Year IV, Number 46

The Consecrated Life, deeply rooted in the example and teaching of Christ the Lord, is a gift of God the Father to his Church through the Holy Spirit. By the profession of the evangelical counsels the characteristic features of Jesus — the chaste, poor and obedient one — are made constantly "visible" in the midst of the world and the eyes of the faithful are directed towards the mystery of the Kingdom of God already at work in history, even as it awaits its full realization in heaven.

In every age there have been men and women who, obedient to the Father's call and to the prompting of the Spirit, have chosen this special way of following Christ, in order to devote themselves to him with an "undivided" heart (cf. 1 Cor 7:34). Like the Apostles, they too have left everything behind in order to be with Christ and to put themselves, as he did, at the service of God and their brothers and sisters. In this way, through the many charisms of spiritual and apostolic life bestowed on them by the Holy Spirit, they have helped to make the mystery and mission of the Church shine forth, and in doing so have contributed to the renewal of society.

Q. Dear Fr Anthony,

Hello, Father. I read a lot of the answers to your other questions, and they were very informative and helpful. I have read many articles on discerning, and they give the good advice on opening yourself up to God’s will and not relying on whether you feel like you want a vocation or not. I think that this is good advice, but I think I have the opposite problem that many people have while discerning. I want to be a priest, but I’m not sure if that’s God’s will. I don’t want to take my wants and try to pretend like they are God’s. Could you give me some advice? Thank you in advance.

- Quincy

A. Dear Quincy,

Perhaps the answer to your question is in your motives.

Why do you want to be a priest? What is your idea of a priest? Who is your inspiration in wanting to be one? How much do you know Christ and want to be like him? What are the needs you see that you would like to remedy? When do you get these desires?

Quite possibly as you examine your motives you will find a mixture: some that are good, like a desire to serve, wanting to give the sacraments, wanting to be holy and to save your soul..., and also maybe some that are obviously not so good, such as vanity, ambition, or whatever.

If you find that there are some good motives among the others, start to clear away the wrong ones and focus on the good. Read good books on the priesthood, read the lives of holy priests, and, above all, pray. You would do well also to speak with a spiritual director or confessor about your motives and ask him for practical help on how to cultivate the better ones.

God bless.

- Fr Anthony

Q. Dear Fr Anthony,

Hi! I am a 16-year-old girl discerning. I am pretty sure I want to be a religious, and I am very happy about that decision, but there are still some rough spots I need to polish. One of them is about obedience. My question is the following: is the vow of obedience made to the superiors in the church (to the bishops or the Pope) or to God? I have been thinking about it a lot. I easily accept orders or instructions from capable superiors, but I was wondering: what if in some moment I have a superior and I just know his instructions are wrong? I understand there will be many times when their instructions are not what I want, and I accept it because they are my superiors for something, but can I really trust the superiors in the Church? I began wondering this when I read the history of the Church, right now we have a wonderful Pope, but in the past... well... let´s say some of them were not that wonderful. I am going to give an example of what I mean: if I would be a religious in the mediaeval times and my superiors would aprove the Inquisition... what would I do? Just be quiet about the injustice I see? I am sorry if I can´t explain myself very well; I speak Spanish so it’s hard to write all this in English, but I would really appreciate an answer.

- Maurita

A. Dear Maurita,

This is a very good question (and, by the way, congratulations on your English). You have put your finger on one of the mysteries of God’s action, namely the fact that he works through human instruments.

Regarding obedience, the Church teaches us that we obey God by obeying our superiors. You obey God in the superiors because what they ask of you is what God wants you to do. Of course there are things that a superior cannot ask you to do (“Here, take this poison and drink it” or “Teach your students that the Pope is not infallible”, for example) and if he does you should not obey him. But these are the rare cases. Usually our difficulties arise on practical matters, when we may see things differently than our superiors. Most often superiors will accept input because they don’t want to make mistakes either, but sometimes they have information they cannot divulge that influences their decision, and so we have to obey at times without understanding fully.

The example you brought up about the Inquisition is not a good one because there is so much misinformation about the Inquisition in our popular culture and even in our history books. (Did you know that the accused people often preferred to be judged by the Inquisition rather than the Emperor’s courts, because the Inquisition was often more just and flexible?) I hope this helps you; there is a lot more to be said, but I think the above touches on the essence. God bless.

- Fr Anthony

We have to resist our pride, which makes us a reflection of Satan, brings God’s rejection upon us, and makes us feel like masters of all the good the Lord has placed in us. Pride puffs us up with our own value and self-love, steers us away from obedience, and resolutely hinders our transformation into Christ.

We have to fight to be faithful and persevere in the battle, because victory belongs only to those who struggle to the end. We know that our fallen nature finds it very costly to keep constantly fighting over and over again. We know our weakness and our misery, and perhaps this makes think we won’t persevere; but when you start thinking like that you should remember that we are not alone, Christ has put his word on the line and his grace will be enough for us to fight the good fight as long as we do our bit. When you can’t feel Jesus don’t imagine it's because he has skipped and left you to fight alone. No, that's not his way, but he often coaches us a while and then leaves us apparently without his sweet company to see if we are able to fight for him also when we can’t see him.

