V O C A T I O N S

Most monastics are far from being perfect, even though the goal is perfection of the self, in loving obedience to Our Lord. If everyone waiting until he was perfect, how many professions could there be? The one indispensable virtue is perseverance, coupled with a generosity of spirit and a willingness to learn, under the direction of the Superior of the Order, allowing God time to work and to help on that journey, and we have God's promise of that help. Perfection is not a requirement for the testing of a vocation, but the vocation itself is a call to perfection before God.

For some, the rush of their day-to-day life means that the "Godly things" -- such as prayer, scripture readings and study and private devotions -- are always pushed to the back burner. It hardly seems possible after going to work, buying groceries, mowing the law, doing the laundry, etc. to still find time for prayer. In the religious life this is completely turned around with prayer, as indicated, the principal and central occupation.

A vocation often becomes clearest out of seeming internal conflict about it, if one is afraid of it, or is having difficulty accepting it, or thoughts about not liking it. If is at this point that a review of one's past life, as mentioned earlier, might be most revealing. Remember that uncertainty about a monastic vocation does not mean that one does not have a vocation. Most of us who are on that journey have also experienced those same times of uncertainty and doubt. But any new journey is unclear and filled with questions, and yet it may be that the answer to those very questions, and self-examination, will lead to the understanding of God's call.

The fact that you are now reading this may well be one of those undramatic ways the Holy Spirit has of leading one toward the Father's will. His will may be that one become a monk or nun, or simply lead a more disciplined life in the present context of life as an Oblate or Associate of the Order. Perhaps you are a committed churchman, and receive the Sacraments regularly, study the Scriptures, have a daily prayer time -- and yet you feel that something is missing, that your walk with the Lord is not as close as it should be. Perhaps you have a call to the religious life, possibly even to the monastic journey.

As Thomas Merton wrote in The Climate of Monastic Prayer: "The monk is a Christian who has responded to a special call from God, and has withdrawn from the more active concerns of a worldly life, in order to devote himself completely to repentance, conversion, 'metanoia', renunciation and prayer." For one who feels he has been called from the more active concerns of a worldly life into a life of prayer and service as a religious, please consider the Order of Saint Benedict as a place to test that vocation. Think about it, pray about it -- God may well be calling you a more perfect way of life. As Saint Paul told the Ephesians: God has called you, live up to that calling.

The rest is up to you.

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