Year V, Number 1

The Church’s work of formation is a continuation in time of Christ’s own work, which the evangelist Mark illustrates in these words: “And he went up on the mountain, and called to him those whom he desired; and they came to him. And he appointed twelve, to be with him, and to be sent out to preach and have authority to cast out demons” (Mark 3:13-15).

It can be said that through her work of forming candidates to the priesthood and priests themselves, the Church throughout her history has continued to live this passage of the Gospel in various ways and with varying intensity. Today, however, the Church feels called to relive with a renewed commitment all that the Master did with his apostles - urged on as she is by the deep and rapid transformations in the societies and culture of our age; by the multiplicity and diversity of contexts in which she announces the Gospel and witnesses to it; by the promising number of priestly vocations being seen in some dioceses around the world; by the urgency of a new look at the contents and methods of priestly formation; by the concern of bishops and their communities about a persisting scarcity of clergy; and by the absolute necessity that the “new evangelization” have priests as its initial “new evangelizers.”

Q. Dear Fr Anthony,

I feel I may have a vocation to the priesthood. I brought this idea up to my parents and they liked it, but they would prefer I date beforehand so I would have had the experience of turning away from my emotions if I still felt I had a calling. They knew several priests that “fell in love” after being ordained and left the priesthood. I would like to know if there is any correlation between not having dated before becoming a priest and priests deserting celibacy for marriage. Thanks.

- Chad

A. Dear Chad,

I don’t think there are hard statistics on the correlation between not having dated before becoming a priest and subsequent desertions. However, any correlation, if it exists, is purely accidental. There is no essential connection between the two. The real correlation is between desertion and lack of prayer, lack of care.

When talking about dating and a vocation, there are two very different situations to consider. One is when a young person has no idea he has a vocation, or it is only a vague, non-explicit idea somewhere in the back of his mind. After dating for a while, the vocation becomes more explicit, and he gives up dating in order to follow the vocation. That is one of the paths God sometimes leads a soul by.

The other situation is more like yours. A young person feels he has a vocation and wonders whether he should date. By dating I mean not just having friends who are girls that you enjoy being around, but singling out one of them and taking direct, active interest in her, and going out together.

In the section on dating in this web page, you will find some considerations that you may find helpful as regards this second situation, but let me add something I don’t think I have mentioned elsewhere, although you will find it expressed in some of the questions: there are a good number of young people who showed signs of a vocation, or even truly felt a vocation, who dated “just to make sure” or “just to have the experience” - and then found themselves faced with this question: is it not a sign from God that he sent me this wonderful person? Doesn’t it mean he wants me to be married?

Human nature being what it is, and going on experience, I am absolutely sure that there is a direct correlation between a person who knows he might have a vocation dating and then as a result never trying the vocation.

God bless.

- Fr Anthony

Q. Dear Fr Anthony,

I heard that chastity and virginity are not requirements to become a nun. Is it true? If it is, Why? Don’t you have to be pure in consecrated life? Thanks.

- Marie

A. Dear Marie,

There are three terms to keep in mind in this regard: chastity, celibacy and virginity. Each means something different, but they are often confused.

Chastity is the proper use of the gift of sexuality. It has an internal and external dimension; the internal has to do with our thoughts, desires, etc., and the external has to do with our actions. Chastity is a virtue, and everyone is called to be chaste; the form that chastity will take depends on the particular vocation of the individual (fidelity to one another, giving themselves to one another, respect for one another and openness to life are some aspects of married chastity, for example). Celibacy is a form of chastity that is lived by those who are not yet married and by those who have taken a life-long commitment to it (like nuns, priests) and it consists in abstinence. Virginity is the state of a person who has not yet had intercourse.

If a person faults against chastity he or she can recover the virtue by going to confession and leaving their fault behind. Many of our faults against chastity are internal, and so a person can have struggles and failings in chastity without losing their virginity, the physical state of which cannot be recovered if one loses it.

Today you will hear talk about “recovered virginity”, which spiritually speaking is an uplifting thought. It reminds us of the fact that when we confess our sins sincerely, receive absolution and make a firm resolution, God does not look back and we shouldn’t either, unless it is to learn a lesson in prudence and humility.

To be a nun you need to be chaste externally and internally, and to consecrate your life to God in celibacy.

God bless.

