Old Folks Need Not Apply

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seeker44

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Browsing various vocation sites for religious communities and congregations, etc., I read many beautiful words about how one may be called by God into the life of this or that group of men or women to help spread the Kingdom or take the contemplative way to love and union with God. However, that sentence at the end (usually) strikes me a bit rough–“We do not accept men/women over the age of…”

I’m sure that there must be practical considerations at play here which are more important than any call from God. God understands–we have to be practical, afterall. However, the impracticality of “old people” entering religious life, and therefore, not having a vocation, does sound a bit uncharitable, if not hypocritical.

“We do not accept men/women over the age of…” tempts one to think of some “practical” reasons why “old people” don’t have a vocation, at least to a particular community. For example: You are too old to be a productive member of our apostolate; prayer (something old people can do well) is a valid apostolate, but not for us; we are not running a retirement home; our infirmary is too crowded already; we cannot afford the health insurance; and the list could go on.

I’m not saying that these practical considerations for not admitting old widows and widowers into religious life are necessarily wrong (heaven knows we have enough old priests, sisters and brothers to ask help for now at the second collection, and we don’t need even more seniors), but the age statement does sound harsh. Perhaps it should be declared by the Church somewhere that God considers age a limitation to a religious calling, just like habitual sinners, the disabled, and the less-desired may be told they have no vocation I doubt that Mary Magdalene would have been admitted to the convent (but that’s another question).

So what should we do with the old ones who feel a calling from God to enter religious life? Best they focus on retirement homes run by religious sisters where seniors can share in daily Mass and prayers without being a burden financially or otherwise. And, of course, those over the age limit might consider being old-aged hermits, fingering their beads or saying their devotions alone in their quiet apartment. And there are ways to witness, even for old people, I suppose.
 
Seeker44,
Age is considered an impediment to religious life in many religious communities primarily because older people tend to be more set in their ways, and thus cannot be formed, or have difficulties adapting to the rigors of religious life.

However, it should also be noted that the superior has the authority to make exceptions. Ultimately, a superior will look for certain qualities in an older person, such as docility to authority, willingness to submit without question to commands of someone younger than you, are malleable and formable, do not grumble with their superior’s decisions (even if they may disagree with them), and can adapt to the rigorous life.

Although, these qualities tend to become more rare as age increases (hence the age limit).

Blessings.
 
I believe that many of the “calls” people receive in the old days are, in fact, a simple feeling of emptiness in this materialistic world, not a true vocation.
Every order has its way of life. And if, for any reason, one candidate is not able to follow that way of life, I think it’s fair they say no to that candidate.
There are orders who lead a more prayerful and peaceful life that accept older vocations.
 
I like the idea of a religious community and its superior giving an old guy or gal a chance. I doubt that there are so many old folks out there knocking at the gate anyway, so there probably is no reason to fear an onslaught of seniors bankrupting the community’s medical funds like the baby-boomers supposedly are going to do to the coffers of our social security administration.

That old saying that the “proof is in the pudding” is a fine way of testing any vocation–postulancy, novitiate, and temporary vows. To the credit of one Benedictine community I know of, they have admitted older and disabled persons who felt they had a vocation. Some have left because of reasons already mentioned in the above posts. And some have remained. In fact, one of these older vocations is now the prior of the monastery.

I like the idea of testing each person’s “call” without de facto age discrimination being applied, even if dressed up by the term “impediment.”

A religious community is a family. The father or mother, i.e. the superior, of the community, along with the advice of the permanent members should decide who, regardless of age, enters their family. This, in my opinion, is the more loving and Christian way, and a prudent course besides.
 
seeker44 said:
I doubt that there are so many old folks out there knocking at the gate anyway, so there probably is no reason to fear an onslaught of seniors bankrupting the community’s medical funds like the baby-boomers supposedly are going to do to the coffers of our social security administration.
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Seeker,
I think you will be surprised at just how many older people knock at the doors of monasteries and convents. There are many people today who find themselves alone later in life, and may seek to fill a certain emptiness, perhaps more so than younger people. What adds to the complexity of this, is that most older people today grew up through the cultural revolution of the 1960’s, and tend to have a distorted view of the Catholic Church, and have difficulties particularly with the vow of obedience. Rather than submit to authority, there is a tendency to be combative about certain rules that they may not agree with (perhaps even this rule on age).

