Year IV, Number 41

The West has also known, down the centuries, a variety of other expressions of religious life, in which countless persons, renouncing the world, have consecrated themselves to God through the public profession of the evangelical counsels in accordance with a specific charism and in a stable form of common life, for the sake of carrying out different forms of apostolic service to the People of God. Thus there arose the different families of Canons Regular, the Mendicant Orders, the Clerics Regular and in general the Religious Congregations of men and women devoted to apostolic and missionary activity and to the many different works inspired by Christian charity.

This is a splendid and varied testimony, reflecting the multiplicity of gifts bestowed by God on founders and foundresses who, in openness to the working of the Holy Spirit, successfully interpreted the signs of the times and responded wisely to new needs. Following in their footsteps, many other people have sought by word and deed to embody the Gospel in their own lives, bringing anew to their own times the living presence of Jesus, the Consecrated One par excellence, the One sent by the Father. In every age consecrated men and women must continue to be images of Christ the Lord, fostering through prayer a profound communion of mind with him (cf. Phil 2:5-11), so that their whole lives may be penetrated by an apostolic spirit and their apostolic work with contemplation.

Q. Dear Fr Anthony,

I am entering high school this year and am deeply considering religious life. I know there is peer pressure to date in high school. If I am considering a religious vocation to the priesthood, should I date other girls in high school? Also, how do you get other teens in the parish to participate more in Life Teen and in things like Eucharistic adoration, Bible study, and daily Mass, since they all say they do not have friends in it? I want to thank you for everything you have done. God bless you.

- Kenny Jubb

A. Dear Kenny,

If you are entering high school and thinking of a vocation, you may want to speak with your parents about going to a high school seminary. These are just for boys in your position, but they are not for everyone, so you would have to visit, see how it is, get advice from the directors of the school, and see what your parents think.

If this is not an option, then you have to give priority to your vocation. Take part in all the usual things at school, but take care of your vocation. Go to Mass as often as you can, build up your prayer life, and I am glad to see you want to get your friends involved in good activities, too. You are not going to get everyone the first time, but keep trying. Make sure you organize fun but good things they can do as well (painting an old person’s house, for example).

God bless.

- Fr Anthony

Q. Dear Fr Anthony,

My question: I have recently found out that my best friend/boyfriend wants to be a priest. The problem is that I saw him as being a future husband and father for my children. My heart is absolutely crushed, and I don’t know how to handle God’s plan in this. What do I do? I love him, and yet now I’m so afraid to. Please help me. I don’t know how to let go. In Christ,

- Anne

A. Dear Anne,

I have no idea what age you are (if you are young, high school or early college, it is one thing; if your are older and this was a mature relationship that seemed to be leading somewhere, it is quite different) or what other circumstances there might be in your case, so you are going to pardon me if I am a little general. It is easy to be trite and say, “Well, these things happen.” I think if your boyfriend is thinking of being a priest, it may be that God is beginning to knock on the doors of your heart also. Now you are beginning to realize who God is – God – and we are just his creatures. We have to give him his place. And we have to learn his love, even when the lesson is difficult to accept. You need to go to God, and tell him you are crushed, but that if this is what he wants, you do not want to get in the way. Ask him for the strength you need. Think of the good your friend will do if he really is called to be a priest. Then ask him, “Lord, seeing that what I had planned is not what you had in mind, what do you want me to do now?”

God bless. I’ll remember you at Mass.

- Fr Anthony

Gospel: Mk 10: 35-45

Then James and John, the sons of Zebedee, came to him and said to him, “Teacher, we want you to do for us whatever we ask of you.” He replied, “What do you wish (me) to do for you?” They answered him, “Grant that in your glory we may sit one at your right and the other at your left.” Jesus said to them, “You do not know what you are asking. Can you drink the cup that I drink or be baptized with the baptism with which I am baptized?” They said to him, “We can.” Jesus said to them, “The cup that I drink, you will drink, and with the baptism with which I am baptized, you will be baptized; but to sit at my right or at my left is not mine to give but is for those for whom it has been prepared.” When the ten heard this, they became indignant at James and John. Jesus summoned them and said to them, “You know that those who are recognized as rulers over the Gentiles lord it over them, and their great ones make their authority over them felt. But it shall not be so among you. Rather, whoever wishes to be great among you will be your servant; whoever wishes to be first among you will be the slave of all. For the Son of Man did not come to be served but to serve and to give his life as a ransom for many.”

Introductory Prayer: Dear Lord, I believe that you have called me to life and to eternal life with you. I trust that you will reveal to me your plan for my life and grant me the strength to follow it and leave my own selfish desires behind. I love you Lord, and want to love you in the way that you call me to give myself. I know my own weakness and tendency to the easy life, but with you I can do great things.

Petition: Grant me Lord, the love to seek how God wants me to serve.

