Is There A Shortage Of Vocations?

[tinytherese]

Society does play a role in this, but I think at the heart of it is extrememly bad catechesis in the U.S. I took a contemporary religious education class and wow it sure was sad to learn about how that happened. Not to mention, parents just left catechesis to the Catholic schools and their parishes thinking that that would be enough for their kids to know the faith, but in reality, the parents are to be the primary educators of their children- including educating them about the faith.

[Indwelling Trinity]

[url="http://www.phatmass.com/phorum/index.php?app=forums&module=forums&section=findpost&pid=2064416"][img]public/style_images/master/snapback.png[/img][/url]Sister Marie, on 28 February 2010 - 05:23 PM, said:

Ithink that you have hit on something very important in understandingreligious life within culture. For me that culture is the culture ofthe US. I think most of us in the twenty-thirty range (and others, butI can only speak for myself) have been hearing our whole lives thatwhat matters is what we do. Who we are is dependent on what we do. Itis part of the reason that life is respected only insofar as itproduces something in our culture. I don't think anyone can becompletely free from the cultural expectations they grow upexperiencing. Religious life, although set apart, still exists within acertain time and place. We are not immune to the changes in thepolitical, social, or educational spheres of life and each candidatebrings with her/him self the experiences outside of religious life. Onone hand, we need to be affected by the world because we have a greatopportunity to promote Gospel values and be a voice for others. We needto be a witness. However, if we stop being a witness and end up insteadas a participant we let too much of the political, social, andeducational ideas penetrate our lives we lose some of the essentials ofreligious life. Especially the essential of belonging to Jesus in love!We don't belong to the world as a teacher, nurse, counselor... etc. Webelong to Jesus as His. Everything else is important but secondary.



I have been mulling your post over for a while....I think one of the problems is that as religious we have not only bought into I am what I do mentality but have taken it even a step further. I myself have a degree in medicine and post graduate studies in clinical psychology. There came a point where i realixed i was losing focus on the essentials. I found i had to pull back and reevaluate my priorities of choosing Christ first for i had also fallen in love with medicine. In time I learned to integrate it all into a kind of unity. I knew psych by itself was not the answer nor was medicine however praiseworthy. I had to look at myself and others as a whole... body ,mind and spirit. But most of all I had to lose tha false sophistication that I had taken on as an alter persona and allow myself to become a little child again.

We seem to be so afraid of being childlike as if in some way it lessens who we are or we fear that people will take us as naieve and not seriously as competent adults. Yet scripture tells us unless you become as little children.... you cannot enter the kingdom of heaven.

Contemplating that, I then went back to my Carmelite and Missionary roots only to rediscover That the heart of both charisms was to be found in great simplicity, detachment and a great love for the beloved. Degrees mean little to me anymore but becoming little and humble, loving and trusting implicitly in God's mercy for myself and others in the contemplative context of my life have become the key for discovering my true vocation.

Part of that simplicity to me is to embrace all I had been given by God in the way of vocation, talents and weaknesses as part of the whole of who I am today; for in God's economy nothing is ever wasted and all eventually works for good if we truly seek Him with all our hearts. We just have to refocus sometimes and have an attitude adjustment of what comes first in our lives. And so for me, shunning this false sophistication has opened tremedous new doors in my life with Christ and my life has become more of a unity with the God who dwells within

This post is a bit garbled for it is hard to put into words. I hope others can understand

Just a thought.

Tenderly,

Indwelling Trinity

[laetitia crucis]

[quote name='Indwelling Trinity' date='01 March 2010 - 04:57 PM' timestamp='1267477031' post='2064895']
[quote]Sister Marie, on 28 February 2010 - 05:23 PM, said:

Ithink that you have hit on something very important in understandingreligious life within culture. For me that culture is the culture ofthe US. I think most of us in the twenty-thirty range (and others, butI can only speak for myself) have been hearing our whole lives thatwhat matters is what we do. Who we are is dependent on what we do. Itis part of the reason that life is respected only insofar as itproduces something in our culture. I don't think anyone can becompletely free from the cultural expectations they grow upexperiencing. Religious life, although set apart, still exists within acertain time and place. We are not immune to the changes in thepolitical, social, or educational spheres of life and each candidatebrings with her/him self the experiences outside of religious life. Onone hand, we need to be affected by the world because we have a greatopportunity to promote Gospel values and be a voice for others. We needto be a witness. However, if we stop being a witness and end up insteadas a participant we let too much of the political, social, andeducational ideas penetrate our lives we lose some of the essentials ofreligious life. Especially the essential of belonging to Jesus in love!We don't belong to the world as a teacher, nurse, counselor... etc. Webelong to Jesus as His. Everything else is important but secondary.[/quote]



I have been mulling your post over for a while....I think one of the problems is that as religious we have not only bought into I am what I do mentality but have taken it even a step further. I myself have a degree in medicine and post graduate studies in clinical psychology. There came a point where i realixed i was losing focus on the essentials. I found i had to pull back and reevaluate my priorities of choosing Christ first for i had also fallen in love with medicine. In time I learned to integrate it all into a kind of unity. I knew psych by itself was not the answer nor was medicine however praiseworthy. I had to look at myself and others as a whole... body ,mind and spirit. But most of all I had to lose tha false sophistication that I had taken on as an alter persona and allow myself to become a little child again.

We seem to be so afraid of being childlike as if in some way it lessens who we are or we fear that people will take us as naieve and not seriously as competent adults. Yet scripture tells us unless you become as little children.... you cannot enter the kingdom of heaven.

