Year III, Number 20

The many contradictions and potentialities marking our societies and cultures -- as well as ecclesial communities -- are perceived, lived and experienced by our young people with a particular intensity and have immediate and very acute repercussions on their personal growth. Thus, the emergence and development of priestly vocations among boys, adolescents and young men are continually under pressure and facing obstacles.

The lure of the so - called "consumer society" is so strong among young people that they become totally dominated and imprisoned by an individualistic, materialistic and hedonistic interpretation of human existence. Material "well - being," which is so intensely sought after, becomes the one ideal to be striven for in life, a well - being which is to be attained in any way and at any price. There is a refusal of anything that speaks of sacrifice and a rejection of any effort to look for and to practice spiritual and religious values. The all - determining "concern" for having supplants the primacy of being, and consequently personal and interpersonal values are interpreted and lived not according to the logic of giving and generosity but according to the logic of selfish possession and the exploitation of others.

This is particularly reflected in that outlook on human sexuality according to which sexuality's dignity in service to communion and to the reciprocal donation between persons becomes degraded and thereby reduced to nothing more than a consumer good. In this case, many young people undergo an affective experience which, instead of contributing to a harmonious and joyous growth in personality which opens them outward in an act of self - giving, becomes a serious psychological and ethical process of turning inward toward self, a situation which cannot fail to have grave consequences on them in the future.

Q. Dear Fr. Bannon,

What do you do if you really feel like God is calling you to be married but you really want to be a religious? Is the desire to be consecrated enough?

A. Dear Marie,

I must admit this is a first for me. The question I am used to getting is "what do you do if you feel God is calling you to be a nun but you really want to get married?" and yours is the reverse. Thankfully the same principles apply, so I will try to give you something that might help you.

The secret will be to break out of an unconscious fence we often put around our lives, one that you express in the words "I FEEL like God wants me to be married, but I WANT to be a religious". These words let you know that the point of reference is still yourself, and the simple solution to begin to find some light is to step beyond this fence. The way to do this is to go beyond impressions and look for reasons, and ask yourself what your faith says about the situation.

Why do you get the impression God wants you to be married? Why do you want to be a religious? These are the first questions you could tackle, and it may take longer than you think to work through them, you will come up with new and at times conflicting answers as you give time to them. Then it is very important to speak to someone whose judgment you trust and go over your thoughts with that person to get some feedback. It is also important to make sure that your reasoning does take into account what your faith tells you (about the value of life, for instance, the value of a soul, and the reality of God's providence) so that you do not limit your reflections to a "cold examination of the facts". Instead talk about it with Christ, especially after you receive Communion, and offer up your prayer, the rosary, asking for light and help.

Not everybody who would like to is called to be a religious, so the desire to be consecrated is not enough. If that is your vocation there will be other signs too, signs that will point to the fact that HE wants you to be a religious. A vocation is a call. He calls. Our desire quite apart from the attraction we feel one way or another, should be to want to do what he wants.

God bless. - Fr Anthony

Q. Why do I have this dry feeling? (When I was younger I loved to pray.) Why does it feel that everyone is telling me to join the religious life when I am having these dry feelings? (I don’t feel that I am worthy to join the religious order at times but I find peace when I am there.) Please be kind to give me some idea of what I am to do since I love the Holy Blessed Trinity and I would love to do what my vocational call is whether it is to be a wife and mother or a nun. I just want to know what I am to do. I don’t want to be confused or have this dryness for the rest of my life. Please help me if you can somehow. Please pray for me. Thank you and God Bless. Sorry if I sound confusing but I am so very confused. - Jen

A. Dear Jen,

Let’s see what we can make of your confusion. Your main burden now seems to be your dryness, and that is what is coloring and affecting your thoughts about everything else (you feel unworthy of a vocation because of it, and yet you want to love God above all else).

Dryness is good, believe it or not. It gives us the opportunity to see our faith in action, to see if I can go ahead based on what I know rather than how I feel. Dryness doesn’t change God or reality outside us, it is only a change inside us. Sometimes dryness is only on the level of our feelings, and sometimes it is much deeper, a real darkness of the soul and test of our faith.

In dryness you have to hold onto and deepen in what you already know for sure: God is there, he loved you so much that he created you and then sent his Son so you would be free from sin; he is really present in the Eucharist, he takes away your sins in Confession, he listens when you pray, he wants what is best for you, he gave you the gift of baptism and therefore wants you to bring him to others.

As regards having or not a vocation, there are too many unknowns for me to answer you. Your age, freedom, obligations, and past will all affect the answer. But let me just tell you something in general: it may be best to pay more attention to praying with your whole heart at this stage. Pick the time you are going to dedicate to prayer each day (Mass, Communion, Rosary, some Gospel reading...), not too much, things that you can do every day without fail, and make them your big act of faith, the special thing you do for God each day to pay back his love, no matter how you feel as you do them. It is for him, not for you, remember.

