Group items tagged

The word “vocation”has its roots in the Latin word vocare, which means “to call”. A vocation is a calling. The Second Vatican Council clearly stated that we all have a call to holiness. But within that universal call to holiness, there are two main “states of life”—marriage and celibacy for the kingdom. (The main call to celibacy can be further divided into priesthood and consecrated or religious life.)  We rightfully say that both states of life are vocations since both calls ultimately find their origin and their end in God

Yes, every priest and nun, even the Pope, is called to marriage, insofar as they are human beings. Theologically, this can best be understood in what Blessed John Paul II called the “spousal meaning of the body.” This means that the ensouled body, the person, is meant for the gift of self, particularly in marriage. Marriage is something to which every human person is called; it is the “default” vocation for all humans. So marriage, at its most basic level, is a natural vocation, a call written into our very DNA, into the very structure of our being. The married person is called to give himself totally to one person in love, while the celibate is called to give himself to all.

This understanding, that marriage is a vocation written into our human nature, helps us to comprehend how it differs from celibacy as a vocation. Unlike the call to marriage, which is internal, the call to celibacy is external; it comes from outside of our nature. The vocation to celibacy has a purely supernatural basis since it invites us to renounce the natural vocation to marriage for the sake of the kingdom. In addition, Scripture is clear that celibacy must be received and lived as a supernatural grace (cf. Mt 19:11-12). Without this gift, one cannot properly live the vocation of celibacy for the kingdom.

The following quotes help us to see how the church has always upheld the primacy of conscience even if at times this teaching was a well kept secret. "He who acts against his conscience loses his soul." (Fourth Lateran council, 1215) "It is better to perish in excommunication than to violate one's conscience." (St. Thomas Aquinas) "I shall drink . . To Conscience first, and to the Pope afterwards." (Cardinal John Henry Newman) "If Newman places conscience above authority, he is not proclaiming anything new with respect to the constant teaching of the Church." (Pope John Paul II) "In the final analysis, conscience is inviolable and no person is to be forced to act in a manner contrary to his/her conscience, as the moral tradition of the Church attests." (Human Life in Our Day, U.S. Bishops Pastoral) "A human being must always follow the certain judgment of his conscience. If he were to deliberately act against it he would condemn himself." Catechism of the Catholic Church #1790) "We follow church leaders only to the extent that they themselves follow Christ. . . Some situations oblige one to obey God and one's own conscience rather than the leaders of the church. Indeed, one may even be obliged to accept excommunication rather than act against one's own conscience." (Cardinal Walter Kasper, Head of Ecumenical Matters at the Vatican.)

At the Sunday Angelus, Pope Benedict XVI spoke of the “new law” of love which Jesus offered during the Sermon on the Mount. He called on all people to follow Christ on the path to a more fraternal and supportive society. From the window of his studio, the pontiff prayed the traditional Sunday Angelus prayer with the  pilgrims gathered in St. Peter's Square. Among them were hundreds of representatives of the  Community of Sant'Egidio. The “new law” of Jesus is recounted in Sunday's Gospel reading from Matthew. In it, said Pope Benedict, Jesus declares the “definitive revelation of the law” which he brought at his coming.

“Love is the fulfillment of the law,” the Pope added, quoting the words of St. Paul from the book of Romans. In this light, the death of four ethnic Roma children in the outskirts of Rome last week “makes us to ask ourselves if a more supportive and fraternal society, more coherent in love, that is more Christian, may not have been able to avoid this tragic fact.” On Feb. 6, the four burned to death when the shack they were living in caught fire. The Community of Sant'Egidio, the Diocese of Rome and Caritas have all shown their support in recent days for more complete measures of social integration to provide for the wellbeing of the Roma and other migrant peoples who often live in very poor conditions. This question of responding to a rule of love, said the Pope, is valid for “so many other painful events, more or less noted, that happen daily in our cities and our countries.” Jesus, he said, “descended from Heaven to bring us Heaven, to the height of God, on the path of love. He himself is this path: we must not do anything but follow him, to put the will of God in practice and enter into his Kingdom, in eternal life.” He asked for the faithful to place their lives - as the Virgin Mary did - under the complete guidance of God’s law of love.

The Beatitudes are the teachings of Jesus in the Sermon on the Mount (Matthew 5:1-10). Jesus teaches us that if we live according to the Beatitudes, we will live a happy Christian life. The Beatitudes do not provide specific directions on how we should live our lives, as the Ten Commandments do. Rather, they inspire us to adopt a certain mindset or vision for our lives, namely, the vision of Jesus Christ. The Beatitudes challenge us to be people of virtue. Virtue is a firm attitude, mindset, or disposition to do good. For the virtuous person, doing good is a habit. Through the Beatitudes, Jesus calls us to change our vision and learn that in order to be happy (blessed), we must be peace-loving, merciful, clean of heart, and meek.

Living the Beatitudes is a lifelong task because the Beatitudes turn upside down the values of the world. The world sets up the rich to be first; Jesus puts the poor on top of the world. The world tells us to seek happiness at all costs; Jesus saw happiness in mourning. The world values power over others; Jesus praised the meek. The world encourages self-fulfillment; Jesus told us to work for justice. The world says that the merciless succeed; Jesus proclaimed blessed the merciful. The world announces, Go for the gold!; Jesus taught us to keep our hearts pure. The world honors the winners of wars; Jesus celebrated peacemakers. The world sees the persecuted as losers; Jesus declared them the winners.

So what are some ways that we can develop the Beatitudes in our own lives? First, we can rest assured that the Holy Spirit is already at work within us, drawing us toward God and inspiring our desire to be a Beatitudes-type of person. Second, like anything we hope to develop in ourselves, we must be open, learn, and study. Pay attention to the people you know who model a particular beatitude. Think of ways you can model their behavior in your own life. Finally, talk with God in prayer. Ask him to help you out and to teach you how to develop the Beatitudes in your mind, heart, and actions.

Because it crosses so many different boundaries in human experience, religion is notoriously difficult to define. Many attempts have been made, however, and while every theory has its limitations, each perspective contributes to our understanding of this complex phenomenon. Here are some of the ideas that have most inspired scholars of religion: