The worst title ever

[superblue]

Is it possible that some people are not meant to be anything in life, not married, not religious,  but are destined to be poor, alone, jobless, unhappy , etc. ?

 

how does the church address this besides the beatitudes .

[Norseman82]

People are given free will.  Hence the old joke "I'm predestined to not be a Calvinist".

[xSilverPhinx]

People are given free will.  Hence the old joke "I'm predestined to not be a Calvinist".

How can you be meant for something and have free will? 

[MarysLittleFlower]

You might be interested in the life of St John of God... He's had a life sort of like that for a long time. Also there was someone who's vocation was being poor and doing continual Adoration in different churches - I forget his name

How can you be meant for something and have free will? 

 

We don't believe in fate... God has a plan but we say yes or no. And there's His permissive Will, which allows things that happen from our free will, even if they are not something God caused or wanted in His direct Will.  He can use these things and turn evil to good. But we should follow His Will not ours, as He knows better and we pray for His Will to be done on earth as it is in Heaven  

Edited November 14, 2015 by MarysLittleFlower

[Gabriela]

I don't know, dude, but your question worries me. Know that I'm praying for you daily.

[Era Might]

Is it possible that some people are not meant to be anything in life, not married, not religious,  but are destined to be poor, alone, jobless, unhappy , etc. ?

 

how does the church address this besides the beatitudes .

We live in an organized system, so to the extent that a person does not adjust to the system, their prospects for a way-of-being in the world are not good. The good news is that there are always options, if one is willing to live in reality and not trap themselves in ideas. Adjusting yourself to the system is not necessarily living in reality...it just means that you have accommodated the reality of someone else's ideas. Living in reality means being-in-the-world, and for some, that may require resistance, challenge, revolution, witness, protest. But when it becomes un-being it becomes un-reality, because to live outside reality is to be defeated by someone else's ideas. Every human being has to fight for their right to live in reality...but there is no guarantee that this will take the form of "happiness" in the sense that the present society deems it, because the present society may not be worth believing in.

[MarysLittleFlower]

Just seek God's Will that is holiness and true joy, nothing else

[superblue]

is it possible though, that seeking God's Will, won't necessarily mean a life of prosperity , stability, joy, etc, and could lead one to a life of poverty, uncertainty, hungry and homeless ?   Scripture even has Christ saying at one point that the birds have nests, foxes have their dens etc... An maybe for those we see as poor, etc ,  that their existence even though not where one would seek to be at , is still living a life that is apart of God's Will ?  

[MarysLittleFlower]

is it possible though, that seeking God's Will, won't necessarily mean a life of prosperity , stability, joy, etc, and could lead one to a life of poverty, uncertainty, hungry and homeless ?   Scripture even has Christ saying at one point that the birds have nests, foxes have their dens etc... An maybe for those we see as poor, etc ,  that their existence even though not where one would seek to be at , is still living a life that is apart of God's Will ?  

Yes I believe it could be God's Will and I see it as a sharing in how Our Lord lived on earth. That's where the Beatitudes come in... A life of prosperity is not necessarily best spiritually. I have decided that I don't want to be rich because it would just form an attachment. I think a common mistake in the world is thinking that worldly comfort means happiness, but we were made for supernatural happiness not just natural happiness. A life of poverty is a life in greater imitation of Our Lord which is why religious make that vow. There are saints who were not religious yet still lived in poverty.  

[blazeingstar]

Is it possible that some people are not meant to be anything in life, not married, not religious,  but are destined to be poor, alone, jobless, unhappy , etc. ?

 

how does the church address this besides the beatitudes .

There are some here that dispute that God calls people to the single life.  I think it is a transitional vocation that everyone is called to, with the rare person being called to a life of singleness with no vocation or vows.  So yes, God calls people to be something other than Married or Religious, rarely, but yes.