- Fr Anthony

From the perspective of love our relations with God acquire the existential energy of an interpersonal encounter. No longer is it an artificial, distant or cold exchange, but I enter instead into contact with the One who knows me exactly as I am. To our encounter with God we have to bring our personality, problems and concrete circumstances; our desires and the deepest worries of our soul; our grievances, successes and failures; the people who love us and also our ill-wishers; the needs of mankind and the Church… Only then will this encounter vivify, transform and commit all the fibers of our being.

Once we look on our spiritual commitments as a personal encounter with Christ in love, it becomes possible for us to overcome the difficulties we sometimes meet on the road towards holiness, which warp the real meaning of our relations with God. When you think in terms of love it is impossible to reduce Christian life to the ritualistic fulfillment of a series of obligations and precepts, in order to be on good terms with God. The soul in love is faithful, not so much because of the obligation imposed by a commitment, but out of the persuasive strength of having penetrated its value and understood its deep meaning. What is most important regarding a commitment is not so much your materially doing it, as the spiritual intensity with which you live it. And so your intimate moments with God leave their mark on your soul because they spring from the authentic worship “in spirit and in truth”, inaugurated by Christ (see John 4:23-24).

Gospel: Lk 3: 15-16; 21-22

The people were filled with expectation, and all were asking in their hearts whether John might be the Christ. John answered them all saying: “I am baptizing you with water, but one mightier than I is coming. I am not worthy to loosen the thongs of his sandals. He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and fire.” After all the people had been baptized and Jesus also had been baptized and was praying, heaven was opened and the Holy Spirit descended upon him in bodily form like a dove. And a voice came from heaven, “you are my beloved Son; with you I am well pleased”

Introductory Prayer: Dear Lord Jesus, you know the longings of my heart. Teach me to know you more and love you increasingly, you who are the only fulfillment of all my desires. Enable me to develop the gifts I’ve received from you in Baptism and so grow in your likeness, be pleasing to the Father and help open the hearts of many to you.

Petition: Heavenly Father, source of my life, enable me to recognize your gift in Christ and with your grace become a worthy coworker available for all souls who need me for the Glory of your Name.

1. Hearts are opening: Is he the one that is to come?

The heart of man is unsettled and unsettling, bruised and bruising, hurt and hurtful, imprisoned, crying in its blindness and darkness for liberation. The sin and misery resulting from our fallen human nature increases and man’s impoverished spirit longs for reconciliation and peace. Rumors of a Savior about to come increase the expectation. John clearly prepares the people and no less clearly points out that he is not the Messiah. Jesus comes, meek and humble of heart. He discreetly takes his place, just like someone slipping into the confessional line of sinners waiting to confess their sins, and lines up to be baptized. He is not shouting or protesting, arrogantly criticizing or cynically ridiculing but humbly walking among us sinners; not trying to distance himself from us but begging his Father “forgive them, they know not what they are doing!”. He ardently longs for the baptism in his blood by which he will redeem us, set us free and grant us his peace. ‘The Lord will bless his people with peace’. The people can’t wait for this! They want it now in fullness!

The people around John believed in him because of the signs he wrought and the baptism he performed. They were on the verge of falsely discerning him as the Savior. John, in his humility and honesty boldly denies this flattering honor and points them toward the One they were looking for. He did not accept their praises and recognition or even the idea of being greater than another, all John did was “cry out in the desert… preparing the way of the Lord”. This was his mission and he fulfilled it with joy in the midst of all the threats of death, imprisonments, slandering, etc. Jesus spoke of this when He said, “Blessed are they who suffer for my Name…”

John, in this scene, presents his own human limitations for he can baptize using water, whereas Jesus will baptize with the Holy Spirit and fire. John admits to his limit and reaches for the divine, bringing with him those who once believed him to be the One. “Someone is coming, someone who is more powerful than I am and I am not fit to undo the strap of his sandals”. He tells them that “someone is coming” and that they should not believe in him but in the One to come. John used his mission to extend the Kingdom of Christ by placing his life at the service of God and trusting in Him to give strength in moments of trial.

2. Heaven opens and the Father opens his heart.

“Now when all the people had been baptized and while Jesus after his own baptism was at prayer, heaven opened and the Holy Spirit descended on him in bodily shape, like a dove.” Through the Holy Spirit he is going to be lead out into the desert to be prepared for his mission, to be strengthened. Jesus’ union with the Father is a Person, the Holy Spirit. He is the Spirit of Holiness, Love in Person, being poured out for the forgiveness of sins.

Jesus is deeply in prayer, united to his Father. This prayer of Jesus’ is not your ordinary prayer. We, his disciples, are being confirmed by his Father: “You are my beloved Son, with whom I am well pleased.” God the Father is, after humanity’s expulsion from Paradise, once again, happy with the human heart, that of his Son, and reveals His Son to the world. Jesus’ goodness, full of grace and truth, and his meekness and humility, always ready to lovingly do what is pleasing to the Father, are the traits of every heart reconciled with the Father. This is our privilege as baptized and later, after we fall again, once we receive the sacrament of reconciliation which restores the plenitude of the Father’s pleasure as he looks upon us in Christ. What peace to be seen by the Father as his beloved child! We are truly at home.

3. We should now open up ourselves and others.

Firstly, let us rejoice for the Father’s great love in sending his only son to save us. What grace for my soul! Let us marvel at Jesus’ Person, his heart so meek and humble, so holy and good, infinitely pleasing to the Father, totally available to serve our salvation. What a gift to be incorporated into Jesus’ person by Baptism. Am I responding to his gift to my soul, a gift intended to pass through me to countless others? Whoever receives you, receives me, says Christ.

In Baptism and Confirmation, the Holy Spirit has come to live in me and grant me his gifts. I am his temple. What trust God places in me to raise the bar so high for me, for my lifestyle, for my relationship to others. Let us open up to the cries of countless souls today, sheep without a shepherd, so many straying and lost, … they urgently need humble yet strong helpers like John to prepare them and lead them to Christ. Christ sends his disciples out: men and women ready to give up every comfort zone they cherish and go knock on doors of closed hearts and invite them to let in the Lord who will bless his people with peace. The people cannot wait for this! They need it now! What happiness will be theirs when they come to Christ and the Father speaks these same words over them “this is my beloved child in Christ Jesus”.

Conversation: God, almighty Father, creator of all that is and is to be, teach me to love you with an untiring love and to bring those close to me close to you. Help me cherish my being incorporated into Christ by baptism. Give me the zeal of John the Baptist so I may also go out to the entire world and extend your Kingdom.

Questionnaire:

1. By God's grace I am incorporated into Christ through Baptism. Is this visible in my actions, my decisions and my plans? How do I express my gratitude for this great gift from God?

2. How do I cherish the fact that by Baptism I too am in Christ, a child pleasing to the Father? How well and frequently do I receive the sacrament of Reconciliation to renew my baptismal grace? How well am I becoming the new person in Christ?

3. When I consider how many people need Christ, what do I think of doing to make it happen? Is there any "missionary outreach" in my daily life, among friends, co-students, family members? Do I just feel awkward and then not do anything? Is all I do to point out what is going wrong?

Q. Isn’t there a certain hierarchy to the various facets of a priest’s formation? What to you think is the most important area of formation?

A. Yes, we could establish a scale of importance, and obviously spiritual formation has to be on top. Without a deep interior life, a prayer life, constant conversation with the Holy Spirit, deep communion with the mystery of Christ and the Church a priest’s life might well be packed with noise and activity, but it won’t be worth a whit as far as salvation is concerned. A priest should live continuously immersed in the mystery of Christ. This comes from God’s grace – God’s grace and our cooperation, that is. It takes long years dedicated to forming your prayer-life, your personal ascesis, your understanding in faith of the mysteries of Christ’s life, and slow, gradual maturing in your vocation.

To spiritual formation you then add the other aspects of formation. I wouldn’t venture to put them in too rigid an order. God wants man to put his whole self into full cooperation with the action of grace, and no area of his person to be left out of this partnership with God and cooperation with his plan. If you neglect anything, however small, your formation will be incomplete, crippled. For example, if a priest neglects his human formation because he thinks it doesn’t affect his holiness and ministry the results could be disastrous – without the human foundation to provide the Holy Spirit with raw material to act upon and bring about holiness, that holiness will be very limited. Hence the great importance in a priest’s life of his formative years, as for any Christian. Hence also, taking into account the difficulty of such an undertaking, the importance of having an attentive, kind, demanding, patient formator on hand to encourage you, help you focus your efforts and overcome the times discouragement that are always a possibility on the arduous path to priesthood.

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. March 18, 2004 - March 25, 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.

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