1. We want…

Upon election, before taking the name John Paul II, Cardinal Wojtyla was asked the formal question if he would accept. He responded, “In obedience of faith before Christ my Lord, abandoning myself to the Mother of Christ and the Church, and conscious of the great difficulties, accepto.” (Witness to Hope p.254) Vocation is not about what we want, but about what God wants. James and John had not yet learned this. They sought glory, and certainly it was for themselves. Yet, John Paul II knew the call was not about what God would do for him, but primarily, what he was willing to do for God. There is only one honorable response to God’s call to service, and that is obedience. “He saw in his brothers’ votes the will of God.” (Witness to Hope p.254)

2. The Price of Glory

George Weigel tells that, during the tally that finally elected John Paul II, “Wojtyla had put his head in his hands… (he) was as alone as a man can be. For to be elected Pope meant ‘a clear cut off from one’s previous life, with no possible return.’” (Witness to Hope p.254) The sacrifice and weight of the papacy, not to mention that implied in episcopate and priesthood, is beyond our imagination. He is responsible for the entire Church, and in a lesser way, for all Christians and even all mankind. And yet he was ready to pay the price and he trusted. “Can you drink the cup that I drink…?” asks Jesus. In the Pope’s own words – while still a Cardinal: “…the summons to the office of papacy, always contains within it a call to the highest love, to a very special love. And always when Christ says to a man, ‘Come follow me,’ He asks him what he asked of Simon: “Do you love me more than do the others?’ Then the heart of a man must tremble…. because in the question there is also a demand. You must love! ‘Come follow me’ has a double meaning. It is a summons to service and a summons to die…’” (Witness to Hope p.251)

3. The Greatness of the Servant

John Paul II grew up as a youth amidst armed conflicts full of oppression and totalitarian rule. Jesus reminds the sons of Zebedee and the rest that such is the way of the world. Yet it should not be so among them, his followers. When John Paul II dreamed of greatness, it was that of serving others, liberating them, and restoring their dignity. And he brought that dream to life, first in the theatre and later as a priest and bishop. Throughout it all he has “given his life”, with little thought of himself. Love is self-giving. And great love should be our response to the great needs of the world around us: my life “for the ransom of many”. Do I aspire to the greatness of these servants? Do I want to help save souls?

Questionnaire:

1. How often do I refer to “what I want”? Do I believe that alone I know what is best for me? How often do I ask God about what he wants? Have I experienced the peace and security of “obeying” God’s will?

2. Do I recognize the sacrifice that any kind of greatness requires? Do I trust in God’s help to confidently embrace his will in my life? Do I appreciate the love hidden in the sacrifice of those who serve me? In what ways do I exercise that same willingness to love? Do I often avoid opportunities to sacrifice for others?

3. What are my dreams of greatness? Do they focus on others and how I can help them, or are they just about me? Have I considered serving Christ before trying to serve others? What keeps me from being free to serve all those God places in my life?

Sometime people start by talking about morality, about more or less abstruse doctrines. But I think what people (today and always) really want is to meet Christ personally, experience him vividly like the people in the Gospel – like Peter, John, Matthew, Martha and Mary, Zaccheus, Lazarus and so many others. The Gospel shows us that their living encounter with Christ deeply touched these people, that their lives changed radically after they met him. True, not everyone was generous enough to follow him. Symbolic of these is the unnamed rich young man who preferred his wealth to following Christ. But those who did follow him were not let down.

I don’t understand this Christ-centeredness in a romantic or theoretical way. It’s an encounter. It’s an experience. Ultimately it is a grace from the Holy Spirit. Our Christianity needs this living experience. People are tired of ideas and abstract notions. They need to give a meaning to their lives, and Christ can do this. And he does. When you aren’t afraid of him, when you throw open the doors of your heart to him, then you know the happiness that comes from following him, even though you also know you have to carry the cross every day.

The Christ-centeredness I am describing is demanding, because it comes from the Gospel. Let’s not forget that while he lived on this earth he made extremely clear the conditions to follow him. He really “raises the bar” as they say in sports. He demanded that his own give themselves as radically and unconditionally as he. That is why I am not afraid to speak to people, especially young people, clearly and frankly. And I think they appreciate it when I do. They are attracted by Christ’s challenge. He wants to bring to light the very best that each person has inside. True, not everyone follows him. Today too we have our “rich young men.” If Christ himself had this experience, of course it happens to us too. But what we can’t do is water down the Gospel, sugarcoat it, to each one’s fancy. Christ is eternal. His person and his message are the same yesterday, today and always. This is the Christ the Church and the Pope preach. This is the Christ we too want to preach.

Beware of the “think yourself rich” approach, whether with your other plans or with your vocation. The number of millionaires in the country is not in proportion to the number of books or tapes sold. Great things may start with the first idea or dream, but then they require dedication.

If you are thinking that our salvation and the redemption of sins is the “perfect dream,” something we get for free and wonderful in itself, you’re right, but that is not everything, since we have to make up what is lacking to the passion of Christ. Once redeemed we have to live up to it, and we need to carry our cross to do so, and to be worthy of Christ. If we do not fill our lives with good works done in grace we can expect to have seven other spirits more evil than the firs come back to take over in our “house.”

While it is healthy to be skeptical of the effortless gain-without-pain approach, we should not fall into another skepticism. We know there are things which seem impossible to us that Christ, nevertheless, asks of us. He is not expecting us to be unrealistic, but he does expect us to take into account the whole reality, remembering that such things are impossible for man, but for God everything is possible.

So when you have other plans ask yourself what they are, to make sure they are not just an escapist fantasy, and that you are not treating Christ’s call as one either.

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

Rome, Italy. December 27, 2003 - January 5, 2004. Youth Pilgrimage for boys ages 11-15. Price: $1,495 (includes airfare) Chaplains are the Legionaries of Christ. Contact Ray Arsenault at (902) 854-2808 or arsenaultacres@pei.sympatico.ca

Rome, Italy. December 27, 2003 - January 5, 2004. Pilgrimage for college-aged men and high school seniors. Price: $399 + airfare. Chaplains are the Legionaries of Christ. Contact Karolee Stauduhar at kstauduhar@msn.com or (407) 869-8263.

REGNUM CHRISTI consecrated men

Call Tony MacDonnell for more information, (301) 365-3205. amacdonnell@arcol.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.

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Copyright 2004, Legion of Christ.

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