Contemplating that, I then went back to my Carmelite and Missionary roots only to rediscover That the heart of both charisms was to be found in great simplicity, detachment and a great love for the beloved. Degrees mean little to me anymore but becoming little and humble, loving and trusting implicitly in God's mercy for myself and others in the contemplative context of my life have become the key for discovering my true vocation.

Part of that simplicity to me is to embrace all I had been given by God in the way of vocation, talents and weaknesses as part of the whole of who I am today; for in God's economy nothing is ever wasted and all eventually works for good if we truly seek Him with all our hearts. We just have to refocus sometimes and have an attitude adjustment of what comes first in our lives. And so for me, shunning this false sophistication has opened tremedous new doors in my life with Christ and my life has become more of a unity with the God who dwells within

This post is a bit garbled for it is hard to put into words. I hope others can understand

Just a thought.

Tenderly,

Indwelling Trinity
[/quote]


This makes a lot of sense to me, Indwelling Trinity. It kind of reminds me of my own beginning discernment. My initial thought was that I should be looking at Orders based on my educational qualifications and interests. (I have a B.A. in Music Performance...sooo, needless to say, I didn't really find anything screaming "Hey! We want Music Performance majors!!!" ) However, I suppose what I'm trying to say was that I was looking first to fulfill the "career" aspect, instead of going back to the foundation of my vocation.

Your last paragraph speaks especially to my heart. There came a time when I remember saying to myself, "You know, your degree doesn't matter. All that matters is that you desire more than anything to give your ENTIRE self to the Beloved -- that includes all your gifts, all your weaknesses, all your interests, all your preferences, all your distastes, etc." I knew I wasn't trusting God with my entire vocation. I kept holding back with worries (and yes, selfishness) about using my education simply because I had invested so much time and energy (and yes, money, too ) in it -- plus, I just plain loved it so much. I had to learn how to trust that [b]God[/b] would take of that for me. He knows that an orchestral career is quite possibly what I'd consider my "greatest sacrifice", and yes, it still pains me at times, but... I know He doesn't throw any gift away. I trust that. I trust He will use my passion for music, and not let it be wasted. That brings me great comfort.

Like you said, Indwelling Trinity, I just needed to become a child again. I needed to re-focus myself and make things... simpler. (St. Therese took my hand at that point. She's still teaching me her lessons in simplicity and being a little child.)

[OnlySunshine]

[quote name='tinytherese' date='01 March 2010 - 12:16 PM' timestamp='1267463783' post='2064783']
Society does play a role in this, but I think at the heart of it is extrememly bad catechesis in the U.S. I took a contemporary religious education class and wow it sure was sad to learn about how that happened. Not to mention, parents just left catechesis to the Catholic schools and their parishes thinking that that would be enough for their kids to know the faith, but in reality, the parents are to be the primary educators of their children- including educating them about the faith.
[/quote]

Amen!



I'd give you +1 but I have no more votes left today.

[OnlySunshine]

[quote name='laetitia crucis' date='01 March 2010 - 04:21 PM' timestamp='1267478517' post='2064915']
This makes a lot of sense to me, Indwelling Trinity. It kind of reminds me of my own beginning discernment. My initial thought was that I should be looking at Orders based on my educational qualifications and interests. (I have a B.A. in Music Performance...sooo, needless to say, I didn't really find anything screaming "Hey! We want Music Performance majors!!!" ) However, I suppose what I'm trying to say was that I was looking first to fulfill the "career" aspect, instead of going back to the foundation of my vocation.

Your last paragraph speaks especially to my heart. There came a time when I remember saying to myself, "You know, your degree doesn't matter. All that matters is that you desire more than anything to give your ENTIRE self to the Beloved -- that includes all your gifts, all your weaknesses, all your interests, all your preferences, all your distastes, etc." I knew I wasn't trusting God with my entire vocation. I kept holding back with worries (and yes, selfishness) about using my education simply because I had invested so much time and energy (and yes, money, too ) in it -- plus, I just plain loved it so much. I had to learn how to trust that [b]God[/b] would take of that for me. He knows that an orchestral career is quite possibly what I'd consider my "greatest sacrifice", and yes, it still pains me at times, but... I know He doesn't throw any gift away. I trust that. I trust He will use my passion for music, and not let it be wasted. That brings me great comfort.

Like you said, Indwelling Trinity, I just needed to become a child again. I needed to re-focus myself and make things... simpler. (St. Therese took my hand at that point. She's still teaching me her lessons in simplicity and being a little child.)
[/quote]

I think I fell into this same trap in my own discernment, and still am. I have only been looking at religious orders who satisfy my educational needs and requirements and do something I enjoy doing. But I emailed a Sister recently who sent me a reply last night saying:

"We are religious first and nurses second. Religious life matters little if all you are focused on is what YOU enjoy doing instead of what GOD is asking of you."

Really made me stop and think, and although I am not currently discerning (since I am in a new full-time job), I hope that I will remember this for the future.

[AccountDeleted]

[quote name='MaterMisericordiae' date='02 March 2010 - 08:32 AM' timestamp='1267479135' post='2064921']
I think I fell into this same trap in my own discernment, and still am. I have only been looking at religious orders who satisfy my educational needs and requirements and do something I enjoy doing. But I emailed a Sister recently who sent me a reply last night saying:

"We are religious first and nurses second. Religious life matters little if all you are focused on is what YOU enjoy doing instead of what GOD is asking of you."

Really made me stop and think, and although I am not currently discerning (since I am in a new full-time job), I hope that I will remember this for the future.
[/quote]

I think this was Sister Luke's problem in the Nun's Story, she was a nurse first and a nun second.