Is The Priesthood A "higher Vocation?"

[Amppax]

One of the professors here at Franciscan who teaches a seminar on leadership recently stated to his class that the priesthood/religious is a higher/better vocation than marriage. Is this true?

I believe he based this statement off of a quote from Pope Paul VI in a letter to priests and bishops, but I don't remember the exact quote.

Thanks for the response in advance, y'all do great work.

[cappie]

This was a topic of conversation at table on the Feast of the Presentation as this day is devoted to consecrated life.

I believe comparisions are "odious" and not very helpful.

In the book "To Save a Thousand Souls : A Guide for Discerning a Vocation to Diocesan Priesthood." Fr Brett Brannen says: ",,,the religious life is a higher vocation than the priesthood or marriage. It is not a "better" vocation, because what is best for each person is precisely the God pre-determined vocation for that individual. But religious life is a more perfect life in the sense that it is directed towards the Evangelical Counsels of poverty, chastity, and obedience, which more perfectly reflect the eternal destiny of every person in Heaven. This life was lived, described, and recommended by Jesus Christ himself, so the Church calls this the perfect life."

Also: St. Thomas does not often use the term "vocation." He does, though speak about making the choice to enter religious life, one particular vocation. In the Summa Theologiae, at the very end of the treatise on the states of life, St. Thomas asks "whether it is praiseworthy for someone to enter religious life without long deliberation, and having taken counsel from many people" (ST II-II 189:10). He answers "yes," with the following argument. Long deliberation is required for great and doubtful things, but not for things which are certain and determined. Now we can consider religious life in itself, or we can consider it in relation to an individual's ability to live religious life. Since Christ counseled religious life, it is certain that considered in itself it is better to enter it. And since those who enter religious life look for the ability to live it not from themselves, but from God, there is also no reason in general for doubt concerning one's ability to live that life. If someone has specific obstacles, such as bodily weakness, great debts, or similar things, then deliberation is required, and counsel from people who can be expected to help and not to hinder him. St. Thomas notes that even in this case long deliberation is not necessary. He adds that counsel may also be taken as to the manner of entering, and which religious order one should enter.

Is it good to enter religious life?

St. Thomas does not, then, place the idea of vocation at the heart of his consideration. Rather, the primary question is, "Is it good?" St. Thomas puts the question this way not because vocation is unimportant, but because it is secondary. A vocation is a means God uses to lead us to something good, so the most important thing is not the vocation itself, but the good to which he wants to lead us. In general, the vocation to holiness is subordinate to holiness; in particular, the vocation to religious life is subordinate to the religious life as a specific way of living the Christian life, and the vocation to marriage is subordinate to marriage as a specific way of living the Christian life.

I know I have not answered the question entirely as I have concentrated on the Religious vocation side of it maybe a diocesan priest can answer any other part of the question