“I
FEEL IT WOULD BE A WASTE OF MY LIFE!”
To
give ourselves away, freely and totally and purely out of love is the highest
of all human acts. Christ Himself has shown us this. He has also shown us that
this highest human act brings about the most superior of all results.
What
do you imagine you could do that could possibly surpass the total gift of
yourself to Him who has first given Himself for you? Is your life so wonderful
and full of promise that it would be wasted on the One who "made you and
on whom you depend".?
It
is really a sign that we have taken on the mind of the world and tuned out on
the mind of God that we have such great expectations of our own potential and
so little concept of the humility that moved in the heart of our Blessed Lady
when she sang her "Magnificat."
Is
it possible to imagine the Mother of God protesting to the angel" it would
be such a waste of my life!". Can one utter these words and remain true to
Christ who "emptied Himself" out of infinite love for His people?
“I
CAN DO MORE FOR GOD AND THE CHURCH AS A LAY PERSON.”
It
is one of the catch-cries in the Church today that this is the 'coming of age
of the laity'.While it is true that the role of the laity needed to be restored
to its full and proper dignity, this has become something of a justification
or, perhaps, a mask for the dreadful reality that religious life has now faded
almost to nothingness, taking with it whole vital dimensions of witness to the
Christian message and whittling away the very life and holiness of the Church.
The
Church is first and foremost HOLY. She is the source of holiness for Her
members and she depends on their holinesss. Holiness has its sights beyond this
world. It brings to us the bright hopes of the Kingdom of Heaven and saves us
from being overcome by the cares and suffering of life on earth. The Church
needs religious, and it needs them specifically, because:
- Religious are those who stake everything on the Kingdom of Heaven.
- They give up everything for this Pearl of Great Price.
- They witness with their lives that true human fulfilment lies in God alone.
Could
you do more than proclaim WITH YOUR LIFE to a world that is fast losing hope,
that HEAVEN IS REAL and that GOD IS ALL?.
“PRACTICALLY
NO-ONE THESE DAYS ENTERS RELIGIOUS LIFE.”
There
is certainly a world-wide crisis of religious vocations. The Holy Father
expresses the traditional thinking of the Church when he tells us that good
religious vocations are a sign of health in the Church, so this rarity of
vocational response in many parts of the Church is a very fundamental problem.
If the Church's life and holiness is impaired by a lack of religious witness,
the world at large can only slide further into moral corruption and paganism.
This
situation, far from being an excuse for sidestepping a call from God, actually
throws out a challenge to us to take an active part in turning things around.
God has wonderful plans for the regeneration of religious life, and if you do
some research you will discover that, in certain places and in certain
communities, a "new spring" is really taking place. It may take a lot
of courage and dedication, but the rebuilding of religious life is the only way
forward and God just MAY be calling you to be part of that..
“PEOPLE
WOULD THINK I'D GONE CRAZY!”
What
if they did? What might that suggest about you? And about them? Perhaps your
friends and family know you rather too well. Perhaps they rightly doubt that
you have the human and spiritual qualities that go to make a good religious.
But perhaps, on the other hand, they lack a certain supernatural sense and a
truly spiritual value-system and look on a religious vocation as an "
opting out of real life " or a waste of talents, opportunities and so on.
Perhaps both you, and they, underrate the power of God's grace.
You
would, indeed, be crazy to pursue a religious vocation if you don't have the
basic qualities required by the Church or by the particular Order you decide to
join, - not because you'll be likely to fail somewhere along the line, but
because not having the basic requirements is a sign that this life is not God's
Will for you. You would truly be chasing after illusions.
But
what if you do have those basic requirements? What if God is calling you to consecrate
yourself to Him totally? It would be crazy, then, to do anything but answer
'here I am Lord, I come to do your Will".
“I
CERTAINLY DON'T HAVE THE NECESSARY QUALITIES.”
Have
you any realistic idea of what these qualities are? Probably the best way to
achieve this is to read the lives of a series of canonised saints who have
lived the religious state with great perfection.
First
you will notice that a great many of these saints did not come to religious
life as ready-made saints; rather they became so under the influence of and by
cooperating with the grace of their religious state. Then you will notice that
there are certain qualities truly basic and necessary to the living of the life
of perfection; qualities that these saints have in common despite the unique
personal traits of each one. What are they? Do you have them?
- Do you believe in God?
- Do you love Him above all?
- Can you entrust Him with your life?
- Are you able to be truly humble? ( ie fully realistic about yourself)
- Are you "other-centred" ; capable of pure and unselfish love?
- Are you capable of self-discipline?
- Are you prepared to endure suffering for Christ and in union with Him?
Of
course you also have to be able to satisfy the requirements of Church law, but
this is not in itself the sign of a call to religious life. The qualities you
need are more potentialities than active possessions and , strangely, they are
the same qualities needed for a saintly life in, say, marriage.
Perhaps,
then it is up to you to get busy acquiring the virtues you need for the service
of God and growing in those you already possess. It is never valid to elude a
religious vocation by pleading lack of virtue. The only thing you can plead is
the lack of grace for this particular vocation; and it takes a good deal of
prayer and familiarity with God to know whether or not He has given you this
grace. Certainly it is a bad mistake to draw up a list of idealised,
"plaster-saint" virtues and then decide promptly that you do not
measure up to them. Let God speak to you with His Divine realism. Be brave
enough to hear what He has to say.
“I
HAVE NO WAY OF KNOWING, FOR CERTAIN, IF I REALLY HAVE A VOCATION TO RELIGIOUS
LIFE.”
Many
people today judge certainty on the strength of their feelings about the thing
in question. Many people make their vocational decisions and responses using
the same criteria.
Faith
tells us that our God is Truth; the sole source of our certainty. So rather
than examining our own feelings about our vocation, we do better to let Him
show us the way and to keep our eyes open so as not to miss it.
If
we do not hear His voice; do not see his signals, it is not because they are
not being given. Rather it is because our hearts are full of their own loves
and their own plans and we are busy trying to get God to conform His Will to
them.
It
is wrong to look for standard, no-fail clues to identifying a religious
vocation. There are none. Each vocation is unique and utterly personal and the
way to discovery and response is likewise. The secret is staying close to God;
being prepared to hear what He speaks when He speaks; and being prepared for
the surprises - even shocks- He may give you. It takes faith and great trust to
hear and follow a religious vocation in the self-preoccupied, unspiritual,
pleasure-seeking world of today.
“I'M
NOT READY, YET, TO MAKE ANY BIG LIFE-COMMITMENTS.”
No?
Then you are not yet ready for the life of a mature adult Christian.
From
all eternity God has called you to total commitment TO Him through a total
commitment IN a particular way of life. At a certain point in the life of one
who loves God, there arises an urgency to anchor and orient one's life in an
irreversible gift of self through MARRIAGE, or the PRIESTHOOD or through a LIFE
OF CONSECRATION TO HIM.
The
Holy Father Pope John Paul II speaks of a tendency in our opportunity-filled
world of today for people to choose a 'life of probation" ; a life in
which they perpetually put life to the test without, themselves, ever
submitting to those ultimate tests of the mature believer.
To
say that you are not yet ready for total commitment is to say that you have not
yet found your life's definitive direction. Is this because:
- God has not yet shown it to you?
- You have not yet reached the appropriate stage of human and spiritual development?
- You are prevented and handicapped by life-circumstances which are not of your choosing? ...( All valid reasons).
Or
is it because you are:
- Afraid of the high cost of commitment.?
- Lacking in sufficient faith and trust in God?
- Too lazy to do the necessary thinking, praying and preparation?
- Too fond of your 'freedom'?
Your
answers to these and questions like them are of crucial importance to your
happiness, fulfilment and peace of soul. Freedom is one of the greatest and
most universally sought-after human values. But we must be careful not to fall
for what the world calls 'freedom'. For the Christian freedom lies in doing the
Divine Will of God. The most perfectly we do it, the more perfectly are we are
true selves; the more uninhibited we are by false affections and bonds.
In
the end, then, we must face the question of what kind of total commitment God
calls us to. And once we have found the answer, our response must be prompt,
full and totally free.
“I
DON'T KNOW OF ANY CONVENTS OR MONASTERIES WHERE I FEEL I COULD TRULY LIVE
RELIGIOUS LIFE AS I BELIEVE IT SHOULD BE LIVED.”
There
is no doubt that the range of choice for those looking for true religious life,
is far narrrower than in the past. But there is still a choice and if God is
calling you to religious life His Providence will see to it that there is a
place for you to go.
There
are, however, some vital questions here which you must address if you are not
to miss the details of God's plan for you. Are you, by any chance excusing
yourself from the following of Christ simply because you do not know of such a
thing as a perfect monastery or convent - or the perfect one for YOU? None of
the saints lived in perfect monasteries or convents. There is no such things on
earth as a perfect monastery or convent. And the only perfect one for you is
the one to which God calls you.
If
you are serious in your search for a place to live religious life you must do
two basic things:
*Make
yourself acquainted with the Church's understanding of the religious life and
with what it teaches are the essential marks and qualities of authentic
religious life. You will then be equipped with the right criteria for a true
judgement.
*Do
some proper, first-hand investigation of a good number of religious communities
and see how far they adhere to and uphold the Church's teaching, especially on
religious life.
There
are religious communities of ancient origin and more recent foundations; large
communities and small ones; communities devoted to active work of various kinds
and communities specifically devoted to contemplative prayer; communities which
seem to be drawing to a close and those which are beginning or beginning again.
Those deserving of your attention are :
*the
ones which offer you a life-style that reflects the religious rather than the
secular.
*the
ones which will offer you challenge rather than a comfortable existence.
*the
ones which give opportunity for sacrifice and renunciation.
*the
ones whose spirituality is in the main stream of Church teaching and tradition.
*the
ones which will inform and support your faith in Christ and in His Church.
It
may seem natural in these days of scarce vocations to consider one is bestowing
a favour on a community - and even on God - by offering oneself as a candidate.
The spirit of true self-gift must still prevail, however, whereby we say humbly
to God " Here I am, Lord, O come to do your Will", - without
reservations, without qualification and without equivocation. His grace is
always there, and it is always sufficient.
To What Is He Calling
You?...