Those people may suffer loneliness, my have unemployment, and may feel unhappy at times, but that is not part of their vocation.  For many of those who are in the single life bucket, they actually have very good jobs and are able to give in a way that no married person can.  I think this is the same reason that god decides not to give some couples children, so they can give in a way a family cannot.  It's a sad burdan, but one that God allows to occur.  The one single person I am close to does suffer loneliness, but his singleness has allowed him to be a great spiritual power to many people, available nearly 24/7 to people in need and when called upon to financially support his elderly mother so she wouldn't loose her home.  There has been great blessing in this, although he has faced great times of despair.  In a healthy parish, he is welcomed for his talents and others give to him to meet some of his social and physical needs (like home-cooked meals). 

Then there are those who suffer from mental illness.  They may not "qualify" for religious life and may not find the spouse who can deal with their affliction.  They will disproportionately suffer poverty, unemployment and depression.  The key in this is to find a place in a good and healthy parish.  If one can secure housing with social security then even those mentally ill may be able to volunteer...stocking a food pantry, crossing guard, etc.  there are so many ways to give back.

Many times I think those who find themselves in despair at the single life often think that their vocation has been thwarted by some evil powers outside of them.  However, in my life, and that of all my friends, our times as a single person lasted just long enough to burn off some fatal flaw or adherence to sin or simply work ourselves out of poverty.

Also, remember, while many people get married in their 20's, God sometimes has perfectly legitimate reasons for a couple to meet and marry in their 30's, 40's or later.  I remember being frustrated and telling a priest that he was so stupid because she said my vocation was clearly marriage.  He'd known me in college and six years out, I was still not married.  He laughed.  He was an engineer and nothing had quite worked out for him in YEARS except his job, he was heading to early retirement.  He was 53 before he heard God's voice to become a Priest.  For a while he was very mad that God had not called him when he was a young man...only now...2 years before he was set to retire.  Ironically, it was due to a lot of on call work, where he'd be called in to service factories in need.  He told me that God hadn't used his engineering skill to bring some great insight to the priesthood, nor had he developed spiritually all that much since his 30's.  But somehow, God let him know that He'd called Fr. to a time and a place when he was needed.  He wasn't needed when he was 23 or 33 or 43.  It's funny, because his vocation angered a lot of old biddies in the parish.  Some because he'd not gone out with their daughters, some because we've been in need of priests for years.  But to anyone anxious about their future, he will say, "God will call you, when you are needed."

[Era Might]

.Also, remember, while many people get married in their 20's, God sometimes has perfectly legitimate reasons for a couple to meet and marry in their 30's, 40's or later.  I remember being frustrated and telling a priest that he was so stupid because she said my vocation was clearly marriage.  He'd known me in college and six years out, I was still not married.  He laughed.  He was an engineer and nothing had quite worked out for him in YEARS except his job, he was heading to early retirement.  He was 53 before he heard God's voice to become a Priest.  For a while he was very mad that God had not called him when he was a young man...only now...2 years before he was set to retire.  Ironically, it was due to a lot of on call work, where he'd be called in to service factories in need.  He told me that God hadn't used his engineering skill to bring some great insight to the priesthood, nor had he developed spiritually all that much since his 30's.  But somehow, God let him know that He'd called Fr. to a time and a place when he was needed.  He wasn't needed when he was 23 or 33 or 43.  It's funny, because his vocation angered a lot of old biddies in the parish.  Some because he'd not gone out with their daughters, some because we've been in need of priests for years.  But to anyone anxious about their future, he will say, "God will call you, when you are needed."

Great thoughts, thanks. There's the saying that 99% of life is just showing up...I think the other 1% may be just waiting for something to show up for. There are ways to be active and look for the opportunities, but even then it's a game of patience. Just don't fall asleep in the meantime, stay awake.

[Norseman82]

Before we start attributing things to God, we need to account for the human/natural factor, which is why in investigations for miracles for a saint's cause for canonization investigators go out of their way to try to find a natural explanation before calling it a miracle.  The same thing holds true for something being "God's will".  Even former President Bush said in his inaugural address "Abandonment and abuse are not acts of God, they are failures of love."