A Catholic girl's guide to vocations
A series of posts dedicated to all who need some guidance in the matter of one's own vocation.
https://www.instagram.com/fleurofcarmel/guide/a-catholic-girls-guide-to-vocations/17928566690234373/?igshid=MDJmNzVkMjY=
#vocation
A series of posts dedicated to all who need some guidance in the matter of one's own vocation.
https://www.instagram.com/fleurofcarmel/guide/a-catholic-girls-guide-to-vocations/17928566690234373/?igshid=MDJmNzVkMjY=
#vocation
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𝐅𝐥𝐨𝐬 𝐂𝐫𝐮𝐜𝐢𝐬 † on Instagram: “A Catholic Girl’s Guide to Vocations”
A guide dedicated to the different states in life for women: married life, religious life, and unmarried life in the world.
Prayer for Discerning a Vocation
by Thomas Merton
My Lord God,
I have no idea where I am going.
I do not see the road ahead of me
Nor do I really know myself,
And the fact that I think I am following your will
Does not mean that I am actually doing so.
But I believe that the desire to please you
Does in fact please you.
And I hope that I will never do anything apart from that desire.
And I know that if I do this,
You will lead me by the right road
Though I may know nothing about it.
Therefore will I trust you always though,
I may seem to be lost and in the shadow of death. * I will not fear, for you are ever with me,
And you will never leave me to face my struggles alone.
I ask for the courage to live a holy life,
that your hand guide my decisions
and that your mercy be extended
when I seek my own glory instead of yours.
I ask for the wisdom to know your will for me,
and like our Blessed Mother,
I ask for the strength to say yes.
Amen.
#prayer #vocation
by Thomas Merton
My Lord God,
I have no idea where I am going.
I do not see the road ahead of me
Nor do I really know myself,
And the fact that I think I am following your will
Does not mean that I am actually doing so.
But I believe that the desire to please you
Does in fact please you.
And I hope that I will never do anything apart from that desire.
And I know that if I do this,
You will lead me by the right road
Though I may know nothing about it.
Therefore will I trust you always though,
I may seem to be lost and in the shadow of death. * I will not fear, for you are ever with me,
And you will never leave me to face my struggles alone.
I ask for the courage to live a holy life,
that your hand guide my decisions
and that your mercy be extended
when I seek my own glory instead of yours.
I ask for the wisdom to know your will for me,
and like our Blessed Mother,
I ask for the strength to say yes.
Amen.
#prayer #vocation
"My Vocation is Love", St. Therese of Lisieux
by Jean Lafrance
"At last I have found my vocation. In the heart of the Church, I will be Love!"
Has St. Thérèse simply discovered the common vocation of all of us, or has she found her own particular vocation? Or are both true at the same time? Is it both her special vocation and the universal vocation common to all of us? This essay argues that it is both: the special calling of St. Thérèse consists precisely in her giving herself completely to that which is the fundamental vocation of us all- to live in love. Most of us all not called to live the vocation of love in the same way as she did- as a Carmelite devoted to contemplation and the intense expression of love in little things- but her vocation has something to show every one of us about our own unique vocation.
Her desire to live all vocations
To be your Spouse, O Jesus, to be a Carmelite, by my union with you to be the mother of souls, should content me. yet it does not. Without doubt, these three priviliges are indeed my vocation: Carmelite, spouse, and mother. And yet I feel in myself other vocations—I feel myself called to be a soldier, priest, apostle, doctor of the church, martyr. Finally, I feel the need, the desire to perform all the most heroic deeds for you, Jesus.I feel in my soul the courage of a crusader, of a soldier for the Church, and I wish to die on the field of battle in defense of the Church.
I feel in me the vocation of a priest! With what love, O Jesus, would I bear you in my hands, when at the sound of my words you came down from heaven! With what love would I give you to souls! But alas, just as much as I desire to be a priest, I admire and envy the humility of St. Francis of Assisi, and feel the call to imitate him in refusing the sublime dignity of the Priesthood.