I am by no means an expert on this subject, but I would venture to say that a genuine sign of a late vocation is someone who possesses the spirit of obedience; who accepts the rules of certain communities without bitterness or complaint, and does not try to reform them, but instead does what she can in humble and earnest attempt to follow the will of God. There are a number of religious communities that accept late vocations, and perhaps God will lead her there, or perhaps not.

The Saints have said that obedience is the greatest of the three vows. According to the Saints, a religious who lacks the spirit of obedience will waste their lives, and may even bring judgment upon themselves by hindering the souls of those around them.

Blessings.

-Davide
 
The Rule of Saint Benedict, which he wrote as a basic guide for monks, says in chapter two that “He [the abbot] holds the place of Christ in the monastery…” Obedience is one of the principal vows a religious takes, and this is why I like the idea that older persons who may wish to enter a religious community be tested, like all postulants, novices and juniors are, to see if they can conform their wills to the guidance of those appointed over him or her. Again, Benedict says in chapter 58 of his Rule, “Do not grant newcomers to the monastic life an easy entry, but, as the Apostle says, ‘Test the spirits to see if they are from God’ (1 Jn 4:1)” When an older person is at least given a chance to enter and be tested, I feel this is the charitable thing to do, and I am pleased when I hear of communities that follow this way.

Although we pray for the enlightenment and strength of the Holy Spirit upon religious leaders and superiors, they are human beings and make mistakes as well as become wonderful and insightful guides. Humility is a beautiful and necessary virtue for anyone who wishes to progress on the journey to union with God. And, of course, spiritual pride and crankiness (St. Benedict may call the latter “murmuring,” and views it as one of the most divisive forces in the monastery) does hurt the individual and religious community–I believe even St. Paul and the Apostolic Church had some issues with this.

Whether or not a certain contentiousness is due to the rebellious “hippie generation” now becoming of age or this characteristic is just part of old age, I do not know. Thomas Merton had his struggles in this area, and he addresses hard-line obedience to tradition versus the new generation (which is now the old generation) in Contemplation in a World of Action. However, I don’t claim to be a Merton scholar. I’m just happy to learn from you that there are insightful and wise superiors and religious communities who are giving a chance of older folks.****
 
This may be slightly off-topic, but I feel compelled to add something to this. As a nurse working in a nursing home, I don’t think I could ever ask for something that would strengthen my love for the Catholic Church quite like some of the people I take care of. I see people in terrible physical conditions whose faith still sustains them. I see an 80 something yr old whose fingers are so crippled with arthritis that she can’t possible move the beads on a rosary so she sets it on a table and points at them one by one. I see the person who refuses their regulary scheduled pain medicine on Friday because they don’t want to be too groggy to attend weekly mass. I heard one pray through tears to the Blessed Virgin to help them forgive the son/daughter who forgot about a visit for their birthday.
Elderly people may be refused admitance to religious orders for a variety of reasons, but I can testify to the fact that God can use absolutely anyone, at any age, to promote the Faith. I’ve never been so aware of the importance of the Catholic Church, or of cultivating it into ones life at an early age. It’s the foundation that these people still stand on - even outside of a convent.
 
You make a beautiful and relevant point: that all of us are called by God in so many ways to know, love and serve Him. And this calling may change according to our time, place, condition, circumstances, etc., during our life on Earth. I have a friend who is 102 years old, resides in a nursing home and is a saintly, contemplative woman. She was a nurse for many years, but she is still “active” in helping people and loving God, although in a different way than she did when she was 35 years old. What is God calling us to now and in which way is He asking us to love and serve Him?
 
Our diocese recently ordained a man who, if i recall correctly, was 78. He came to our diocese because we were one of the few that would accept him.

But think about it this way, they paid for as much as 6 years of schooling for this man(at probably upwards of $30,000 a year) and can maybe hope for 10-15 years of service. Thats a pretty low return rate.