In this unremitting battle against every type of obstacle, we need to arm ourselves with a great spirit of faith and immense trust. We need always to be energetic and strong in the battle. Since we are soldiers of Christ, we must be hardy of spirit; and perseverance, tenacity and effort must be our hallmarks in the battle to become holy ourselves and sanctify others for the glory of God.

Gospel: Mk 6:30-34

The apostles gathered together with Jesus and reported all they had done and taught. He said to them, “Come away by yourselves to a deserted place and rest a while.” People were coming and going in great numbers, and they had no opportunity even to eat. So they went off in the boat by themselves to a deserted place. People saw them leaving, and many came to know about it. They hastened there on foot from all the towns and arrived at the place before them. When he disembarked and saw the vast crowd, his heart was moved with pity for them, for they were like sheep without a shepherd; and he began to teach them many things.

Introductory Prayer: Lord, I am going to spend the next few minutes in prayer and reflection on your gospel. I believe that you reveal yourself and your doctrine to me in the gospels. Reveal yourself to my soul. I want to love as you love, to teach as you taught, to build the Kingdom as you built the Kingdom. Make your same sentiments of love and zeal for souls present in my heart.

Petition: Lord, give me the same enthusiastic love for souls that you had, which will motivate me to work for their salvation at any cost.

1. Jesus Multiplies Himself

In this passage the apostles have just returned from their first apostolic mission. The love that Jesus has for souls motivated him to send out his disciples to preach, cure the sick, and drive out demons. Jesus is not satisfied with simply doing good for those who happen to cross his path, but wishes to reach the greatest number of souls possible, and for this reason he has trained his apostles and sent them out. Love strives to reach the beloved. Christ strives to reach the souls he loves through his apostles. He multiplies himself.

2. The Report

The apostles return to report on their mission. We can imagine Jesus' excitement as he listens to their stories. The mission is being fulfilled - souls are being saved - and this thrills him. He is very happy for his apostles. Sharing in a common mission draws them all closer together. Jesus wants to spend time alone with them to build that common bond.

3. The Heart of Christ

When Jesus goes off with his disciples for a little deserved rest and the crowds follow, Jesus’ heart is moved with pity. For him the crowed is not a faceless mass but individuals in need of mercy and conversion. Each person is an individual soul that he has the mission to save. In the heart of Christ there is no selfishness. He gladly abandons the deserved rest to attend to these souls that are looking for guidance. How great his heart must be!

Dialogue: Dear Lord, I want to be one of your apostles. I want to help you to reach the souls that are waiting for your mercy and love. I hope to have many stories to share with you the way the disciples shared their stories with you. There is nothing I would like more then to please you with my collaboration in your mission. And even more than this, I want to be generous in those times when the mission is demanding and I must sacrifice a deserved rest. Lord, I want to have the love for souls that you have. I want to be another Christ.

Questionnaire:

1. What in my life shows that I really love the souls that are entrusted to me? What motivates me to reach the most people possible with the message of Christ? What do I do in order to reach other people with the truth of his gospel?

2. Why should Jesus get excited when he sees me collaborating in his mission? What do I actually do for his mission? What is his mission?

3. What do I do that shows Jesus that I really love him, willing to sacrifice my own needs for the needs of others? What is going on in my heart when I see so many people who do not know God and are without any direction in their lives? What am going to do in order to change that?

This story is told in the first book of Samuel, chapter three.

Now the boy Samuel was ministering to the Lord under Eli. Samuel was young. His mother Hannah had dedicated him to the Lord from an early age, and he lived in the temple and served under Eli the priest at a time when he was very useful to the old man, who was going blind.

One night the Lord called, “Samuel! Samuel!” and he said, “Here I am!” and ran to Eli, and said, “Here I am for you called me.” But he said, “I did not call; lie down again.” Since he hadn’t called him, Eli must have thought it was the boy’s imagination, so he sent him back to sleep. That happened three times until finally Eli realized that there was something more at work and told Samuel what to do when next he heard the voice.

Despite his young age, God spoke to Samuel and called him. Samuel himself never thought it might be God, and neither at first did it occur to Eli. If it did he dismissed the thought in the wisdom of his years. But God insisted. If we don’t read between the lines, Eli’s reaction after the third call, of telling the boy what to do, seems natural and without particular merit. But, on reflection, it could not have been easy for him.

For Eli, Samuel had taken the place of his own sons who had gone astray and respected him no longer and were not faithful to Yahweh. Samuel must have been dear to him, for years before he had seen the boy’s mother pray for a child, and had promised her that her prayer would be answered, and Samuel was that child. You can imagine his attachment to the boy, the care with which he educated him, and the consolation the young boy’s service and righteousness was to him. But now God had intervened and Eli had to let go of this consolation and tell Samuel, basically, I am no longer your master and teacher; listen to the Lord, do what he tells you to do. That took a lot of letting go. He did not say, when you have listened to the Lord, report back to me to see if you should do what he says.

Eli acquires even greater stature in our eyes as the story goes on: he asks Samuel, What was it that he said to you? Samuel tells him and it was not pleasant news for Eli, it was the prophecy of God’s punishment on his sons. Eli does not reject God’s message because it comes through the mouth of a boy, his pupil. He says, it is the Lord; let him do what seems good to 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

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.

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

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.

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