Dreaming of the tortures in which Christians are to share at the time of the Antichrist, I feel my heart thrill, and I would like these tortures to be kept for me. Jesus, Jesus, if I wanted to write all my desires, I would have to take your Book of Life, where the deeds of your saints are recorded: all these deeds I would like to accomplish for you.
Each person has their own gift
At prayer these desires made me suffer a true martydom. I opened the Epistles of St. Paul to seek some relief. The 12th and 13th chapters of the First Epistle to the Corinthians fell before my eyes. I read, in the first, that not all can be apostles, prophets, and doctors, etc., that the Church is composed of different members, and that the eye cannot also be at the same time the hand.
Therese finds her vocation in charity
The answer was clear, but it did not satisfy my desires, it did not give me peace. Without being discouraged I continued my reading, and this phrase comforted me: “Earnestly desire the more perfect gifts. And I show you a still more excellent way” (1 Cor 12:31). And the Apostle explains how all gifts, even the most perfect, are nothing without Love... that charity is the excellent way that leads surely to God. At last I had found rest.... Considering the mystical Body of the Church, I had not recognized myself in any of the members described by St. Paul, or rather, I wanted to recognize myself in all... Charity gave me the key to my vocation. I understood that if the Church has a body composed of different members, the noblest and most necessary of all the members would not be lacking to her. I understood that the Church has a heart, and that this heart burns with Love. I understood that Love alone makes its members act, that if this Love were to be extinguished, the Apostles would no longer preach the Gospel, the Martyrs would refuse to shed their blood... I understood that Love embraces all vocations, that Love is all things, that it embraces all times and all places... in a word, that it is eternal!
Then in the excess of my delirious joy, I cried out: “O Jesus, my Love, at last I have found my vocation, my vocation is Love!
#vocation #sttherese
by Jean Lafrance
"At last I have found my vocation. In the heart of the Church, I will be Love!"
Has St. Thérèse simply discovered the common vocation of all of us, or has she found her own particular vocation? Or are both true at the same time? Is it both her special vocation and the universal vocation common to all of us? This essay argues that it is both: the special calling of St. Thérèse consists precisely in her giving herself completely to that which is the fundamental vocation of us all- to live in love. Most of us all not called to live the vocation of love in the same way as she did- as a Carmelite devoted to contemplation and the intense expression of love in little things- but her vocation has something to show every one of us about our own unique vocation.
Her desire to live all vocations
To be your Spouse, O Jesus, to be a Carmelite, by my union with you to be the mother of souls, should content me. yet it does not. Without doubt, these three priviliges are indeed my vocation: Carmelite, spouse, and mother. And yet I feel in myself other vocations—I feel myself called to be a soldier, priest, apostle, doctor of the church, martyr. Finally, I feel the need, the desire to perform all the most heroic deeds for you, Jesus.I feel in my soul the courage of a crusader, of a soldier for the Church, and I wish to die on the field of battle in defense of the Church.
I feel in me the vocation of a priest! With what love, O Jesus, would I bear you in my hands, when at the sound of my words you came down from heaven! With what love would I give you to souls! But alas, just as much as I desire to be a priest, I admire and envy the humility of St. Francis of Assisi, and feel the call to imitate him in refusing the sublime dignity of the Priesthood.
Dreaming of the tortures in which Christians are to share at the time of the Antichrist, I feel my heart thrill, and I would like these tortures to be kept for me. Jesus, Jesus, if I wanted to write all my desires, I would have to take your Book of Life, where the deeds of your saints are recorded: all these deeds I would like to accomplish for you.
Each person has their own gift
At prayer these desires made me suffer a true martydom. I opened the Epistles of St. Paul to seek some relief. The 12th and 13th chapters of the First Epistle to the Corinthians fell before my eyes. I read, in the first, that not all can be apostles, prophets, and doctors, etc., that the Church is composed of different members, and that the eye cannot also be at the same time the hand.
Therese finds her vocation in charity
The answer was clear, but it did not satisfy my desires, it did not give me peace. Without being discouraged I continued my reading, and this phrase comforted me: “Earnestly desire the more perfect gifts. And I show you a still more excellent way” (1 Cor 12:31). And the Apostle explains how all gifts, even the most perfect, are nothing without Love... that charity is the excellent way that leads surely to God. At last I had found rest.... Considering the mystical Body of the Church, I had not recognized myself in any of the members described by St. Paul, or rather, I wanted to recognize myself in all... Charity gave me the key to my vocation. I understood that if the Church has a body composed of different members, the noblest and most necessary of all the members would not be lacking to her. I understood that the Church has a heart, and that this heart burns with Love. I understood that Love alone makes its members act, that if this Love were to be extinguished, the Apostles would no longer preach the Gospel, the Martyrs would refuse to shed their blood... I understood that Love embraces all vocations, that Love is all things, that it embraces all times and all places... in a word, that it is eternal!
Then in the excess of my delirious joy, I cried out: “O Jesus, my Love, at last I have found my vocation, my vocation is Love!
#vocation #sttherese
Ecce Verbum
"My Vocation is Love", St. Therese of Lisieux by Jean Lafrance "At last I have found my vocation. In the heart of the Church, I will be Love!" Has St. Thérèse simply discovered the common vocation of all of us, or has she found her own particular vocation?…
Commentary on the Vocation of St. Therese
These words of St. Thérèse are often cited as explaining the common vocation of all persons. Every person is called to love, and finds his fulfillment in love. And yet St. Thérèse seems to consider that she has found her specific vocation in love. Some persons are called to be eyes for the Church, others to be hands, others to be feet... her place is in the Church's heart. Some are called to be teachers, some healers, some helpers... she is called to be a lover.
Is there a contradiction between these two ways of understanding? Do we have to choose, and say either that love is the common vocation of us all, or that it is the special vocation of St. Thérèse, and perhaps some other Carmelites? Is her little way of love really possible and meaningful for those who cannot devote themselves to her way of life, for those who have a family, and cannot be a “spouse of Christ” etc.?
These two ways of understanding the “vocation to love” are not contradictory. Indeed, they are complementary: the vocation to love as a specific vocation presupposes, builds, and expresses the vocation to love as a common vocation. Thérèse's specific vocation consists precisely in devoting her life in an exemplary manner to that which is common to every vocation, to that which is the root and the heart of every vocation... to love. She makes love her profession, as it were.
By devotely herself absolutely to love alone, she shows forth more clearly that this love is the essential point for all Christians, and ought to be the center and wellspring of all Christian life. The fundamental meaning of every vocation is a love story that unfolds between God and the person whom he calls. Thus, St. Thérèse, by demonstrating with her own life the central place of love for all men and women, performs a specific function for Christ and for the Church. The universal vocation to love is the foundation for St. Thérèse's special vocation to be a living model and teacher of such love. Her little way is both her own unique vocation, and is a way that can be followed by anyone, whatever his or her vocation his.
#vocation #sttherese
These words of St. Thérèse are often cited as explaining the common vocation of all persons. Every person is called to love, and finds his fulfillment in love. And yet St. Thérèse seems to consider that she has found her specific vocation in love. Some persons are called to be eyes for the Church, others to be hands, others to be feet... her place is in the Church's heart. Some are called to be teachers, some healers, some helpers... she is called to be a lover.
Is there a contradiction between these two ways of understanding? Do we have to choose, and say either that love is the common vocation of us all, or that it is the special vocation of St. Thérèse, and perhaps some other Carmelites? Is her little way of love really possible and meaningful for those who cannot devote themselves to her way of life, for those who have a family, and cannot be a “spouse of Christ” etc.?
These two ways of understanding the “vocation to love” are not contradictory. Indeed, they are complementary: the vocation to love as a specific vocation presupposes, builds, and expresses the vocation to love as a common vocation. Thérèse's specific vocation consists precisely in devoting her life in an exemplary manner to that which is common to every vocation, to that which is the root and the heart of every vocation... to love. She makes love her profession, as it were.
