*Dear Br Jr,I’m not a priest, but am a religious; therefore, I’m celibate. I can say, from personal experience that the call to celibacy is not a call for those who are pure, but a call to pure love.
Fraternally,
Br. JR, OSF
Of course. Whe married people love each other without strings attached, without demands, without unreasonable expectations and when they show their love for each other sexually, they are the living proof of how much Christ loves his Church and how much the Church loves Christ. This is pure love.
*Dear Br. Jr,Of course. Whe married people love each other without strings attached, without demands, without unreasonable expectations and when they show their love for each other sexually, they are the living proof of how much Christ loves his Church and how much the Church loves Christ. This is pure love.
The difference between a married person and a celibate person, whether he is a priest or a religoius is that the celibate person is not a sign of of how much God loves the Church, he is Christ loving the Church. The ordained man is Christ the high priest loving his people, forigiving his people, preaching to his people and sacrificing on the cross for his people.
The religious brother is Christ the first-born of many brothers sisters loving the Church. He is leading the Church to the his heavenly Father by being a brother to every member of the Church, just as Christ is a brother. The brother is the same Jesus Christ who cured the sick, fed the hungry, called the children to come to him, showed the Apostles where to fish, ate with prostitutes, and was the best brother the poor could have.
All of these are forms of pure love.
Fraternally,
Br. JR, OSF
You can’t escape the call to holiness by choosing not to be a priest. You are called to be holy. If marriage is your vocation, then you’re called to be holy as a husband, and in any case you are called to holiness now.
I get what you’re saying but I still see a huge difference between being holy as a priest and as a husband and even as who I am now. The latter two are more free to express and act out their holiness even in an unorthodox way. For priests, there is always a standard (like the popular vows of chastity, poverty etc). Sadly those standards aren’t to my liking.
”Don’t worry, it’s really the latter. However, finding that girl can be a miracle in of itself for me.
That is an awesome description of celibacy. Thank you Brother for sharing your genius with us.I’m not a priest, but am a religious; therefore, I’m celibate. I can say, from personal experience that the call to celibacy is not a call for those who are pure, but a call to pure love.
Fraternally,
Br. JR, OSF
My friend, the mistake we tend to make as humans is we put boundaries on God. I understand you think you are too far gone or not good enough or are to corrupt to ever be called to religious life. Over the course of history God has proven that it is people like you and I(thinking there is know way we would ever be called to religious vocation), that God takes. Look at St. Augustine and St. Paul for examples. These men could not get any farther away. Obviously, you are not nearly a Paul or Augustine before their conversion because you still take part in our faith. I am not saying that you are called to the priesthood or any religious life. Please do not take it that way. I’m just saying have a little more faith, man!
I am pretty much the exact opposite from what I used to be. I go from playing in a hard rock, AC/DC type music band, into a Catholic worship leader at teen events. I would have laughed at you if you told me this would be me a couple years ago. I used to despise all of the praise and worship for some unknown reason. I used to think everyone was just “overdoing” it. Now I’ll be the first one to throw my hands in the air, tears streaming from my face. & you know what? I have never been happier my whole entire life. Not even close.
Eh, see. That’s exactly my point. I’m not afraid. I just don’t like being turned to something I am not.
), my fantasies would still be dark without them! (They may not be sinful anymore but definitely not something you’d expect a traditional priest to come up with. Think Michael Bay + Tetsuya Nomura + Shounen Jump 
)How is someone saying that they think you would make a good priest turning you into something you are not? I just don’t get that.
Not really. Just compliments I know that don’t suit me.
”.Morals and political stances, I totally side on. However, I don’t see why I have to devote my time to novenas, liturgies, and whatnot just to agree with God’s law. Such things aren’t even wholly necessary (unless you wanna prove the Protestants right).
Like I said, either people don’t know me well enough (which happens to me more often than not) or are just desperate to have more priests and nuns that they target every single person they set their sights on (a situation I hope will never happen to me).
So you feel that a compliment that you do not attribute to yourself is an insult? Seems a bit off to me.Not really. Just compliments I know that don’t suit me.
I find that the priest’s standards of a pacifistic mind and a higher level of chastity are not to my taste. (Although frankly, it’s more of the former than the latter).
If you were to compliment me on my vivid writing style, dynamic fight scenes, and even my intermediate gaming skills, I’d go as far as to say “Thanks. I know.
What can I say? I’m pretty individualistic. I’m not fond of things I don’t like being attributed to me.
Let’s see if I can make this simple:
You don’t sound individualistic. You sound controlling. I don’t know if you meant to word it this way. But if I look at this statement, it says to me that when people think something about you that you don’t want them to think, even if they mean it as a compliment, it upsets you, as if you had some control over what others say or think. You may have to move past that. In life people say many things to us about us. Sometimes they are unfair and offensive and intended to be so. In that case we have the right to request that they stop. Other times people say things to us about us without any intention of hurting us. In that case, we have to blow it off and move along.
Yes. There are many priests and brothers who enjoy boxing or wrestling. As you say, it’s a game or better said, it’s a sport. It’s not a fight Would priests and brothers enjoy action movies with robots and explosions etc? Of course. They are like everyone else. Some do enjoy a good action or sci-fi movie. A movie that I enjoyed very much was Transformers. The reason that I liked it was that it was so silly and out of the ordinary. When you deal with the pains of everyday life, a good fantasy offers a good rest.Can you seriously imagine a priest getting a kick out of beating someone else up in a fighting game (or any game for that matter)? How about a priest who enjoys movies full of explosions and robots blasting and bashing each other to twisted pieces of scrap metal?
I know. I don’t see a difference though between blowing it off and gently correcting them that they got something wrong about me. Like I said, I don’t get angry when people are sincere or at least don’t mean to offend with their suggestion.
That’s not the impression I’ve been getting. I’ve seen Trads condemning a priest just for holding an electric guitar. For them, it just doesn’t suit the image of a priest to be contemporary. >_>;;
Still seems pretty odd to me and something I would counsel you to talk to someone about.
Hmmm, well I am a religious brother working towards the priesthood and I do. I collect RPGs, have played D&D and would love to get into a game now, I also have what some might consider pretty violent games on my PC. I love those movies and know of many priests who like them and watch them with me.Can you seriously imagine a priest getting a kick out of beating someone else up in a fighting game (or any game for that matter)? How about a priest who enjoys movies full of explosions and robots blasting and bashing each other to twisted pieces of scrap metal?
You sure? :ehh: I’ve seen a fair few people here say that mixing a priest with anything contemporary makes him a potentially heretical modernist.
Really? Our societies must be completely different. I personally know quite a few priests who enjoy getting out to the golf course, surfing, boxing and playing electric guitar. I don’t know if you have ever heard of Father Hugh O’Flaherty. This man lived at the Vatican during the holocaust and personally saved 4000 Jews. He was known around the Vatican for his boxing habits. He is now being considered for sainthood and converted a nazi that was in charge of killing all of the Jews in Rome.You sure? :ehh: I’ve seen a fair few people here say that mixing a priest with anything contemporary makes him a potentially heretical modernist.
Some may think that but it is not the truth.You sure? :ehh: I’ve seen a fair few people here say that mixing a priest with anything contemporary makes him a potentially heretical modernist.