Vocation Guidance - Religious vs. Single

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thecommongentry said:
@timber501,
I can feel where you’re coming from. Although I’ve never left the church, I have experienced certain ebbs and flows with my relationship with God and how intense I express that relationship.

HOWEVER, I’ve noticed that since working at this one At-Risk high school for 4 years, it has been wearing on my spirit. I’ve become angrier and bitter, starting cursing, and my body is breaking down (high blood pressure, fibroids, depression).

To counter the negativity of my secular life, I’ve remained loyal to my parish by being a Eucharistic Minister and Proclaimer, in addition to being a catechist for Confirmation. I feel safe in church, but surviving the weekdays are difficult.
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That’s a tough environment you have! It inspires me to be more active within my Parrish.
 
NikosLaos said:
whatever you do, dont let the vocation concern overtake the priority of growing in virtue and in relationship with God. on the contrary, the vocation grows out of building a relationship with God. Seek, but stay grounded on living the gospel where you are. and abandon yourself to God’s providence.
May God bless you !
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Appreciate the advice, that does cross my mind often - not to feel forced to move too quickly. Spot on.
 
@timber501,
I know that you’re looking for a long-term solution/new life-style that’s in line with the call you’re praying to answer, but during those moments of stress and spiritual drought, what advice have you gotten so far – asides from Adoration – that have aided during those tough times/battles of spiritual warfare/this phase of discernment?
 
JamalChristophr said:
Don’t worry about the 35 age limit. Many monasteries only set that as a guideline and can easily make exceptions.

Start discerning. Don’t ignore a strong inspiration to look into religious life.

Also, spend time in Eucharistic Adoration. That is how best to hear what God is saying.
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Good to know, like the “go for it” type advice and need to get to Adoration.
 
thecommongentry said:
I’ve been looking through the forums and even instigated a thread, but how do you know that Single-Life is a vocation?

I’ve been getting conflicting information. Primarily, outside of the internet, I’ve been told Single-Life actual is a vocation. However, online redirects and replies have told me otherwise.
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Great question. I’d say a vocation to the single life is probably the least understood, and as a result maybe the most misunderstood of vocations. This also leads to a wide range of opinions on it. The typical arguement I hear is something along the lines of it being a choice of “last resort” or “just a stage”, or people just fall into it because nothing else seems to work out. That is probably true for some single men and women, but it is certainly not true for all. The fact is, there are folks who God calls to live their life in the world as single, chaste men and women.

http://www.gbdioc.org/vocations/single-life.html

http://www.catholicozvocations.org.au/Home/My-Vocation/Single-Life

http://www.usccb.org/beliefs-and-te...pload/what-my-vocation-junior-high-unit-I.pdf (page 13 & 14)

https://www.archmil.org/Vocations/Single-Life.htm
 
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PapyrusDouay said:
The fact is, there are folks who God calls to live their life in the world as single, chaste men and women.
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Very well said! it is in this sense that Pope Pius 12 in 1947 formally recognized secular institutes as a way of the guidance of single laity vocations.
The Church officially recognizes the lay singles vocation, I do not understand why there is still debate on it …
 
thecommongentry said:
@timber501,
I know that you’re looking for a long-term solution/new life-style that’s in line with the call you’re praying to answer, but during those moments of stress and spiritual drought, what advice have you gotten so far – asides from Adoration – that have aided during those tough times/battles of spiritual warfare/this phase of discernment?
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Since I’ve been back to the Catholic faith I haven’t had much of a spiritual drought. Also have not been discerning for a long time as I’m in the beginning stages. But in times of adversity I may take a walk and re-focus on god and what is important. I’ve noticed myself becoming consistently more detached as a result.
 
The Church does not officially recognize lay single life per se as a vocation. But we already had that discussion elsewhere. There is no official magisterial document that does this. However, there are plenty of documents which recognize the universal call to holiness.
 
the apostolic constitution “Provida Mater Ecclesia” of Pope Pius XI officially recognizes that one can have the vocation to live as single in the world!
 
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I have read Provida Mater. It is not being single per se that is the vocation of a secular institute member!
 
the members of a secular institute must be single in the world, it is an obligation for the secular institute!
 
That’s great. But they aren’t simply “singles”. That’s my point.
 
Yes, but it is possible to be single in the world because one follows a call from God, So being single in the world can be a vocation!
 
Do you consider a priest to be single, or me, a Bride of Christ to be single? By the way, I’m done with this conversation. You can refer to the other thread for more information on my stance on the issue. Baptism brings the universal call (vocation) to holiness. Being a single person in and of itself is not an ecclesial vocation. Period.
 
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Yes, that’s right. It all depends on how the word “vocation” is being used.
 
Why not?
Someone can be a priest for personal reasons that have nothing to do with faith. In appearance he follows a vocation whereas in reality he is just looking for his own interest.
In the same way, someone can marry for his own sake and not for God. It does not follow a vocation for God, contrary to the appearances
Someone may be single for God without being a priest or a religious. In appearance it does not follow a vocation whereas in reality it is the opposite.

Men look at appearances, God look at the heart …
 
Still, the Church recognizes very well that there are people who are called to live single in the world without being a priest or religious, otherwise she should not recognize the secular institutes
 
JamalChristophr said:
Yes, that’s right. It all depends on how the word “vocation” is being used.
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A vocation is a particular call from God. God can call someone to never get married, nor to be a religious, but to stay single in the world!
It’s so difficult to understand that?
 
🙂

Je ne comprends pas.

In the past, the word vocation was used in a strict sense of a religious vocation, so that is how some people learned the idea of “vocation”. I agree with you, but I can see how others are pointing out that the older usage of the word meant a vocation to some form of religious life.
 
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I am serious, I do not speak to you particularly, but I would really like to know why it is so difficult to accept this.
 
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