By devotely herself absolutely to love alone, she shows forth more clearly that this love is the essential point for all Christians, and ought to be the center and wellspring of all Christian life. The fundamental meaning of every vocation is a love story that unfolds between God and the person whom he calls. Thus, St. Thérèse, by demonstrating with her own life the central place of love for all men and women, performs a specific function for Christ and for the Church. The universal vocation to love is the foundation for St. Thérèse's special vocation to be a living model and teacher of such love. Her little way is both her own unique vocation, and is a way that can be followed by anyone, whatever his or her vocation his.
#vocation #sttherese
Vocations-Doyle (1).pdf
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Vocations by Rev. William Doyle, S.J.
This work, first published in the beginning of the twentieth century, is still popular today.
"How do I know whether I have a vocation or not?” How often this question has risen to the lips of many a young boy or girl, who has come to realize that life has a purpose, only to be brushed aside with an uneasy “I am sure I have not,” or a secret prayer that they might be saved from such a fate! How little they know the happiness they are throwing away in turning from God’s invitation, for such a question, and such a feeling, is often the sign of a genuine vocation."
Doyle was born in Ireland in
1873. He entered the Jesuit Novitiate at the age of 18. Soon after his ordination in 1907, his superiors appointed him on the mission staff for five years. His fame as preacher, confessor and spiritual director spread wide and far, and he had a special gift to hunt out the most hardened and neglected sinners and to bring them back with him to the church for confession.
#vocation
This work, first published in the beginning of the twentieth century, is still popular today.
"How do I know whether I have a vocation or not?” How often this question has risen to the lips of many a young boy or girl, who has come to realize that life has a purpose, only to be brushed aside with an uneasy “I am sure I have not,” or a secret prayer that they might be saved from such a fate! How little they know the happiness they are throwing away in turning from God’s invitation, for such a question, and such a feeling, is often the sign of a genuine vocation."
Doyle was born in Ireland in
1873. He entered the Jesuit Novitiate at the age of 18. Soon after his ordination in 1907, his superiors appointed him on the mission staff for five years. His fame as preacher, confessor and spiritual director spread wide and far, and he had a special gift to hunt out the most hardened and neglected sinners and to bring them back with him to the church for confession.
#vocation
The Family - Seedbed of Vocations
Father John McCloskey
One of the greatest hopes of any Catholic family should be to have one, or more, of their children to be chosen in a special way by God for his service. Traditionally, this has meant a vocation to the diocesan priesthood or one of the religious congregations. In a specific sense we are referring to the priesthood, the religious life, or to one of the various movements and institutions for laypeople that enable them to dedicate themselves totally to God in the middle of the world. These new institutions are highly favored by the Church as a means of complete dedication to the apostolate as we approach the millennium. Nowadays, it is more and more recognized that the vocation to apostolic celibacy for the kingdom of God is also a viable choice for the layperson. Indeed, the Church has made it quite clear through its enthusiastic endorsement of the need and efficacy of specific vocations to the various movements and institutions of the Church that are lay-oriented.
However, it is no secret that generally, with some few notable exceptions in some few dioceses and religious congregations, vocations have been in sharp decline in Europe and North America over the last forty years while on a steady but unspectacular rise throughout the rest of the world during the pontificate of John Paul II. There are a variety of reasons for this decline in the West. We could cite contraception producing smaller families, general affluence resulting in the bourgeois spirit producing a consequent lack of generosity, lack of catechesis, the general confusion in the Church, the sexual revolution and the consequent lost of innocence resulting in cynicism and hedonism among young people where ideals should be high, the sad example of tens of thousands of married couples and priests and religious who have not been faithful to their commitments to God and the Church, and each other. However, the example of holiness is a much more powerful influence on young people if they are brought up in such a way as to appreciate it.
The family atmosphere in which vocations are bred, nourished, and readied for fruition really is no different than what any serious Catholic parents would want to create for their children in order to prepare them for holy marriages and to give a Christian witness in the world. Parents should be preparing their children to be responsible, faithful adult Catholics and who will build up the Church, society, and culture.
