mamalove Posted June 13, 2004 Share Posted June 13, 2004 Regardless of what vocation God has chosen for you, which one do you think would offer the most challenges. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cathurian Posted June 13, 2004 Share Posted June 13, 2004 The priesthood. You've got all the challenges of remaining single and celebate, plus the extra duties that spiritual leaders have. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
1337 k4th0l1x0r Posted June 13, 2004 Share Posted June 13, 2004 I picked single life, but only as single life as a permanent, lifelong vocation. Before any of us become married or religious, we are called to live the single life and live it well. The single life is never really single--we always have God, and must develop a relationship with him first. Once that is done, we can move on to becoming priests, nuns, husbands, and wives. Remaining single the rest of the time requires an extensive amount of faith in God and alot of challenges in not being in a religious or domestic community. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Colleen Posted June 13, 2004 Share Posted June 13, 2004 I'm not sure. I mean, I think every vocation has its own challenges, some are greater than others. So maybe they are all equally difficult in their own way. I voted Priesthood/Religious life, though. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FaustinaVianney Posted June 13, 2004 Share Posted June 13, 2004 I didn't vote for any because I think every vocation is challenging. It just depends on what strengths God has given you. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
homeschoolmom Posted June 13, 2004 Share Posted June 13, 2004 I picked single life, but I think the priesthood or religious might be harder. I think singleness has a great deal of challenges. I'd have to be way more self sufficient.... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cantstopdancin9 Posted June 13, 2004 Share Posted June 13, 2004 Priesthood Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BeenaBobba Posted June 13, 2004 Share Posted June 13, 2004 I picked the single life. If the single life was my vocation, I think I'd feel very lonely. I'd want to get married. So, that being said, the single life would be the most difficult for me, I think. God bless, Jen Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mamalove Posted June 13, 2004 Author Share Posted June 13, 2004 Great replies so far! BTW, I meant for "Single Life" to be perpetual (no marriage or religious life). I think that single life would be the toughest. I would think that a person called to the single life would often not be certain about thier mission in life. A married person loves thier spouse and raises a family, similar to a priest who takes on the Church as his spouse and leads the congregation. Their roles are well defined. A single person's vocation is not so clear. And remember, they must also remain celebate. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
toledo_jesus Posted June 13, 2004 Share Posted June 13, 2004 I chose married/family life and my thinking was thus: Priesthood has a lot of responsibilities, but those mostly have to do with God. You would probably be able to find a supportive community of others like you to fall back on. While this won't stop a priest from getting discouraged and bedraggled, it does help, I should hope. Single life allows you to concentrate on yourself and get yourself straightened out. While there is the potential to not be accountable to anybody...really you have the luxury of less responsibility to others. In my opinion, this allows you to focus more on God. Married life mixes worldly responsibility (feed the kids, pay the bills, job, mortgage etc.) with spiritual (honor spouse, instruct children, support Church and religious, etc.) Needless to say, this could be quite distracting. If my own parents are any indication, most people put God and Church on the back burner when it comes down to paying the bills...So I think Married is most difficult, simply as a support issue. And hey, this might be a good argument against Married clergy, cause imagine mixing the responsibilities! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
crusader1234 Posted June 13, 2004 Share Posted June 13, 2004 [quote name='BeenaBobba' date='Jun 12 2004, 11:21 PM'] I picked the single life. If the single life was my vocation, I think I'd feel very lonely. I'd want to get married. So, that being said, the single life would be the most difficult for me, I think. God bless, Jen [/quote] Well put Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
homeschoolmom Posted June 13, 2004 Share Posted June 13, 2004 [quote name='toledo_jesus' date='Jun 12 2004, 11:30 PM'] And hey, this might be a good argument against Married clergy, cause imagine mixing the responsibilities! [/quote] I think that's the reason, isn't it? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Theologian in Training Posted June 13, 2004 Share Posted June 13, 2004 [quote]Priesthood has a lot of responsibilities, but those mostly have to do with God. You would probably be able to find a supportive community of others like you to fall back on. While this won't stop a priest from getting discouraged and bedraggled, it does help, I should hope.[/quote] If only it were that easy. Unfortunately, there is not a lot of accountability for priests. Further, usually after ordination many have a tendency of drifting away, and you rarely ever see them anymore. If the pastor wants to have dinner with you, it is usually appreciated, but not a common occurrence. Also, though a priest may have things that have to do with God, not everything is as explicit. For example, replacing a light bulb and making repairs for the roof of the Church are things that many pastors have as their "job description" as well. Also, though priests do deal with things that have to do with God, they are also still men, and do not become completely and totally devoted to God overnight, sometimes, like anyone, it is a life-long process. Therefore, they must strive to be holy. Of course, because they are to be Shepherds, they have a lot of responsibilities and different things to face, and will be judged all the more for their ministry come Judgement Day. They have the double challenge of not only striving for holiness but also helping others to become holy, by the grace of God. Further, whereas a married couple have the "luxury" of going home and talking to their spouse after a bad day, a priest must continue on, because the majority of the time, he may have three more appointments and cannot really take the time fully needed to work through certain things. Granted, priesthood is a beautiful thing as well, for all the responsibilities and little bumps in the road along the way, they can also do something only those ordained can do, ie: hear confession and say Mass. Even that though can become difficult, from what I hear confession can become an extraordinary challenge, people, mere stranger sometimes, come to the priest and pour out their heart, reveal sins they may tell no one else, and then not only do they have the power to absolve, but they also, being human, have the responsiblity of trying to forget that confession, it must die there. It makes sense why Padre Pio suffered so much, when you hear he heard confession sometimes 8 hrs a day. Think about it, a priest is called to be an instrument of God's grace, and yet a priest is also quite human at the same time, the magnitude of such a responsibility is overwhelming. Therefore, I picked prieshood / religious life...sorry for the lengthy response God Bless Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
toledo_jesus Posted June 13, 2004 Share Posted June 13, 2004 It seems like it would be common sense but to hear some people talk our priests would have no problem juggling the duties of marriage and family with the pastoral care of souls and the sacramental needs of the community. Silly people. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Thy Geekdom Come Posted June 13, 2004 Share Posted June 13, 2004 Right now, I'd say priesthood or religious life, just because of the way society views it. But then, the vocation to live the Christian idea of any of these vocations is badly received in our society. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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