As someone else said, it’s possibly you can still be called to religious life, just not that group that has already said “no”.
And listen to the doctors, they get paid to be doctors
Indeed, if one feels called to religious life and is not accepted by one group or even a few groups, one should not give up on religious life as long as the desire persists - rather continue to apply to other communites.
Re doctors. Medicine and medical people are Gifts of God in the struggle against suffering. They are not infallible, since God Gifts to fallible humans (which doctors are) and mistakes and errors can be made by fallible humans. By and large, I am presuming that mistakes and errors are in the minority in medicine and we should be grateful and praise offered to God for medicine and medical people and His Gifts to us - and intercession too that medicine and medical people will continue to grow and perfect their science.
Of interest, there is a real movement within psychiatry and psychology to uphold that human beings have a spiritual dimension - as well as the emotional and mental. This indicates growth and growing within the science for which we should be grateful and praising and interceding too that it will continue to grow towards truth which is an aspect of Ultimate Truth or God. Science, ideally, is the search for truth.
Ideally too, the spiritual director and the doctor will work together, each recognizing the limits and boundaries of their own brief. The doctor will recognize when it is time to refer the patient to the director - as the director recognizes when it is time to refer the directee to the doctor. Thus with those seeking the assistance of a psychiatrist and/or psychologist and a spiritual director, they need to ensure that each does understand the limits of their brief and that the person is consulting also the spiritual director or the psychiatrist or psychologist, whichever may apply.
Quoting Perfect Timing: Medication is often not intended as a permanent solution, but as a tool to be used in addition to counselling and therapy and with the intention of eventually coming off the medication. It sounds like this could be the case for you. It might be best though to wait until you are fully independent of the medication so that you can show a potential religious order that you have overcome your difficulties.
Well stated and the key words are “is often not intended”. For some conditions, medication may be necessary for life as I am confident Perfect Timing understands. Although, in the case of the OP, Christine85, it does seem that medication has been a tool only in overcoming her difficulties and the medication may well be abandoned at some point. Important, however, to not do so without medical confirmation and assistance in coming off the medication if necessary.
It might be best though to wait until you are fully independent of the medication so that you can show a potential religious order that you have overcome your difficulties.
Good point. I feel sure that religious communities will be more favourably impressed with an application after a successful period off medication than to apply while still on medication.
It can be very difficult and a real suffering for those who are on medication (or other impediments of some kind) and have an ardent desire to give themselves and their whole life to God in religious life. But after reflecting on the email, I think that my Carmelite Prioress was quite theologically correct. For those that have the ardent desire for religious life and for all the right reasons, but have impediments of some kind, that The Lord embraces them with Great Love. He embraces them as if they had already entered religious life, though asking of them a deep suffering, a huge sacrifice of their own desires for their lives and a cross which could be lifelong.
TS