Catholic parents who want to produce vocations for the Church have to be ready to be heroically counter cultural. As the old Beatles song put it, "It don't come easy." Putting it mildly, the world appears designed at the moment to thwart people, particularly young people, from even entertaining the thought of complete dedication to God. I like to speak of three particularly strong influences on young people today. One, the general culture; two, the educationally system; three, the family environment. Hopefully, at least two out of three would be positive influences to create a favorable environment for young men and women to commit themselves totally to God. Unfortunately this is not the case. The secular educational system, from top to bottom, as presently constituted, represents the ideology of secular humanism as the norm; the general culture appears designed by a demonic Intelligence to destroy any notion of beauty or truth in any mind or heart.
#vocation
Father John McCloskey
One of the greatest hopes of any Catholic family should be to have one, or more, of their children to be chosen in a special way by God for his service. Traditionally, this has meant a vocation to the diocesan priesthood or one of the religious congregations. In a specific sense we are referring to the priesthood, the religious life, or to one of the various movements and institutions for laypeople that enable them to dedicate themselves totally to God in the middle of the world. These new institutions are highly favored by the Church as a means of complete dedication to the apostolate as we approach the millennium. Nowadays, it is more and more recognized that the vocation to apostolic celibacy for the kingdom of God is also a viable choice for the layperson. Indeed, the Church has made it quite clear through its enthusiastic endorsement of the need and efficacy of specific vocations to the various movements and institutions of the Church that are lay-oriented.
However, it is no secret that generally, with some few notable exceptions in some few dioceses and religious congregations, vocations have been in sharp decline in Europe and North America over the last forty years while on a steady but unspectacular rise throughout the rest of the world during the pontificate of John Paul II. There are a variety of reasons for this decline in the West. We could cite contraception producing smaller families, general affluence resulting in the bourgeois spirit producing a consequent lack of generosity, lack of catechesis, the general confusion in the Church, the sexual revolution and the consequent lost of innocence resulting in cynicism and hedonism among young people where ideals should be high, the sad example of tens of thousands of married couples and priests and religious who have not been faithful to their commitments to God and the Church, and each other. However, the example of holiness is a much more powerful influence on young people if they are brought up in such a way as to appreciate it.
The family atmosphere in which vocations are bred, nourished, and readied for fruition really is no different than what any serious Catholic parents would want to create for their children in order to prepare them for holy marriages and to give a Christian witness in the world. Parents should be preparing their children to be responsible, faithful adult Catholics and who will build up the Church, society, and culture.
Catholic parents who want to produce vocations for the Church have to be ready to be heroically counter cultural. As the old Beatles song put it, "It don't come easy." Putting it mildly, the world appears designed at the moment to thwart people, particularly young people, from even entertaining the thought of complete dedication to God. I like to speak of three particularly strong influences on young people today. One, the general culture; two, the educationally system; three, the family environment. Hopefully, at least two out of three would be positive influences to create a favorable environment for young men and women to commit themselves totally to God. Unfortunately this is not the case. The secular educational system, from top to bottom, as presently constituted, represents the ideology of secular humanism as the norm; the general culture appears designed by a demonic Intelligence to destroy any notion of beauty or truth in any mind or heart.
#vocation
Ecce Verbum
The Family - Seedbed of Vocations Father John McCloskey One of the greatest hopes of any Catholic family should be to have one, or more, of their children to be chosen in a special way by God for his service. Traditionally, this has meant a vocation to the…
What can parents to do to create an environment where one or some of their children will discern a specific call from God to follow him completely?
They should want to foster a family life where it is natural to be generous, to make a sincere gift of oneself to others.
Here a few ideas:
Parents must be their children's best friends. To win and keep children's friendship is a daunting but joyful task. You must show your trust for them and respect for their freedom from an early age trusting that the Holy Spirit is already at work in their soul from Baptism. You may sometimes be disappointed but your children will realize that your love is unconditional. Speak often positively about the Church and the greatness of being called to a life of dedication in it. Never speak negatively about persons who have dedicated their lives to God no matter what their human failings might be. Your children should know that you pray for them every day, that they be holy and happy and generous to whatever God calls them. They must know that while you are concerned with their education, health, achievements, career prospects, these are all secondary to their being virtuous and happy in this life and saved in the next.
Foster a simple life of piety in the home adjusted to the condition and ages of the children. It should leave the children asking for more, not begging for less. The Cure of Ars was once asked by parents what they could best do for their children. He said simply to bring them frequently to Jesus in the Eucharist and in the Sacrament of Penance. Figure out how you can do this respecting their freedom yet making it attractive.
What is most important is their seeing you lead a more devout life than they. They will watch you pray, go to Mass, go to confession, read the Sacred Scripture, pray the Rosary, and so on. They will see that the liturgical calendar is the most important one for their family and that you celebrate accordingly. They will also see you make sacrifices in order to do so. Pleasing God, not men, will thus become the priority in their life also.
Teach them to value poverty and detachment. Do not let them indiscriminately acquire things or to measure people by the amount of their possessions. Teach them to make things last and how to go without happily. Teach them how to share cheerfully. Make sure they spend their summers productively. That often times will mean they work and/or spend time in generously serving others less fortunate than themselves.
Expose them according to their age and ability to "take it," to misery. Soup kitchens, nursing homes, and hospital for incurables including for children should be places where, over time, they feel comfortable. One of the most effective ways to assure this quality of generosity is simply to treasure the children God has sent to you. This will help them to place the person and not the pleasure or object at the heart of their moral universe. The greatest gift you can give to your children is brothers and sisters. Persons are not things. Thus too they will never see another person as a means or an object but rather as another Christ whom it is their privilege to serve.
Instill an appreciation of beauty, whether it be in nature, literature, music, or art. The books, magazines, compact disks, videos, musical instruments, and art that you have in your house, the television shows that you watch together, and the family excursions that you take will prepare them to appreciate the goodness of the material world that God has created and redeemed. They will also understand and despise by contrast the culture of death, which kills both the body and the soul. Beware of leaving your children alone with the television or computer, particularly as regards games and the Internet. They should be considered as dangerous substances easily subject to abuse and thus closely supervised and controlled. All of this will prepare them, as they mature, to be more reflective, and contemplative thus more able to wisely discern and answer God's call.
#education #vocation
They should want to foster a family life where it is natural to be generous, to make a sincere gift of oneself to others.
Here a few ideas:
Parents must be their children's best friends. To win and keep children's friendship is a daunting but joyful task. You must show your trust for them and respect for their freedom from an early age trusting that the Holy Spirit is already at work in their soul from Baptism. You may sometimes be disappointed but your children will realize that your love is unconditional. Speak often positively about the Church and the greatness of being called to a life of dedication in it. Never speak negatively about persons who have dedicated their lives to God no matter what their human failings might be. Your children should know that you pray for them every day, that they be holy and happy and generous to whatever God calls them. They must know that while you are concerned with their education, health, achievements, career prospects, these are all secondary to their being virtuous and happy in this life and saved in the next.
Foster a simple life of piety in the home adjusted to the condition and ages of the children. It should leave the children asking for more, not begging for less. The Cure of Ars was once asked by parents what they could best do for their children. He said simply to bring them frequently to Jesus in the Eucharist and in the Sacrament of Penance. Figure out how you can do this respecting their freedom yet making it attractive.
What is most important is their seeing you lead a more devout life than they. They will watch you pray, go to Mass, go to confession, read the Sacred Scripture, pray the Rosary, and so on. They will see that the liturgical calendar is the most important one for their family and that you celebrate accordingly. They will also see you make sacrifices in order to do so. Pleasing God, not men, will thus become the priority in their life also.
Teach them to value poverty and detachment. Do not let them indiscriminately acquire things or to measure people by the amount of their possessions. Teach them to make things last and how to go without happily. Teach them how to share cheerfully. Make sure they spend their summers productively. That often times will mean they work and/or spend time in generously serving others less fortunate than themselves.
