Is there any orders that focuses on simplicity, preaching, being a theologian, and social justice? Could a Diocesan Priest do all of this?
I don’t see why a diocesan priest cannot do this. As to orders that combine all the above . . . I don’t know. I know that certain orders, such as the branch of the Franciscan order known as the Franciscans (not all of the Franciscan Orders use that as their name); the Franciscans and the Capuchins do not have a specific ministry. Therefore, a friar can be all the above.
The Dominicans focus on preaching, being theologians, simplicity and priesthood. They are not known for being involved in social justice issues. That’s not their call. However, that does not mean that a Dominican cannot be. As a community, they are not involved. Individually, it’s possible, with the permission of the Prior.
Simplicity has many expressions. You can go from the austerity of a Capuchin to the simplicity of a Carmelite. Both live simple lives, but the former is much more austere than the latter. The Carmelite owns his computer and gets an allowance. The Capuchin owns nothing and gets no allowance.
You can take that to the next level and go from the Jesuit to the Franciscan Brother of Life. The Jesuits own great institutions and large pieces of property in common, while the Franciscan Brothers of Life live in rented apartments and borrowed houses. However, the Jesuits do not own these large institutions as individuals. When they move, that institution stays behind. When the order decides to give up a college, they don’t take it with them, nor do they try to make a large profit on a sale. That is certainly simplicity if you compare it to what the rest of the world does.
The priesthood is also expressed differently from one community to another. In some communities, the priesthood is essential to their identity. They were founded to be communities of priests. In other communities, such as my own, the priesthood is accidental. We like to say that we allow priests to join us, even though some of our men are ordained after they have made perpetual vows. Nevertheless, as we say, they are brothers who exercise priestly ministry in service to their brothers and sisters. They don’t see themselves as having a special place in the community.
There was a short period when this was the case, from about 1800 to about 1970. That’s short given the fact that this family was founded in 1209. However, that was a need that the Church had. She asked religious orders to help supply priests to the world. By 1963, it became clear that the Franciscan family had abused the privilege. Vatican II back peddled and tried to correct the mistake by commanding these orders to go back to their roots. In doing so, orders like the Franciscans went back to Tradition. We are a brotherhood of equals with different gifts. Those brothers who have a call to Holy Orders serve the Church as priests. But when they return to the community, they are like every other brother. They obey. They do laundry. They pray. They have duties within the community and most importantly, the community’s life comes before the service to the outside world. So when one of these priests has to choose between hearing celebrating sacraments and going to community recreation, guess which he chooses – community recreation. Like a married man must first choose his wife over his neighbor, the Franciscan must fist choose his brothers over his neighbor. The order, on the other hand, because it exists for the Church, tries to accommodate the needs of the neighbor into its daily routine so that these conflicts rarely come up. However, they do, occasionally. This is another variation on how the priesthood is lived from one religious community to another.
A Father of Mercy belongs to a religious community whose mission is to show the mercy of Christ the priest. They structure their lives around that vision. Unlike the Franciscan, for the Father of Mercy, celebrating a mass for his parishioners comes first and dining with his confreres may have to be sacrificed. Nonetheless, the confreres are unaffected by this, because they all share the same vision and they all do it when they have to do it.
We can’t just talk about simplicity, theological scholarship, priesthood, social justice, etc. All priests, religious and lay people are called to these at some level or another. The degree and the manner in how they do it are going to vary from one situation to another or from one community to another.
A Jesuit would certainly give greater attention to theological scholarship than he would to simplicity. A Franciscan would simply sacrifice the work. Neither is better. They are expressions of the same virtue, obedience to God’s will for you and your community.
The diocesan priest does not have to ask himself what is consistent with the community, because he does not belong to a community. I always like to describe the diocesan as a man who is his own founder, superior general, rule and constitution.
Remember what I said in previous posts. Marriage is the best point of reference when speaking about religious life. Whatever does not work in a marriage may not work in a religious house.
Fraternally,
Br. JR, OSF
But I know enough about the Carmelite spirit and life to see lights flashing when someone says key words: contemplation + community + discipline + priesthood = Carmelites (O’Carm variety). Preaching, teaching, missions, scholarship and priesthood, may be Dominican or Jesuit. Brotherhood, prayer, obedience, poverty, simplicity, and service, may equal one of the Franciscans and so forth.