Please help me with my vocation, many, many specific questions

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Hello all,

Can anyone give me a site, or just a selection of orders of priests, and not just religious? For example, I’m aware that the Capuchins allow for their religious to become priests, but are there not any orders that are solely for priests, and people who aspire to become a Roman Catholic priest?

I’m aware I have posted topics asking for orders that are associated with Mary, but now I’m curious to know what is out there for priests, and priests only.

For example, I looked at the Holy Cross Fathers, Resurrectionists, etc. I’m asking if there are orders out there that are for priests, and are able to serve in parishes and say Mass.

I have checked out-
  1. Jesuits
  2. Carmelites
  3. Dominicans
  4. Capuchins/Franciscans
  5. Oblates of the Virgin Mary
and pretty much all of the “main” orders. I still haven’t found one that has grasped me yet, and while I don’t have all the time in the world, I do have months to decide. Seniors need to apply to colleges during the fall, and I’ll be looking for religious orders, or just from my Archdiocese.

To be completely honest, saying Mass and administering/offering myself for the Sacraments (Penance, Eucharist, Matrimony, Anointing of the Sick, etc.) are my biggest priorities. While missionary work would be nice, I would love to be able to say Mass and be stationed at a parish. While those preferences suit the diocesan route; in case the diocesan doesn’t work out, where would I turn?

Keep in mind also that I will be 17 when I start college, so orders that say “Applicants must be 18” might be out of the question, unless I contact them and explain that I have a late birthday (9/9/92), and I would only be 17 for a couple weeks when I start college. There is no way I can afford a 4 year college, just to essentially baby-sit me until I am old enough to join the order. My grades are excellent, however I cannot afford, no matter how many scholarships.

I sincerely thank ALL of you who help me, instead posting an assortment of topics to get my questions answered.

God Bless,

John Monaco
 
There are several religious communities who include parish work in their respective charisms, but you must understand that in an order or congregation you take a vow of obedience. So, you’ll go and do whatever your superior tells you to.

The best way to find out specific information about a community you’re interested in is to call them and ask to speak to their vocations director. He’ll have all the information you need as far as what you would potentially do as a member of that order or congregation.

I know it’s not what you want to hear, but it might be a good idea to slow down and approach your vocation more carefully. It’s better to have a slight delay in a vocation rather than jumping head first into a world you’re not prepared for.

So, relax. If you’re called to the religious life doors will open and graces will come. This might not happen as quickly as you’d like, but then again God tends to have his own schedule for things.
 
OKCatholic said:
There are several religious communities who include parish work in their respective charisms, but you must understand that in an order or congregation you take a vow of obedience. So, you’ll go and do whatever your superior tells you to.

The best way to find out specific information about a community you’re interested in is to call them and ask to speak to their vocations director. He’ll have all the information you need as far as what you would potentially do as a member of that order or congregation.

I know it’s not what you want to hear, but it might be a good idea to slow down and approach your vocation more carefully. It’s better to have a slight delay in a vocation rather than jumping head first into a world you’re not prepared for.

So, relax. If you’re called to the religious life doors will open and graces will come. This might not happen as quickly as you’d like, but then again God tends to have his own schedule for things.
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I can’t find communities either nearby, or that I’m completely interested. I asked for suggestions, but I won’t find a religious order for me just by relaxing. I have colleges to apply for in the fall, and I’m not about to just go to the local community college while going up to the order’s place every two months. That wouldn’t be good for me, or my vocation at all.
 
So, relax. If you’re called to the religious life doors will open and graces will come. This might not happen as quickly as you’d like, but then again God tends to have his own schedule for things.
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I agree with this advice from OKCatholic.

You are trying to have too much control. You need to let go of your wants, worries and anxieties and let God’s grace work in your life. It may help if you stop thinking about it as YOUR vocation and begin thinking about it as GOD’S vocation for you.

You are asking the wrong questions, which we all do sometimes.

How is your prayer life? Focus on that before anything else.
 
justagirl said:
I agree with this advice from OKCatholic.