Expose them according to their age and ability to "take it," to misery. Soup kitchens, nursing homes, and hospital for incurables including for children should be places where, over time, they feel comfortable. One of the most effective ways to assure this quality of generosity is simply to treasure the children God has sent to you. This will help them to place the person and not the pleasure or object at the heart of their moral universe. The greatest gift you can give to your children is brothers and sisters. Persons are not things. Thus too they will never see another person as a means or an object but rather as another Christ whom it is their privilege to serve.
Instill an appreciation of beauty, whether it be in nature, literature, music, or art. The books, magazines, compact disks, videos, musical instruments, and art that you have in your house, the television shows that you watch together, and the family excursions that you take will prepare them to appreciate the goodness of the material world that God has created and redeemed. They will also understand and despise by contrast the culture of death, which kills both the body and the soul. Beware of leaving your children alone with the television or computer, particularly as regards games and the Internet. They should be considered as dangerous substances easily subject to abuse and thus closely supervised and controlled. All of this will prepare them, as they mature, to be more reflective, and contemplative thus more able to wisely discern and answer God's call.
#education #vocation
Ecce Verbum
What can parents to do to create an environment where one or some of their children will discern a specific call from God to follow him completely? They should want to foster a family life where it is natural to be generous, to make a sincere gift of oneself…
Take special care with their formation outside the house. Encourage them to have a wide variety of friends with whom they can share the joy of your own family life. By the time they graduate from high school they simply must have an excellent grasp of Catholic teaching in its doctrine and morality and be able to give an account to others of the hope that is within them. This is your primary responsibility. Every family has different financial circumstances and choices. It may be home schooling, the parochial or private school, or even the public school. It is not simply a question of choice, however.
Christian parents have a serious responsibility to improve all varieties of education, always insisting on the primary responsibility of parents for their children's education.
If need be, you may have to teach them the Faith yourselves but in any case you must not send them off to university as innocent lambs ready for the slaughter. Believe me, there are plenty of wolves out there. Introduce them to the saints as their role models while also encouraging them to imitate the virtues of the great men and women of history.
Remember you are preparing them for a life of service and dedication to God and not necessarily in the convent, monastery, or rectory. You may also want to encourage them, gently, to participate in Catholic programs for youth that are sound, demanding, and fun. It may be there that they first come in contact with those other mentors and new friends who will introduce them more concretely to the possibility of a life of total dedication.
If you supply (offer) your children to God through your prayer and careful preparation, He will match you by taking them and through His grace and their collaboration. Don't forget the shortcut of entrusting them to Mary, the Mother of God. If our Lady takes a special liking to them, her Son will form them into the new evangelizers of the third millennium.
First appeared in Position Papers (Ireland) in March, 1999.
#education #vocation
Christian parents have a serious responsibility to improve all varieties of education, always insisting on the primary responsibility of parents for their children's education.
If need be, you may have to teach them the Faith yourselves but in any case you must not send them off to university as innocent lambs ready for the slaughter. Believe me, there are plenty of wolves out there. Introduce them to the saints as their role models while also encouraging them to imitate the virtues of the great men and women of history.
Remember you are preparing them for a life of service and dedication to God and not necessarily in the convent, monastery, or rectory. You may also want to encourage them, gently, to participate in Catholic programs for youth that are sound, demanding, and fun. It may be there that they first come in contact with those other mentors and new friends who will introduce them more concretely to the possibility of a life of total dedication.
If you supply (offer) your children to God through your prayer and careful preparation, He will match you by taking them and through His grace and their collaboration. Don't forget the shortcut of entrusting them to Mary, the Mother of God. If our Lady takes a special liking to them, her Son will form them into the new evangelizers of the third millennium.
First appeared in Position Papers (Ireland) in March, 1999.
#education #vocation
Ecce Verbum
The Family - Seedbed of Vocations Father John McCloskey One of the greatest hopes of any Catholic family should be to have one, or more, of their children to be chosen in a special way by God for his service. Traditionally, this has meant a vocation to the…
Prayer for religious vocations
O Holy Family of Nazareth, community of love of Jesus, Mary and Joseph, model and ideal of every Christian family, to you we entrust our families.