I recently talked to our vocations director about my own application, and asked about that, and he said they are now looking to make a cutoff at 60, because it is coming time for our bishop to submit for his retirement(strangely, there is a good possibility we will have two living, retired bishops and an active bishop at the same time). But he said that they did not want a new bishop coming in having to deal with a lot of elderly priests. But he did say that when you get to a certain age, it isnt so much as an age limit, as much as a, come talk to us and we will see if it works
 
SenorSalsa said:
Our diocese recently ordained a man who, if i recall correctly, was 78. He came to our diocese because we were one of the few that would accept him.

But think about it this way, they paid for as much as 6 years of schooling for this man(at probably upwards of $30,000 a year) and can maybe hope for 10-15 years of service. Thats a pretty low return rate.

I recently talked to our vocations director about my own application, and asked about that, and he said they are now looking to make a cutoff at 60, because it is coming time for our bishop to submit for his retirement(strangely, there is a good possibility we will have two living, retired bishops and an active bishop at the same time). But he said that they did not want a new bishop coming in having to deal with a lot of elderly priests. But he did say that when you get to a certain age, it isnt so much as an age limit, as much as a, come talk to us and we will see if it works
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That’s interesting.

Couldn’t many late vocations pay for the seminary themselves?
I would think that if a man was say 50 years old, and had never married or had children, he would have accumulated a decent amount of savings.

Also, while that $30,000 may be an average cost, the marginal cost of adding one more man to a seminary class is probably much, much lower. Most seminaries have empty rooms, and you don’t need extra teachers. Most of the added cost is probably health insurance (maybe $10,000 p.a.).

BTW what diocese are you from?

I’ve heard that in NY we are having a man (re)enter the seminary who is in his 50’s, who left seminary 25 years ago. We also ordained a retired cop who was in his 60’s a few years back.

God Bless
 
bilop said:
That’s interesting.

Couldn’t many late vocations pay for the seminary themselves?
I would think that if a man was say 50 years old, and had never married or had children, he would have accumulated a decent amount of savings.

Also, while that $30,000 may be an average cost, the marginal cost of adding one more man to a seminary class is probably much, much lower. Most seminaries have empty rooms, and you don’t need extra teachers. Most of the added cost is probably health insurance (maybe $10,000 p.a.).

BTW what diocese are you from?

I’ve heard that in NY we are having a man (re)enter the seminary who is in his 50’s, who left seminary 25 years ago. We also ordained a retired cop who was in his 60’s a few years back.

God Bless
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Im from the diocese of St. Augustine, FL. and your mentioning it reminded me that the Vocations Director did require that the man pay for some or all of the cost.
 
You will find long discussions of this topic on phatmass.com in the Vocation Station.

Those orders which are getting a lot of young vocations have a strict upper limit. The rest of them, the vast majority, have very flexible aupper ge limits, sometimes as low as 45 years. But if it’s one of the so-called ‘updated ’ orders-no habit in a woman’s order- AND if they don’t mention an upper age limit, chances are they’ll take you into your 50’s and possibly 60’s. Even some traditional habited orders, such as the first order Visitation in Toledo Ohio and some others have older vocations. I don’t know about the men’s orders as I haven’t researched these, but, what with the general dearth of vocations, I think that you’ll find that they are flexible. Just read the requirements. If they don’t mention an upper age range, or say’ exceptions can be made’–they’re probably open to an older vocation.

You just have to do the research and ask.
 
If there are mature women reading this, you are welcome to go to our website (www,fsmcharism.net) and if you would like to contact us, please tell us about yourself by responding through the “Questions” tab. We do not have an upper age limit. It is not required in canon law, so this is purely an invention on the part of each religious community. We only ask that candidates are self-supporting and debt free.

I read on one community’s website (to my horror) that they will not consider candidates over 30, nor anyone with any prior experience living in community - absolutely NO transfers!

True, some people are pretty set in their ways as they mature. If I’m not mistaken, St. Augustine was over 30 when he had his conversion. St. Paul was probably over 30 as well. Good thing our Lord does not have an upper age limit!

As someone said in an earlier post, it depends on each individual person and their willingness to be obedient and docile. I think our Lord intended us all to remain this way, and reminded us as much when He said, “Unless ye remain as little children, ye shall not enter into the kingdom.”
 
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