You are trying to have too much control. You need to let go of your wants, worries and anxieties and let God’s grace work in your life. It may help if you stop thinking about it as YOUR vocation and begin thinking about it as GOD’S vocation for you.

You are asking the wrong questions, which we all do sometimes.

How is your prayer life? Focus on that before anything else.
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My prayer life is good, I pray often, and seriously. However, it’s just logistic stuff, such as what college I am going to after my senior year… whether it be a seminary or a college for the order specifically. I can’t just “let go of my wants, worries, and anxieties” because I have colleges to apply for! and I cannot just attend the local Catholic college, because I would not be able to afford it. I have been placing my trust in the Lord, but he will only help me if I pave my path first.
 
First, get a spiritual director if you do not have one.

Second, speak to your spiritual director about this issue you have.

There are tons and tons of orders/communities out there, there is no way that you can test each one.

When you start college be sure that you are a philosophy major as that is what you will need to gain entry into the Masters of Divinity program at a major seminary.

IMHO you are going about this all wrong. Religious life is not a “second choice” if the secular priesthood does not work out. It is a calling in itself. Yes there are religious priests but the first call should be to community life, if you do not feel called to community life then religious life is not for you.

I am a Carmelite in formation for the priesthood. Yes I felt a call to parish life but that is not the main call in my vocation, living the common life with my brothers is. I wanted to serve my internship in a parish (we do a two year internship in one of our ministries after the first year of theology (M.Div.)) but my superiors have decided that I will be teaching at one of our high schools. This is something that I found I was open to, but I know others who have struggled with it becuase they were not open.

If you join a religious order/community you must be open to where you are called to serve by your superior, it will not always be where you want to be, but be sure it is where you need to be.
 
^Yeah, that makes sense. I shouldn’t look at the religious orders as my “backup”. I guess it’s just my maturity; I’m not open, as you said, to jobs that I don’t particularly like. For example, if I wanted to be stationed at a parish, and instead was given the job as a teacher at a high school, then I would indeed feel fustrated. So yeahh
 
Keep praying and you will be fine.

You are only 16, it sounds like. You do not need to rush. If God wants you in religious life, He will lead you to it when the time is perfect.

Remember that you are not being called to the priesthood right now. You may be called to religious life in an order. You may be called to seminary. Do not get too far ahead of yourself.
 
John_Monaco said:
^Yeah, that makes sense. I shouldn’t look at the religious orders as my “backup”. I guess it’s just my maturity; I’m not open, as you said, to jobs that I don’t particularly like. For example, if I wanted to be stationed at a parish, and instead was given the job as a teacher at a high school, then I would indeed feel fustrated. So yeahh
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John,

Please excuse me, if I’m wrong. But as a religous and a member of the formation team for my own Franciscan Brothers of Life, I get the impression, from your posts, that you do not have a religious vocation. I’m only going by your posts.

If your posts were letters to me, as I often get from people who are discerning a religious vocation, I would advise you to look at the diocesan seminary.

The religious life has four priorities in this order:
  1. Conversion
  2. Prayer
  3. Detachment (even from one’s will, one’s goals, one’s past, and one’s preferences, not just material detachment)
  4. Work
Observe that the apostolate is not one of the priorities of the religious life. The ministry of every religious order is determined by the charism of the order. Even if a man is a priest, his assignment is determined by the charism of the order and by the gifts that he brings to the order. That is discerned between the individual and the superior. The final decision is made by Christ through the voice of the superior.

I have met religious who are priests in parishes, soup kitchens, schools, in administrative offices, social service centers, behind locked doors of a monastery doing dishes, scrubbing floors and tending the garden, in the missions building houses for the poor and so forth.

But these men have surrendered their life to God through their religious profession, which is a formal consecration. They have promised to live for Christ alone, according to the rule and the spirit of their religious order, under the authority of the Holy Spirit who speaks through the superior. In other words, they have given up the controls to God.

I am afraid that what you are saying in your posts sounds like you want to give your life to God as a priest, but you want to drive the car. It has to be in a parish doing the traditional parrochial work. Even for diocesan priests, who are not consecrated religous, because they are secular men, this does not always happen. Some spend their lives in other areas of ministry. I know a bishop who was a high school principal for 25 years and then made a bishop. He’s a diocesan priest.