Open the heart of every family to the faith, to welcoming the word of God, to Christian witness, so that it become a source of new and holy vocations.
Touch the hearts of parents, so that with prompt charity, wise care, and loving devotion they be for their sons and daughters sure guides towards spiritual and eternal values.
Stir up in the hearts of young people a right conscience and a free will, so that growing in "wisdom, age and grace", they might welcome generously the gift of a divine vocation.
Holy Family of Nazareth, grant that all of us, contemplating and imitating the assiduous prayer, generous obedience, dignified poverty and virginal purity lived out in your midst, might set about fulfilling the will of God and accompanying with far-sighted sensitivity those among us who are called to follow more closely the Lord Jesus, who "has given himself for us" (cf. Gal 2:20).
Amen!
(Message for XXXI World Day for Vocations, 26 December 1993)
#prayer #vocation
O Holy Family of Nazareth, community of love of Jesus, Mary and Joseph, model and ideal of every Christian family, to you we entrust our families.
Open the heart of every family to the faith, to welcoming the word of God, to Christian witness, so that it become a source of new and holy vocations.
Touch the hearts of parents, so that with prompt charity, wise care, and loving devotion they be for their sons and daughters sure guides towards spiritual and eternal values.
Stir up in the hearts of young people a right conscience and a free will, so that growing in "wisdom, age and grace", they might welcome generously the gift of a divine vocation.
Holy Family of Nazareth, grant that all of us, contemplating and imitating the assiduous prayer, generous obedience, dignified poverty and virginal purity lived out in your midst, might set about fulfilling the will of God and accompanying with far-sighted sensitivity those among us who are called to follow more closely the Lord Jesus, who "has given himself for us" (cf. Gal 2:20).
Amen!
(Message for XXXI World Day for Vocations, 26 December 1993)
#prayer #vocation
Ecce Verbum
Vocations-Doyle (1).pdf
vdocuments_net_a_vincentian_father_vocations_saints_vincentian_father.pdf
156.1 KB
"Vocations Explained:
Matrimony, Virginity, The religious state, and the priesthood"
by a Vincentian Father
I. Definition- Every Person has some special vocation
II. Necessity of following a vocation
III. Matrimony- Is it a vocation?
IV. Mixed Marriages
V. Virginity
VI. The Three Evangelical Counsels
1. Poverty
2. Perpetual Chastity
3. Obedience
VII. The Religious State
VIII. Marks of a vocation to the religious state
IX. Doubts about a vocation to the religious state
X. Encouraging others to enter the religious state
XI. Means of preserving a vocation to the religious state - some obstacles
XII. Children and the religious state
XIII. Duty of parents regarding the religious vocation of their children
XIV. Vocations to the priesthood
XV. Do vocations to the priesthood come directly from God?
XVI. Fostering vocations to the priesthood
XVII. Preventing vocations to the priesthood
XVIII. Means of knowing our vocation
1. Prayer
2. Freedom from sin
3. Humility
4. Retreat
5. Counsel
Prayer of St Bernard
#vocation
Matrimony, Virginity, The religious state, and the priesthood"
by a Vincentian Father
I. Definition- Every Person has some special vocation
II. Necessity of following a vocation
III. Matrimony- Is it a vocation?
IV. Mixed Marriages
V. Virginity
VI. The Three Evangelical Counsels
1. Poverty
2. Perpetual Chastity
3. Obedience
VII. The Religious State
VIII. Marks of a vocation to the religious state
IX. Doubts about a vocation to the religious state
X. Encouraging others to enter the religious state
XI. Means of preserving a vocation to the religious state - some obstacles
XII. Children and the religious state
XIII. Duty of parents regarding the religious vocation of their children
XIV. Vocations to the priesthood
XV. Do vocations to the priesthood come directly from God?
XVI. Fostering vocations to the priesthood
XVII. Preventing vocations to the priesthood
XVIII. Means of knowing our vocation
1. Prayer
2. Freedom from sin
3. Humility
4. Retreat
5. Counsel
Prayer of St Bernard
#vocation