D
Don_Ruggero
Guest
Frankly, I think a lot of the problem that I read in this thread – and many others – is a profound lack of comprehension concerning the Theology of Vocation.
On the one hand, I encounter, seemingly ever more and more, expressions that express language and terms of vocare, vocatio, vocasti…but that are simply not such categorically.
People will speak of being called to wear some article of clothing, for example, when it becomes clear that they are drawn or attracted to this but it does not rise to a divine manifestation in their lives. This is a very real problem in the realm of spiritual direction, actually.
On the other hand, people can be – and are – called to live lives that profoundly engage their baptismal consecration and its perfection in confirmation but without the sacrament of marriage or holy order or profession of the evangelical counsels in an institute of perfection. Their life will be, determinedly, in the single state.
An issue that arises derives from the fact that vocation is a manifestation of the Divine Will for the life of a person, when it is authentically vocation. Typically, that vocation is authoritatively discerned by multiple people, including competent ecclesiastical authority, when the matter concerns marriage, holy order, or an institute of perfection.
Even a third order secular is not simply entered into without formation and a discernment on the part of the candidate as well as the appropriate authorities…and both sides must conclude positively at each step…from candidate, to novitiate, to temporary engagement to perpetual incorporation.
The same is true for those who, by the hands of the diocesan bishop, are consecrated as Virgins or Diocesan Hermits according to the norms of Canon Law.
There is no discernment mechanism within the Church for an unconsecrated single vocation because it is not needed. A single person could discern this with a spiritual director but something more interventional from competent ecclesiastical authority is not necessary because it would add nothing to what is the life and what is being lived.
Certainly, in my priesthood, across decades, I have known, encountered, and worked with precisely such people. The divine fingerprint of vocation was very evident in their lives…and in the paths that they had trod…and in the unfolding of the course of their lives…and their cooperation with grace and with the divine plan that God had for them.
Personally, I have always been a promoter and encourager of third orders secular, oblatures, and secular institutes. I have provided assistance also to many concerning profession of private vows – which I always add should be pronounced only with help from a spiritual director and after formation in the theology of vows. However, not everyone is called to this.
There were many single people to whom I provided spiritual direction or counsel who were content with lower level expressions, through organs of Catholic Action and then from the outflow of Apostolicam Actuositatem…working with the Legion of Mary and the Blue Army and Saint Vincent de Paul and the Sodality of the Blessed Virgin as well as, in their parishes, the Altar Society, by teaching in parish education programs, and involvement in parish social ministries, and activities involving the various pious unions and confraternities.
As but one example, I was in a parish that had a secretary/office manager who was a veritable icon for this vocation. She was the dedicated secretary who put in hours over and above the allotted number. She was meticulous with the sacramental records and all record-keeping. She attended daily Mass and had an active prayer life. She helped in the sacristy. She taught religious education to children. She was involved in the parish organizations. She lived in the home that she inherited from her parents, whom she had cared for until their respective deaths. She had never married. She was a remarkable example to everyone she touched and I bless her memory all these many years later; I have never forgotten her but cherish her memory in its own category alongside the Religious and Clergy I have been privilege to work with over the years. It was clear to all who knew her and worked with that this had been the plan of God for her and she cooperated beautifully with it until the day she died.
Of course, this is found beyond those so totally given to the Church in a parish environment as she was…it is seen in various life circumstances involving doctors and nurses and teachers and so forth.
On the one hand, I encounter, seemingly ever more and more, expressions that express language and terms of vocare, vocatio, vocasti…but that are simply not such categorically.
People will speak of being called to wear some article of clothing, for example, when it becomes clear that they are drawn or attracted to this but it does not rise to a divine manifestation in their lives. This is a very real problem in the realm of spiritual direction, actually.
On the other hand, people can be – and are – called to live lives that profoundly engage their baptismal consecration and its perfection in confirmation but without the sacrament of marriage or holy order or profession of the evangelical counsels in an institute of perfection. Their life will be, determinedly, in the single state.
An issue that arises derives from the fact that vocation is a manifestation of the Divine Will for the life of a person, when it is authentically vocation. Typically, that vocation is authoritatively discerned by multiple people, including competent ecclesiastical authority, when the matter concerns marriage, holy order, or an institute of perfection.
Even a third order secular is not simply entered into without formation and a discernment on the part of the candidate as well as the appropriate authorities…and both sides must conclude positively at each step…from candidate, to novitiate, to temporary engagement to perpetual incorporation.
The same is true for those who, by the hands of the diocesan bishop, are consecrated as Virgins or Diocesan Hermits according to the norms of Canon Law.
There is no discernment mechanism within the Church for an unconsecrated single vocation because it is not needed. A single person could discern this with a spiritual director but something more interventional from competent ecclesiastical authority is not necessary because it would add nothing to what is the life and what is being lived.
Certainly, in my priesthood, across decades, I have known, encountered, and worked with precisely such people. The divine fingerprint of vocation was very evident in their lives…and in the paths that they had trod…and in the unfolding of the course of their lives…and their cooperation with grace and with the divine plan that God had for them.
Personally, I have always been a promoter and encourager of third orders secular, oblatures, and secular institutes. I have provided assistance also to many concerning profession of private vows – which I always add should be pronounced only with help from a spiritual director and after formation in the theology of vows. However, not everyone is called to this.
There were many single people to whom I provided spiritual direction or counsel who were content with lower level expressions, through organs of Catholic Action and then from the outflow of Apostolicam Actuositatem…working with the Legion of Mary and the Blue Army and Saint Vincent de Paul and the Sodality of the Blessed Virgin as well as, in their parishes, the Altar Society, by teaching in parish education programs, and involvement in parish social ministries, and activities involving the various pious unions and confraternities.
As but one example, I was in a parish that had a secretary/office manager who was a veritable icon for this vocation. She was the dedicated secretary who put in hours over and above the allotted number. She was meticulous with the sacramental records and all record-keeping. She attended daily Mass and had an active prayer life. She helped in the sacristy. She taught religious education to children. She was involved in the parish organizations. She lived in the home that she inherited from her parents, whom she had cared for until their respective deaths. She had never married. She was a remarkable example to everyone she touched and I bless her memory all these many years later; I have never forgotten her but cherish her memory in its own category alongside the Religious and Clergy I have been privilege to work with over the years. It was clear to all who knew her and worked with that this had been the plan of God for her and she cooperated beautifully with it until the day she died.
Of course, this is found beyond those so totally given to the Church in a parish environment as she was…it is seen in various life circumstances involving doctors and nurses and teachers and so forth.
