatest commandment is this, “Love the Lord your God with all your heart, soul, and strength.” and the second is this: “Love your neighbor as yourself.” We all have a vocation to a life lived with complete and total dedication to God, for what else can “all your heart, soul, and strength” mean?
I think this notion of “higher” relates to function rather than merit. An analogy would be this: in the body, the brain fulfills a higher function, processing information and directing the movements of all the other organs. However, were the heart to stop beating, the brain would die in short order.
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Karen10
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I don’t see how you can necessarily come to this conclusion from that quote. The Canon you quote only says not to put marriage above the others.
The Corinthians quote was already addressed.
To those of you who are saying that the priesthood entails certain extraordinary sacrifices not required of marriage, I tell you that marriage comes with enormous sacrifices in its own right, not required of the priesthood. Some of you might feel sorry for those called to a celibate life or the religious life, but I don’t feel sorrier for them than I do for myself!
Parents in large families work themselves to the bone, rarely get enough rest, rarely have alone time (if ever), and for some people it takes a leap of faith to imagine their kids as “gifts” when they seem like anything but gifts.
Marriage is exhausting and demanding and requires extraordinary sacrifice of self in order to work out the way God plans.
Even on Sundays, when a priest is done “working” by celebrating Mass, the nurturing work is around the clock for parents.
Privacy is hard to come by in a large family–or even in a small one. If you think marriage is any easier than priesthood because people are allowed to have sex, you’ll be very disappointed.
If a marriage is not centered around Christ, it can drive a person to insanity.
I don’t have kids yet, but I tell you I am terrified of begetting these “gifts”. I will accept them as gifts out of faith, and I’m open to life, but I can’t tell you there were never times when I thought I was more suited to the religious life or that it would be much easier on me. With my luck, if I’d become a nun, they’d have stuck me with the job of grade school teacher.
The call to marriage is a daunting one for me; many issues complicate my calling such as health and personality disposition. It’s downright terrifying sometimes.
Parents, don’t take this the wrong way. Parents always take this the wrong way for some reason. There’s no need to be defensive. Let me explain:
I’m a loner, I often wake up feeling ill due to a health issue, I’m easily overwhelmed by chaos, I’m not very nurturing, I don’t like kids all that much (I don’t seek out their company but I don’t hate them; I’m avoidant of them because they stress me out and interacting with them does not come naturally to me), and the list goes on.
It is for these reasons that I have a hard time mustering more sympathy for homosexuals or other single people, than for married couples.
Those of you who see marriage as easier than the priesthood seem to live in a different world than I do!
Is it easier to be married because you get to have sex and kids? Nuh-uh.
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Prometheum_x
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If you remove one of the phrases it becomes clear that it does indeed lead to that conclusion:
If you say that two things are equal in some aspect, then you are saying that in that aspect they are “not better and more blessed” than the other.
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