What if you don't feel called to the priesthood or marriage?

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I’ll leave you with a third repetition of a very germane Biblical piece of Wisdom.

Proverbs 27:2 Let another praise you, and not your own mouth; a stranger, and not your own lips.

Wisdom.

Let us attend.
 
“'No one lights a lamp and puts it in some hidden place or under a tub; they put it on the lamp-stand so that people may see the light when they come in.” – Luke 11:33

There is a difference between praising oneself and not hiding the gifts God has given you.
 
Matthew 6:1-4

"Beware of practising your piety before others in order to be seen by them; for then you have no reward from your Father in heaven.

'So whenever you give alms, do not sound a trumpet before you, as the hypocrites do in the synagogues and in the streets, so that they may be praised by others. Truly I tell you, they have received their reward. 3 But when you give alms, do not let your left hand know what your right hand is doing, 4 so that your alms may be done in secret; and your Father who sees in secret will reward you."

Also, the verse you quoted was taken out of context in a huge way. It’s not saying to go around bragging how “bright” you are - that is NOT what letting your light shine means.
An erudite explanation of said verse can be found in the Haydock Bible:

“As when the eyes of the body are pure, and free from the mixture of bad humours, the whole body is lightsome; so if the eyes of the mind, viz. reason, faith and understanding, are not infected with the pestiferous humours of envy, avarice, and other vices, the whole mind will be illuminated by the presence of the Holy Ghost. Take care, therefore, lest by giving way to these vices, the light which is in thee be turned into darkness.”
 
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I think, in the spirit of charity, we should agree to disagree here. There are social and cultural contexts that change the way you might experience the world as an intelligent, capable man and the way that I experience it as an intelligent, capable woman. I think it might be prudent to acknowledge that your repeatedly scolding me for acknowledging my intelligence runs the risk of simply reinforcing the experiences I spoke about earlier.
 
And welcome to the drama of the unmarried Catholic professional or intellectual. All sorts of folks will try to pigeonhole you into their idea of what you should be or do and act judgmentally if you don’t live up to their preconceived notion of that – all while claiming that they’re the greatest advocates for your so-called “single vocation” and claiming that they have your best interests in mind. I can remember I got an earful once for saying I’d do poorly at a certain monastery because it didn’t seem studious enough and that I’d probably find myself very bored.

In any case, such comments are best ignored. You know yourself; they don’t.
 
If you consider that narcissistic, then you’ve obviously never met a narcissist. Her comment is assertive, no doubt, and uses different wording than I might choose, but I cannot see it belying the façade of self-confidence that masks a deep sense of personal inadequacy that you find in narcissists. No, I see a person who is weary of the needless self-justifications that others who have no business asking for them (like you) continually demand in order that you might bolster your own perhaps faulty schemas of the world, the Church, man, and God.

Please, if you can’t communicate with others from a place of respect, then don’t communicate with them. Whether any of us suffer from pride is between us and our confessors.
 
All she said was she was smart. I’m smart too. Are you all going to lecture me on humility!

I also happen to be an excellent kayaker and I even won a medal once! Look how narcissistic I am!
 
casslean said:
you could basically watch as his spirit was crushed while I explained how I was going back to school to study international human rights law.
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That could be possibly because he liked you and many men are looking for a woman who is eager to put kids before career. I wouldn’t have married a career driven woman. Purely because I am career driven and I am a strong believer that young children need at least one parent at home.
It may not have to do with intelligence at all.

I wouldn’t automatically put it down to men being intimidated by your intelligence.

That said, I don’t see what’s so bad about saying that you feel you need someone on your intellectual wavelength.
 
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AdamPeter said:
That could be possibly because he liked you and many men are looking for a woman who is eager to put kids before career. I wouldn’t have married a career driven woman. Purely because I am career driven and I am a strong believer that young children need at least one parent at home.

It may not have to do with intelligence at all.

I wouldn’t automatically put it down to men being intimidated by your intelligence.
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I might have interpreted it differently if he hadn’t followed up my enthusiastic description of my thesis topic with, “Oh. I didn’t realize you were that smart.” And then cooled significantly towards me.

I was allowed to be smart. Just not that smart.
 
AdamPeter said:
All she said was she was smart. I’m smart too. Are you all going to lecture me on humility!

I also happen to be an excellent kayaker and I even won a medal once! Look how narcissistic I am!
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Nah, but I’ll lecture you on using an exclamation point instead of a question mark. 😉

Also, that’s not “all she said.” Her posts are quite lengthy.
 
Some people are weirdly negative about education and intelligence.
 
I just don’t see why it matters to attack strangers online for admitting they’re smart. If there was another thread by a man who was lamenting his singleness and he admitted he was smart, no one would’ve said anything. But because she’s a woman, people are upset that she said she was smart. ugh
 
AdamPeter said:
Heil Grammar Hitler!
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Hey. All I did was demonstrate my advanced mastery of the English language. I’m sorry that you can’t handle it and have to resort to name calling. I don’t understand why some people have such a problem with education.
 
Something remarkable that I’m noticing on reviewing this thread, and past conversations on this subject, is how the ambition to have eight children is implied as laudable, while the ambition to practice law or teach at university somehow is not. Make no mistake: both are ambitions, and they are often ambitions involving a co-operation with the grace lavished upon us to fulfill a social need. The one, however, is looked at as a normal human aspiration, while the other is looked at as something that only priests, religious, and secularists do. Therefore, if you’re not a priest or religious, then you’re considered rather suspect.

I’d like to see how quickly those who would argue such would revert to savagery if there were no professionals or intellectuals.
 
Didn’t you know? The term “grammar Nazi” is passé. It’s the “alt-write” now.
 
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