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“Responding to God’s Call” Retreat DAY TWO: A DEEPER CONVERSION
Scripture Reading
“If you would be perfect, go sell what you have and give to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven: and come follow Me.” (Matthew 19:21)
Meditation
A vocation to the priesthood or religious life always involves a way of life recommended by the Lord. In the Scripture reading, the Lord is asked by a rich young man what he must do to attain eternal life. The Lord induces him to answer with the commandments. Every Christian must live the life of baptism in which they renounced Satan and chose God in Christ by avoiding sin. The young man tells Christ he has observed these from his youth. The Lord loves him for this.
Then Christ calls him to a deeper way of life, a deeper conversion. This is the life of perfection, not because the people in it are perfect, but because the way of life itself is a sound and reasonable path offered by the Lord to become more grace-filled and loving. This is the life of the counsels which is recommended by Christ. “If you would be perfect …]” The Lord invites us not only to avoid evil, but also to surrender good things. Why? Certainly not because they are evil. The reason is because we have only so much spiritual energy and if this finite energy is given only to finite things there is little left for eternal things.
Though in baptism we received back sanctifying grace, lost through original sin, we did not receive back those gifts Adam had which made him easily surrender his life to God and rely on him. Instead we still suffer from concupiscence. “Certain temporal consequences of sin remain in the baptized, such as suffering, illness, death, and such frailties inherent in life as weaknesses of character, and so on, as well as an inclination to sin that Tradition calls concupiscence.” (Catechism of the Catholic Church, n. 1264) To address this moral weakness, the Lord recommends to the rich young man that he give up his property. He will then not be tempted. We have to spend so much effort keeping our property that we have little time for spiritual things. Also, many lose their souls manipulating others to keep their wealth even to the point of theft and murder.
Merely giving up this good is not enough. One must give it up for the right reason. The motivation cannot be because a person does not want to earn a living or because he wants to be taken care of by others. “Come follow Me.” The following of Christ, the living of grace, regarding the world looking down with Our Lord from the cross can be the only motivations for such surrender. This surrender does not involve just money, but two other basic areas where our spiritual energy can be expended and we can manipulate others in a sinful way: our own excellence and sexuality. “For all that is in the world, is the concupiscence of the flesh (sex), and the concupiscence of the eyes (money) and the pride of life (excellence), which is not from the Father but is of the world.” (1 John 3:16)
The Lord has recommended three counsels of perfection to be the basis of a deeper conversion of life: poverty, chastity and obedience. Many people want to join a religious community because they want a family structure, or they want a place to study or work in a Christian environment or they think it is the most effective way to exercise an apostolate. All of these reasons may be valid reasons for choosing a type of community, but they are not valid reasons for having a vocation.
The only basic litmus test for someone having a vocation in the general sense is whether or not one wants to follow Christ by the profession of vows in religious life or by consecrated service at the altar in the case of the priesthood. The vow must be THE THING then. Once one has decided that one wants to make profession of vows, then one can look at which kind of consecrated life is most suited to a person’s temperament. Remember, when you take a vow you place whatever you are vowing under justice to God in the virtue of religion. This is truly a deep sacrifice and can only be made by a deeper conversion of life.
Points of Reference
Have I generally lived the commandments avoiding serious sin for a prolonged period of time?
Do I really want to follow Christ in entering some religious state, or am I seeking to flee from other obligations?
Do I have a burning desire to live a deeper charity by the profession of the counsels of the Gospel in some way?
What institute of consecrated life gives me the best chance of doing this, given my temperament?
Prayer
Lord Jesus, You called the rich young man to live the perfection of charity by surrendering all that he held dear to You. Grant that I may so surrender all that I am and all that I possess to You, that I may truly know and enjoy the life of charity in the vocation You have chosen for me. Through Christ our Lord. Amen.
religiouslife.com
Scripture Reading
“If you would be perfect, go sell what you have and give to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven: and come follow Me.” (Matthew 19:21)
Meditation
A vocation to the priesthood or religious life always involves a way of life recommended by the Lord. In the Scripture reading, the Lord is asked by a rich young man what he must do to attain eternal life. The Lord induces him to answer with the commandments. Every Christian must live the life of baptism in which they renounced Satan and chose God in Christ by avoiding sin. The young man tells Christ he has observed these from his youth. The Lord loves him for this.
Then Christ calls him to a deeper way of life, a deeper conversion. This is the life of perfection, not because the people in it are perfect, but because the way of life itself is a sound and reasonable path offered by the Lord to become more grace-filled and loving. This is the life of the counsels which is recommended by Christ. “If you would be perfect …]” The Lord invites us not only to avoid evil, but also to surrender good things. Why? Certainly not because they are evil. The reason is because we have only so much spiritual energy and if this finite energy is given only to finite things there is little left for eternal things.
Though in baptism we received back sanctifying grace, lost through original sin, we did not receive back those gifts Adam had which made him easily surrender his life to God and rely on him. Instead we still suffer from concupiscence. “Certain temporal consequences of sin remain in the baptized, such as suffering, illness, death, and such frailties inherent in life as weaknesses of character, and so on, as well as an inclination to sin that Tradition calls concupiscence.” (Catechism of the Catholic Church, n. 1264) To address this moral weakness, the Lord recommends to the rich young man that he give up his property. He will then not be tempted. We have to spend so much effort keeping our property that we have little time for spiritual things. Also, many lose their souls manipulating others to keep their wealth even to the point of theft and murder.
Merely giving up this good is not enough. One must give it up for the right reason. The motivation cannot be because a person does not want to earn a living or because he wants to be taken care of by others. “Come follow Me.” The following of Christ, the living of grace, regarding the world looking down with Our Lord from the cross can be the only motivations for such surrender. This surrender does not involve just money, but two other basic areas where our spiritual energy can be expended and we can manipulate others in a sinful way: our own excellence and sexuality. “For all that is in the world, is the concupiscence of the flesh (sex), and the concupiscence of the eyes (money) and the pride of life (excellence), which is not from the Father but is of the world.” (1 John 3:16)
The Lord has recommended three counsels of perfection to be the basis of a deeper conversion of life: poverty, chastity and obedience. Many people want to join a religious community because they want a family structure, or they want a place to study or work in a Christian environment or they think it is the most effective way to exercise an apostolate. All of these reasons may be valid reasons for choosing a type of community, but they are not valid reasons for having a vocation.
The only basic litmus test for someone having a vocation in the general sense is whether or not one wants to follow Christ by the profession of vows in religious life or by consecrated service at the altar in the case of the priesthood. The vow must be THE THING then. Once one has decided that one wants to make profession of vows, then one can look at which kind of consecrated life is most suited to a person’s temperament. Remember, when you take a vow you place whatever you are vowing under justice to God in the virtue of religion. This is truly a deep sacrifice and can only be made by a deeper conversion of life.
Points of Reference
Have I generally lived the commandments avoiding serious sin for a prolonged period of time?
Do I really want to follow Christ in entering some religious state, or am I seeking to flee from other obligations?
Do I have a burning desire to live a deeper charity by the profession of the counsels of the Gospel in some way?
What institute of consecrated life gives me the best chance of doing this, given my temperament?
Prayer
Lord Jesus, You called the rich young man to live the perfection of charity by surrendering all that he held dear to You. Grant that I may so surrender all that I am and all that I possess to You, that I may truly know and enjoy the life of charity in the vocation You have chosen for me. Through Christ our Lord. Amen.
religiouslife.com