You need to talk to your spiritual director. Ask him about a year at college. Sometimes we need to experience our first love, our first homecoming game, a taste of life away from home and some failures too. These are the gifts that we bring to the priesthood or the religious life.

I am reminded of the presentation in the temple. Scripture tells us that “they had nothing more to offer but two turtle doves.” This is the gift of humility. Joseph and Mary gave God the best that they had to offer, their humility. Humility means that you surrender the driving to God.

Follow the counsel of your spiritual director, your confessor and your parents. There is some wisdom in those of us who are older.

I know all about this stuff. I wanted to work in Respect Life and joined my community because that’s what they did. I wanted to be a Capuchin Franciscan and our brothers live the Gospel in the manner of St. Francis, guided by the Capuchin tradition. We were founded by Capuchins. This was a way of life that I heard the call to join, not a particular job.

To keep me humble, the first assignment I got after solemn vows was to go back to graduate school to get a doctorate in theology. I already had an MA in theology. I didn’t want a doctorate. But Christ wanted me to do that. I was already living in a community that I loved. The brothers and the laity were awesome. I had to go away to another country. When I returned I was sent to teach at a college, then at a seminary, then I was assigned to be a high school principal, finally I ended up in Respect Life Ministry and formation work.

Now I sit back and laugh at all. In order to be converted, I had to learn to let God drive the bus. During each phase of this process I thought I was in the wrong place. Now I look back and realize that I was in the right place. Had I not been there, I would not be able to survive where I am today.

Forgive me if I am wrong. I’m only responding to posts.

Fraternally,

Br. JR, OSF 🙂
 
JReducation said:
John,

Please excuse me, if I’m wrong. But as a religous and a member of the formation team for my own Franciscan Brothers of Life, I get the impression, from your posts, that you do not have a religious vocation. I’m only going by your posts.

If your posts were letters to me, as I often get from people who are discerning a religious vocation, I would advise you to look at the diocesan seminary.

The religious life has four priorities in this order:
  1. Conversion
  2. Prayer
  3. Detachment (even from one’s will, one’s goals, one’s past, and one’s preferences, not just material detachment)
  4. Work
Observe that the apostolate is not one of the priorities of the religious life. The ministry of every religious order is determined by the charism of the order. Even if a man is a priest, his assignment is determined by the charism of the order and by the gifts that he brings to the order. That is discerned between the individual and the superior. The final decision is made by Christ through the voice of the superior.

I have met religious who are priests in parishes, soup kitchens, schools, in administrative offices, social service centers, behind locked doors of a monastery doing dishes, scrubbing floors and tending the garden, in the missions building houses for the poor and so forth.

But these men have surrendered their life to God through their religious profession, which is a formal consecration. They have promised to live for Christ alone, according to the rule and the spirit of their religious order, under the authority of the Holy Spirit who speaks through the superior. In other words, they have given up the controls to God.

I am afraid that what you are saying in your posts sounds like you want to give your life to God as a priest, but you want to drive the car. It has to be in a parish doing the traditional parrochial work. Even for diocesan priests, who are not consecrated religous, because they are secular men, this does not always happen. Some spend their lives in other areas of ministry. I know a bishop who was a high school principal for 25 years and then made a bishop. He’s a diocesan priest.

You need to talk to your spiritual director. Ask him about a year at college. Sometimes we need to experience our first love, our first homecoming game, a taste of life away from home and some failures too. These are the gifts that we bring to the priesthood or the religious life.

I know all about this stuff. I wanted to work in Respect Life and joined my community because that’s what they did. I wanted to be a Capuchin Franciscan and our brothers live the Gospel in the manner of St. Francis, guided by the Capuchin tradition. We were founded by Capuchins. This was a way of life that I heard the call to join, not a particular job.