It seems to me that as soon as you take your mind off your dryness you will see the answer to your vocation question. Your friends seem to! And, something very important and favorable, you seem to be open to it and ready to do whatever God wants. This should work out well.

God bless. – Fr Anthony

Q. I have some interest in a vocation as at the moment I am between jobs I can see one being able to carry out some of the tasks of a priest visiting the sick, marriages, funerals, baptisms, and some administrative work associated with the parish etc. I currently assist a priest on Sundays at mass. However reading the catholic newspapers and seeing some of the academic quality of some of the late vocations I feel a little lost. (Some are qualified accountants.) I myself had some difficulty with university studies managing only pass grades in some subjects. I feel that I may have difficulty with some of the subjects at the seminary. But I do know that if one survived for 3 years one could become a deacon. The full 6 years to become a full-fledged priest might be possible.

A. Dear Bob,

I am going to encourage you to look more into the possibility of the priesthood. Studies are important, but if you have made it through college you probably have what it takes. It is amazing too how our ability to learn seems to increase when we have a purpose for studying and are fully dedicated to it.

More than studies, focus on what the priest is. The life of purity, prayer and service he is called to, just like Christ. Speak with your pastor about this. Open to him your whole life, your spiritual journey so he can advise you well. Perhaps even ask him if he thinks you should begin by going for the deaconate, and then seeing what the Bishop says.

God bless. - Fr Anthony

Preparatory Prayer: Grant me the faith and courage, Lord, to face my need for personal conversion. Help me to follow the example of Zacchaeus, who used every means at his disposal in order to come into contact with you, and who overcame the temptation to excuse “himself in his own limitations."

Gospel Passage: Lk 19:5-10

When Jesus came to the place, he looked up and said to him, "Zacchaeus, hurry and come down; for I must stay at your house today." So he hurried down and was happy to welcome him. All who saw it began to grumble and said, “He has gone to be the guest of one who is a sinner.” Zacchaeus stood there and said to the Lord, “Look, half of my possessions, Lord, I will give to the poor; and if I have defrauded anyone of anything, I will pay back four times as much.” Then Jesus said to him, “Today salvation has come to this house, because he too is a son of Abraham.” For the Son of Man came to seek out and to save the lost."

1. God will not be outdone in generosity

The second part of the Zacchaeus story shows that God cannot be outdone in generosity. Zacchaeus has shown his generosity of spirit by going to extraordinary lengths to see the Lord; now Jesus responds in kind. In a completely unexpected way Jesus looks up from beneath the sycamore tree, calls Zacchaeus by name, and invites himself into the intimacy of Zacchaeus' own home. The gospel goes on to say that the tax collector, stunned by this gesture,"hurried down and was happy to welcome him."

We are given the impression that Jesus knew all along where to find Zacchaeus. Zacchaeus thought he was waiting for Jesus, but in fact it was Jesus who was looking for Zacchaeus. This is no chance meeting for Christ. His passing through Jericho was really about reaching out to this sinner, this man called Zacchaeus who was on the threshold of a conversion that would change his life forever. Christ searches for each of us in the same way. With utmost patience and tact, he arranges our life circumstances in such a way that we are given opportunities to make a choice for him freely and lovingly. He never forces our freedom.

2. Reactions

However, not everyone accepts the way Jesus has acted. Immediately the onlookers challenge his choice of company and lodging. They are incensed, for a good reason, they thought. How can the famous miracle worker from Nazareth appear to condone with this favor the lifestyle of a public sinner, entering his home and joining him at table? But it is precisely now, at this moment of crisis provoked by an audacious gesture of Christ, that Zacchaeus dramaticlly breaks with his sinful past. In front of everyone he says, in so many words: I am a changed man now and as proof I will repair all the damage I have, done. "Look, half of my possessions, Lord, will give to the poor; and if I have defrauded anyone I anything, I'll pay back four times as much."

What began as one man's free choice to climb a tree so as to view a passing celebrity has grown into his decision for radical change. Zacchaeus shows us that no true conversion takes place until we break concretely and practically with sin. All our good intentions and resolutions are no more than empty ideas unless they touch the reality of our daily life.

It must have taken courage for Zacchaeus to take his stand before the crowd that day, it cannot have been easy. Surely it was not easy for him as a wealthy man to give up half of his estate to dedicate it to the poor. Surely it was difficult for him, humanly speaking, to admit his guilt publicly by promising to compensate fourfold those he had defrauded. Yet Zacchaeus' greatness lies in his willingness to do all these things in response to Jesus who came into his life so unexpectedly, offering his friendship.

3. Jesus Responds

The third and final point of our reflection focuses on Jesus' reaction to what Zacchaeus has promised to do. Zacchaeus is loyal and generous, Jesus resonds with even an greater outpouring of both. He turns to the crowd and announces that salvation--indeed, nothing less than salvation itself--has come to this lost "son of Abraham."

