This is the final in the series of the four strategic areas of concern for Catholics. For a clearer understanding of this please read Monday’s post.VOCATIONS
Of course everyone thinks of priestly and religious vocations when one mentions vocations, but the idea is much broader than that here. There is not one person reading this blog that does not have a vocation. Our vocation is the way we choose to live life that gives glory to God, promotes the kingdom, and provides a means by which we become holy.
The single life is most definitely a chosen vocation. Being single has certain expectation and ways of living that are expected that provides opportunities for being a disciple of Christ in ways that are unique to the single state.
Marriage is a vocation and we as Church run into problems when we fail to recognize that and think that vocations are something reserved for priests, deacons, brothers and sisters. When “vocation” and “marriage” are separated, vocations become odd or quirky. It is something that “those people” do. The lives of those with a “vocation” can seem exotic.
A young lady fro
m this parish left us recently to join the Sisters of Life in New York. She had to move away to be with the people with whom she would be living and working and took vows to be with them. She donned a full habit and is living by certain rules with lifestyle expectations from those both within and outside the community. It is the means by which she serves God and her fellow man and works out her own salvation.
But we should not fail to see marriage in the same light. When a person enters into marriage by his or her own free will, they become subject to divinely made laws and essential properties of marriage. The spouse moves away to be with the one with whom he will be living and working and takes vows to that effect. Married person put on their own type of habit, a wedding ring which announces loudly that they are tied to another and that their vows assume a certain type of behavior with lifestyle expectations from those both within and outside the family unit. It is a means by which that person serves God and his fellow man and works out his own salvation
.
I tell couples at their wedding mass often that they are not just getting married, but they are marrying as Catholics in a sacred vocation in the Church. Be good at it. Your wedding is more than just for you, it is for me, for those whom you gathered here at your wedding mass, and for all those with whom you will come in contact throughout your married life because this world so desperately needs an example of what true love is. You are disciples of God’s love to the world.
Priests, vowed life, single, married, all have essential roles in the life of the Church, all with unique opportunities and responsibilities, all called to be disciples. All are vocations that need our prayerful support for the success of the mission of His Church on earth.
Marriage is a vocation and we as Church run into problems when we fail to recognize that and think that vocations are something reserved for priests, deacons, brothers and sisters. When “vocation” and “marriage” are separated, vocations become odd or quirky. It is something that “those people” do. The lives of those with a “vocation” can seem exotic.
A young lady fro
m this parish left us recently to join the Sisters of Life in New York. She had to move away to be with the people with whom she would be living and working and took vows to be with them. She donned a full habit and is living by certain rules with lifestyle expectations from those both within and outside the community. It is the means by which she serves God and her fellow man and works out her own salvation.But we should not fail to see marriage in the same light. When a person enters into marriage by his or her own free will, they become subject to divinely made laws and essential properties of marriage. The spouse moves away to be with the one with whom he will be living and working and takes vows to that effect. Married person put on their own type of habit, a wedding ring which announces loudly that they are tied to another and that their vows assume a certain type of behavior with lifestyle expectations from those both within and outside the family unit. It is a means by which that person serves God and his fellow man and works out his own salvation
.I tell couples at their wedding mass often that they are not just getting married, but they are marrying as Catholics in a sacred vocation in the Church. Be good at it. Your wedding is more than just for you, it is for me, for those whom you gathered here at your wedding mass, and for all those with whom you will come in contact throughout your married life because this world so desperately needs an example of what true love is. You are disciples of God’s love to the world.
Priests, vowed life, single, married, all have essential roles in the life of the Church, all with unique opportunities and responsibilities, all called to be disciples. All are vocations that need our prayerful support for the success of the mission of His Church on earth.
2 comments:
Why not use the truth for the church's mission statement? "Let's ruin as many lives as possible, cause as much suffering as we can, then pretend suffering is good". Real winner, in the PR department, but, at least the church would be telling the truth for the first time in its history.
I suppose that makes me a sadomasochist. Okay if you're in to that sort of thing - which - I surmise - I am according to the above. ;>)
You're still in my prayers Jeffrey.
Hang in there.
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