Br. JR, OSF 🙂
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All I’m disagreeing with is when people say “just put your faith in God, He’ll take care of it. Chill.” I DO place my faith in God, but he’s not going to pay for college for me by a miracle. If I just sit around and expect God to steer me to find an order, find a place to receive the education required, it won’t happen. I cannot afford college, so I can’t just go for a year, just to have an experience. That isn’t practical. What I need is a place to go for the priesthood, and give up the controls to God. But I’m not just going to enroll at the local Catholic college, which costs over $30,000 a year, if not more, just to experience time away from home.

Nor am I going to just go to the community college, where academically I will not be challenged. I plan on devoting my life to God, so I don’t know how you can say I don’t have a vocation. just because I’m being more practical, than just sitting around expecting for an order or college to come knocking on my door. I’m sorry, but I’m so fustrated. I asked for a list of orders, because I haven’t found one that suits me perfectly yet. I’m looking for the “perfect” order for me, but also that can place me in the best situation to serve God. I don’t want to join an order, and see another, with a charism that suits my liking, and feel awkward.

I’m just trying to say, I’m 16. I have college to worry about. My parent’s insurance cannot cover me if I do not go to college, and I want to find a place where I can be set, on my education. There’s no point in wasting what little money our family has to spend on a college just so I’m a year older. I feel that certain orders should have programs for youth/teenagers, if they’re not ready to accept them. The Archdiocese I’m in sends high school graduates, interested in the priesthood, to a minor seminary, where they take 4 years of philosophy, and then move on for their Masters. They don’t say, “Hey, spend another year discerning your vocation, enroll in the local Catholic college for a year, start your philosophy, etc.”

I understand what you mean when you say that I’m trying to drive the wheel, and my “demands” for what I want to do as a priest are immature and unrealistic. But I’ll be upset if I cannot start my formal education for the priesthood, because I’ll be just a high school grad. Unlike others who answered their vocations after running away from them, finishing college, and then realizing they want to become a priest, I’m positive that the priesthood is the only life I want to live. That’s why I’m mostly fustrated, that because I’m a minority in that sense, I can’t start my education of becoming a priest.
 
If you want a list of religious orders just do a Google search or find a copy of a religious directory. It’ll have orders and communities you’ve never even heard of. Don’t take people’s word for it, get out there and meet with these orders and discern. But, your interest in finding the “perfect” order is sort of contrary to the whole idea of discernment. God will put you where you need to go. You might not like every aspect of the life. Tough. Doing God’s work means we put aside our own ambitions and goals to better fulfill the call.

You’re worried about college. You can’t even start applying until September so you have a couple of months to think about it. Apply for scholarships, grants and student loans like most of us do. Yeah, you’ll be in debt with student loans. But, this is what vocations directors call “good” debt. Most dioceses and orders will take over the payments for those loans if you enter seminary or the postulancy. If you leave or drop out you’ll have to reimburse whatever was paid on your behalf, but basically your education will be paid for.

For some reason you don’t want to go to community college. Well, look at it practically:

1: Community college is cheaper than a 4 year school.
2: There are several basic lower level classes all students have to take and these can be done cheaply and more easily in the community college level.
3: Nobody in the real world cares where you started out in school, they’ll only ask where you graduated from.

Finally, none of can say we have a vocation. The religious life is not a right. It’s a calling that can only be determined by the Holy Church.
 
John_Monaco said:
  1. All I’m disagreeing with is when people say “just put your faith in God, He’ll take care of it. Chill.” I DO place my faith in God, but he’s not going to pay for college for me by a miracle.
  2. I cannot afford college, so I can’t just go for a year, just to have an experience. That isn’t practical.
  3. What I need is a place to go for the priesthood, and give up the controls to God.
  4. I plan on devoting my life to God, so I don’t know how you can say I don’t have a vocation. just because I’m being more practical, than just sitting around expecting for an order or college to come knocking on my door.
  5. I’m sorry, but I’m so fustrated. I asked for a list of orders, because I haven’t found one that suits me perfectly yet. I’m looking for the “perfect” order for me,
  6. I’m just trying to say, I’m 16. I have college to worry about. There’s no point in wasting what little money our family has to spend on a college just so I’m a year older.
  7. I feel that certain orders should have programs for youth/teenagers, if they’re not ready to accept them.
  8. The Archdiocese I’m in sends high school graduates, interested in the priesthood, to a minor seminary, where they take 4 years of philosophy, and then move on for their Masters.
  9. I understand what you mean when you say that I’m trying to drive the wheel, and my “demands” for what I want to do as a priest are immature and unrealistic. But I’ll be upset if I cannot start my formal education for the priesthood, because I’ll be just a high school grad.
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I’m not saying that you do not have a vocation to the priesthood. That’s not what I meant. I was trying to say that based on your posts you sound better suited for the secular seminary. That leads me to a second question. You may hav said this and I missed it. Would you conisder your diocesan seminary?

My concern is that when a man is so focussed on being a priest and his heart is 100% focussed on the traditional duties of a priest, that man may not find what he’s looking for in religoius life. Religious orders do not focus on the priesthood. They focus on community.

Our priests serve where the order needs them. That may be in a parish or in an office. I’ll give you an example. Cardinal Sean O’Malley, OFM Cap. Cardinal Sean is a Capuchin. He was never a parish priest. He joined the order to be a Franciscan. He when he made final vows he was assigned to live and work with the immigrant community in Washington. After his vows he was allowed to be ordained. But he continued to run a social service agency for the immigrant.

Yes, he celebrated mass on Sundays and heard confessions. He witnessed weddings and performed baptisms on weekends. But from Mon - Fri he was director of a social service agency and worked with the diocese. When not working with the agency, he was with the friars spending time in silencek, prayer, washing dishes, scrubbing floors, doing laundry, answering the door. That is not unusual for priests he in religious orders to have to give up the dream of a parish and serve as priests in other contexts.

On of our dearest brothers has never been in a parish. He has been a theology professor from 1980 to today. When he was not teaching theology he served the community as one of the counselors to the superior general. He is also ordained. He wanted to serve in parish work, but this was not Christ’s will. God’s will was that he serve the congregation. He teaches theology to the men in formation.

What I get from your posts is that this is not the life that is attractive to you. And what Br. David and I are telling you is that those who join religious orders are willing to live this way. They may be priests, lawyers, doctors, carpenters, teachers or cooks. But in the end, they are brothers and they serve in the capacity that their superior discerns to be the will of God for them.

If you joined an order, even if you join a congregation of priests, you will serve in the capacity that the superior decides for you. That does not seem to be attractive to you, unless I mistake your meaning.

The other thought that just came to me is there are two communities exclusively for priests. They are not religioius, but they are clerical and they are communities of apostolic life: Opus Dei and FSSP. Have checked them out? I do not know how committed they are to parish work. But they are completely clerical and are not religious. They do not have a rule that governs their lives. They share a common spirituality. They make no vows.

You sound angry because religious do not have centers of study for high school graduates. As I said, there may be some that do. They are rare. The reason is simple. We are not in the market for priests. We are in the market for religious. We encourage every young man to go to college, get at least a minor in philosophy. A major would be better. While they are doing that, they can spend time with the community and discern a vocation to the community. Every community does it differently.

Don’t get discouraged. Just make a plan for yourself. Check out the diocese. You can check out different dioceses. One does not have to join one’s diocese. As long as one can get permission from one’s bishop, one can join another diocese. They never deny the permission.

If you have not checked out the FSSP or Opus Dei, you may want to. They are very holy men. When you speak to the vocation directors, make sure that you tell them about your limited financial resources. They have dealt with that before.

Let me know if I can help.

Fraternally,

Br. JR, OSF 🙂
 
I am not going to speak of religious orders/communities because I do not think you feel a calling to them.

As for the secular priesthood, it all depends on the diocese you go to. Not every diocese will pay for your education. Some will pay for your time at the major seminary, some will pay part of it, some will pay all of it, some may ask you to repay the diocese after you are ordained.

For your undergraduate work some dioceses will require you to pay for it, usually through student loans which will be differed as long as you are in school, so repayment would not start until after you are ordained.

Education costs can be quite high and not all dioceses have the resources to cover them in part or totally.
 