It seems that Christ is only looking for an opportunity to give us all he can. How willing he is to give us the gift of salvation! All he requires is that we accept his gift by believing in him and by manifesting our faith through an honest break with sin. He asks for nothing more, nothing less, and nothing else. And in revealing his merciful heart he also reveals the reason for his coming: "... The Son of Man came to seek out and save the lost."

QUESTIONNAIRE

To help you to examine your life, in the light of the inspirations God just gave you in these moments you shared with him.

1. What have I done to break with sin or with bad habits that keep me from having a deeper friendship with God?

2. What specifically have I given up or left aside in acting on these good intentions?

3. Have I ever helped anyone to make his way back to the Father's house? Or do I think there is nothing I can do?

It is striking how little sin grieves us at times, how easily we sell our birthright as children of God to the first bidder to cross our path! Do we really believe in eternal life? The offenses others commit against us hurt us deeply, but we care little about the grief we inflict on the Heart of Christ through our conduct. We take extreme care of our public image, but easily forget the other image of God that is engraved in our being. We try to keep up appearances, but do very little to save our souls and build our lives before the eyes of the One who will examine us on the basis of our love the day we die. Sadly, many people consider sin neither a great misfortune nor a grave problem, such as financial disaster or the loss of social status might be.

The mindset of our materialistic and hedonistic world seeps into our lives almost unnoticed to us, gradually changing our scale of values. We are very concerned about material problems - such as hunger, poverty, social injustice, the environment and endangered species - and we are quick to pull together to remedy them. But seldom do give the same care to and mobilize to help the spiritual and moral problems of our neighbor, yet these are the cause of man's true misery. The world stifles our thirst for a higher meaning in the "here and now," and keeps us from seeing that "God's love is better than life" (Ps 62:4). What would happen if God right now called me to his presence, would he find me with a pure soul and many good deeds to show?

Once again we have come to a moment of truth. This brief reflection on the nature of prayer and its role in helping us achieve the purpose of our lives brings us to another crossroads. What is the status of my life of prayer? Am I convinced that prayer as necessary to my spiritual life as breathing is to my physical life? Or do I treat it merely as an appendage to a life in which I stay tuned in mostly to my own desires, plans, and thoughts? A vibrant life of prayer – a necessity for living in communion with God – requires three ingredients: 1) an understanding of its importance (that’s what this chapter has attempted to foster); 2) a personal decision to valiantly take up the “battle of prayer” and make it once and for all the living foundation of my life; 3) a constantly growing experiential knowledge of the different ways of praying; this knowledge enables the decision to build one’s life around prayer become reality on a day-to-day basis.

At the end of this chapter we will note some common forms of prayer and basic prayer commitments to get you started on a more robust life of prayer, but without that personal decision they will merely be a waste of ink. Do you want to deepen your life of prayer? Do you want to learn to pray? Do you want to discover the call of God in every circumstance of your life? Do you want to experience the revolution that occurs when all your words, thoughts, and decisions are regularly fertilized by the water of grace? Are you willing to take the risk? To trust in God? To face up to sloth and distraction? To fall and get up again a thousand times? No one can answer those questions except you; not even God. Even he leaves the decision up to you. If you have never made this decision before (or if you made it and then abandoned it) take some time to do so now. If you have already made this decision, take some time to renew it, to deepen it. Do it in prayer. Strip away any arrogance or fear and approach God – the God who loved you so much that he created you and sustains your existence – from your heart. Speak to him of the desires of your heart, your fears, and your confusions. Together with him, make a decision, a decision to raise your vital and personal relationship with him – i.e. your prayer life – to the highest rung on your ladder of priorities, no matter how long it takes or how difficult it proves to be:

Make Yahweh your joy
And he will give you your heart’s desires.
Commit your destiny to Yahweh,
Be confident in him, and he will act...
Stay quiet before Yahweh, wait longingly for him...

Upcoming Events & Retreats

(( Listed here are retreats directed by the Legionaries of Christ and Regnum Christi members. For a listing of diocesan activities and other events, click here to go to the vocation.com website ))

LEGIONARIES OF CHRIST

CANDIDACY. June 6 - August 26 in Cheshire, CT. Visit any time! No cost. For more details visit www.legionofchrist.org or call (800) 420-5409.

REGNUM CHRISTI consecrated women

CANDIDACY. June 28 - August 10 in Greenville, RI. Visit any time! For more information, visit www.regnumchristi.org or call (401) 378-3201.

REGNUM CHRISTI consecrated men

Call Tony McDonnell for more information, (301) 365-3205. info@ytm.org

ShoreLines welcomes your questions and comments at questions@shorelines.org. If you do not specify otherwise, your question may be posted in the Vocations Q&A section.

To subscribe or send a gift subscription, send an email to subscribe@shorelines.org or visit www.vocation.com. To unsubscribe, send an email to unsubscribe@shorelines.org.

Copyright 2004, Legion of Christ.

www.vocation.com