John_Monaco said:
My prayer life is good, I pray often, and seriously. However, it’s just logistic stuff, such as what college I am going to after my senior year… whether it be a seminary or a college for the order specifically. I can’t just “let go of my wants, worries, and anxieties” because I have colleges to apply for! and I cannot just attend the local Catholic college, because I would not be able to afford it. I have been placing my trust in the Lord, but he will only help me if I pave my path first.
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*John,
I have missed some of your previous posts. However some ideas do come to mind, ( I understand the University choice being a huge issue also)
Have you spoken to your Vocations director for you diocese?? He ought to help you to narrow down your search.
Code: 
    As others have said you might need to slow down a bit.. by that I mean even if you choose one University .. since first year is mostly pre requisites at the worst you might have to transfer. Also if you really feel that being in a religious order is more what you are called to??? Why not speak to some of them??? Ask them some of your questions?? Even if you speak to some of them simultaneously?? You are sure to get some (name removed by moderator)ut. 

    Again I would contact your vocations director, perhaps an order or two, and if all else fails choose the college you think will be best.. remember choice number one doesn't have to be the final choice.
                      
                                Blessings of Peace and All Good!
 
Poor_Clare_tobe said:
  • Code: 
      Again I would contact your vocations director, perhaps an order or two, and if all else fails choose the college you think will be best.. remember choice number one doesn't have to be the final choice.
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I have to disagree here. John has stated that he does not feel a call to community life. Religious life is a separate call from that to the priesthood, yes one may be called to both but when one does not feel the call to both then one should not look to religious orders.
 
The call to religious life is a call to live a life consecrated to Christ at the exclusion of all other things. The religious consecrates his will, his body, and his right to posess things to Christ. He asks for nothing in return, except to be admitted to the union with Christ. He lives this consecration within a family of brothers or sisters in the case of women.

The call to Holy Orders is a very different call. It is a call to the Sacrament, to minister to the people of God from within the clerical state, to bring to the people of God his grace through the sacraments, preaching of the word, sanctifying, governing and acting in Christ’s place. This call can be lived alone, as secular priests do. It does not require the surrender of material posessions, obedience to a superior or a rule or a community, nor a vow of chastity that binds you to a spiritual family, only a promise of celibacy.

As we can see, religious life is a call to be. The priesthood is a call to do. Being and doing are not bad words. Both are good and both are holy. But they are not the same.

Mary’s vocation was different from that of Peter. Mary is daugher, mother and sister. Peter is Christ’s vicar. He continues Christ’s action. Mary is the bride of th Holy Spirit. She lives Christ’s mystery keeping all these things in her heart, as a contemplative. She serves the early Church by her presence. But no one would say that either was opposed to the other or better than the other.

John has expressed that he does not feel the call to be Mary. He believes that he is called to be a priest. He wants to celebrate the sacraments and perform the traditional duties of parish priests. One who is so inclined is not called to the consecrated life in a religioius community.

As Br. David says, we do have men who have both callings: Holy Orders and Consecrated Life. Unless a man hears a call to surrender even his desire to serve as a parish priest for the sake of the crucified Christ, he is not called to religious life. A man may also be called to religious life and not be called to the priesthood. Many religious men serve the Church as contemplatives, carpenters, cooks, teachers, doctors, theologians, chaplains, lawyers, administrators and so forth but they never become deacons or priests.

Then there is the issue of brotherhood. Every religious makes his religious family his first family and responds to the needs of the Church along with his brothers or sisters, not as an individual. Even those religious who live away from their community, do so with the blessing of their brothers and maintain an on-going contact with their brothers. When the time to return is up, they joyfully return to their brothers or sisters.

John does not seem attracted to the idea of being part of a community of brothers and serving the Church along with them in whatever situation or ministry the community is called to serve. This is fine. Not everyone is called to live this way.

We have to be very careful here, on CAF. The laity has such a strong desire to see more priests and religiouos, that posters often jump too quickly and endorse that someone has a vocation to the priesthood or religious life.

The best answer to anyone who comes onto these forums with a vocation question is speak to a spiritual director and to a vocation director. Together, they will discern if there is truly a call from Christ.

It is better to encourage patience, discernment, and to discuss the idea with those who have the authority given by the Church to make the final determination. The only people who can speak for Christ, regarding a vocation are the bishop or a religious superior.

The rest of us can onlly encourage discernment, prayer, and dialogue with a director. Let us all remember, dioceses and religious orders are in no hurry to increment our numbers. We want to increase in holiness, slow and steady.

Fraternally,

Br. JR, OSF 🙂
 
I must point something out. Not all religious communities are religious orders and they do not stress the common life.

Some religious orders also do not stress the common life and are clerical in nature, the Jesuits are an example of this.

Some religious communities are congregations of secular priests, like the Paulists.

We really need to stop using the term “religious order” to speak of all religious communities.

One thing that really strikes me about John’s situation, please correct me if I am mistaken John, is this lack of funds for college. I believe that it will be hard to find a diocese that will pay for an undergraduate degree and many of the communities (or orders) you could find as a fit for you would also be hard pressed to pay for such a thing out right.

It is a sad state of affairs but this also shows you were you are called to be. I do not believe that God calls us to a place that we can not go.
 
ByzCath said:
I must point something out. Not all religious communities are religious orders and they do not stress the common life.

Some religious orders also do not stress the common life and are clerical in nature, the Jesuits are an example of this.

Some religious communities are congregations of secular priests, like the Paulists.

We really need to stop using the term “religious order” to speak of all religious communities.

One thing that really strikes me about John’s situation, please correct me if I am mistaken John, is this lack of funds for college. I believe that it will be hard to find a diocese that will pay for an undergraduate degree and many of the communities (or orders) you could find as a fit for you would also be hard pressed to pay for such a thing out right.

It is a sad state of affairs but this also shows you were you are called to be. I do not believe that God calls us to a place that we can not go.
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I know that we pay for graduate school, but not for undergraduate. We require that every man have an undergraduate degree before entering the postulancy. Graduate school is not until after you have made simple vows (temporary). If the person leaves the community he owes the community nothing and the community owes him nothing.

Yes, Br. David is correct. Please do not confuse orders with congregations, societies, secular institutes and priestly fraternities. Each has a different charism and different emphasis.

Someone correct me if I’m mistaken. The Jesuits were originally founded as a society. They acquired the status of an order later. I’m not sure when, why or how. Other institutes such as the Vincentians are neither neither orders nor religious. They are a congregation, but they are secular priests who live in community for the sake of the ministry.

Sometimes the ministry is the glue that binds a community. Sometimes the glue that binds a community is its spirituality and the ministry flows from that. In those cases, the ministry is very varied. For example (excuse me David) Carmelites and Franciscans are bound to each other by our spiritual roots and vision, not by our ministry. Our ministry flows from who we are: Carmelites or Franciscans. Therefore a Carmelite or a Franciscan, even if he’s a priest, may find himself running a school or working for his order in the seminary or its government and so forth.

Each of us belongs where ever we can be the person that God wants us to be.

Fraternally,

Br. JR, OSF
 
John,

I’ve found an order that you might be interested in. Their novitiate is located in Cheshire, Ct. The youngest age you can apply is 17 and you have to have at least a high school diploma. They are called the Legion of Christ. Here’s their website: legionariesofchrist.org/
They our involved in a lot of missionary work, help form priests, education, youth and family ministry, social work, etc. You definitely should check them out. I’m going to be on one of their upcoming retreats.

God Bless
 
hxcCatholic413 said:
John,

I’ve found an order that you might be interested in. Their novitiate is located in Cheshire, Ct. The youngest age you can apply is 17 and you have to have at least a high school diploma. They are called the Legion of Christ. Here’s their website: legionariesofchrist.org/
They our involved in a lot of missionary work, help form priests, education, youth and family ministry, social work, etc. You definitely should check them out. I’m going to be on one of their upcoming retreats.

God Bless
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Before you go to the Legionaries, you may want to find out what their current status is. Earlier this year the Vatican has ordered a visitation that may end up in some major changes in their structure.

I’m not saying don’t go. Find out more. Here is the article.

ncronline.org/news/vatican/legionaires-relieved-vatican-visitation

Fraternally,

Br. JR, OSF 🙂
 
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