The Life of Man–To Know and Love God

“God, infinitely perfect and blessed in himself, in a plan of sheer goodness freely created man to make him share in his own blessed life. For this reason, at every time and in every place, God draws close to man. He calls man to seek him, to know him, to love him with all his strength. He calls togther all men, scattered and divided by sin, into the unity of his family, the Church. To accomplish this, when the fullness of time had come, God sent his Son as Redeemer and Savior. In his Son and through him, he invites men to become, in the Holy Spirit, his adopted children and thus heirs of his blessed life.” Catechism of the Catholic Church, paragraph 1

Did you know that God has GREAT plans for your life here on earth? A plan that will lead you into the fullness of His love? A plan that will provide many opportunities for preparing your soul for the Heavenly Feast? A plan that has been uniquely woven into your being since the beginning of time…what a spectaular love the Father has for YOU!!!! A plan so unique and beautiful that no other human being will be able to perfectly fulfill what it is that He has laid out for your life! Check out this beautiful short film called The Butterfly Circus! It inspires the dignity of the human person and gives hope that God has purpose for even the most outcast of society. The Butterfly Circus (just hit the play button)

“Those who with God’s help have welcomed Christ’s call and freely responded to it are urged on by the love of Christ to proclaim the Good News everywhere in the world. This treasure, received from the apostles, has been faithfully guarded by their successors. All Christ’s faithful are called to hand it on from generation to generation, by professing the faith, by living it in fraternal sharing, and by celebrating it in liturgy and prayer.” Catechism of the Catholic Church, paragraph 3

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Vocation…What’s That???

 Vocation comes for the Latin root ”vocare” which means “to call.”  Your vocation is simply what God calls you to do with your life. Everybody is called by God to know, love and serve him. The difference is how each one us lives this out. God gives each of us a particular mission in life. As we grow and life progresses, he makes it known to us, usually in indirect ways, more as an invitation than an imposition. Discovering and ultimately following your vocation gives the greatest glory and praise to God. It is what we were meant to do. “Take up your cross and follow me” (Mark 8:34).

“When the Church speaks of “vocation,” she means a calling out to each person to accomplish a task preordained by God in the coredemption of the world. The highest joy in life for a Christian is searching out, discovering, and pursuing the purpose for which God called him into existence. The idea of vocation implies and demands a larger design to life. Every vocation is a call to holiness. But what exactly does holiness mean? In everyday language, we use the words “good” and “holy” almost interchangeably. Holy people are, of course, also good people. These two words do not mean the same thing, however. “Holy” comes from the Hebrew word, which means “other than.” God is holy because he is “other than” us. His ways are not the ways of the world. This is why St. Paul tells us, in Romans, “Do not be conformed to the world.”
-Cardinal J. Francis Stafford, D.D.

check out this great link for discernment posted on the Diocese of Madison’s website: http://www.madisondiocese.org/Vocations/DiscerningaVocation/tabid/118/Default.aspx

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Marriage

The Other Vocation Crisis-Marriage
By the Most Reverend Earl A. Boyea, Bishop of Lansing

We have a vocation crisis in America. This is not what you think. It is a vocation crisis in marriage. Many are no longer getting married – and too many do not see their marriage as a sacrament, a means of grace for themselves and their families. Yet marriage and family are the natural heart of our society and the spiritual core of our church. Pope John Paul II stated in St. Louis in January 1999: “As the family goes, so goes the nation!”

Now, most of us know the solutions to this difficulty since we have seen very healthy marriages and thus know what they look like. I think of my own parents, who have been married for 58 years. They are not perfect. However, they do exhibit that fidelity, commitment and love which are the hallmarks of a good marriage.

Marriage is a communion of persons wherein new life is the fruit of love. The two purposes of marriage are the unitive (love of the couple) and procreative (blessings of children). Sexual expression is to be the deepest manifestation of these two purposes. Unfortunately, for the past 50 years, there has been growing not only a division between these two, but a chasm. It began with seeking to have marital relations without having children. Soon, however, sexual relations became completely separated from both love and children. How do we get out of this mess? I would suggest five things.

First of all, we, married and single, need to know better who we are as created by God. Pope John Paul II’s Theology of the Body is vital to that process. Fundamentally, this means that we see ourselves as created in the image of the loving Trinity, where we really become human only in the total gift of ourselves, imitating the gift of Christ to us. The Trinity and the cross must be the center of every Christian’s life. This will give meaning to marriage, as well as to religious and priestly vocations.

Second, we need to counter the contraceptive mentality of our society, which has helped to create this gap between sexual activity, and love and children. The best way to do this is to promote Natural Family Planning. We know that commitment and companionship, based on hard work and dedication, are the solid bedrocks of a successful marriage. NFP supports this completely, and clearly invites into the marriage that one partner who is most needed: God. NFP is simple, satisfying and effective; and it engages the couple more completely in the family planning process. NFP does not change our bodily nature nor our bodily relationship; rather, it respects what is God-given.

Third, we need to recognize that marriage is good for us. Marriage “helps to overcome self-absorption, egoism, pursuit of one’s own pleasure, and to open oneself to the other, to mutual aid and to self-giving.” (Catechism of the Catholic Church #1609) Marriage also can teach us the equality of men and women and their clear differences and complementarity by working toward a loving unity.

Fourth, we need to recall that marriage is good for children. Children in intact families are more likely to be successful and less likely to experience a myriad of evils that surround us. The roles of mother and father and their healthy interactions are important for the development of boys and girls and show them the beauty of faithful and eternal love. This is the best gift that a husband and wife can give to their children.

Finally, we need to pray and to celebrate the sacraments. Praying as a family, and praying as a couple are vital. Recourse to reconciliation and the Eucharist are essential for ourselves and for assisting our spouse and our family on their journey to heaven. Jesus commanded us to eat his flesh and drink his blood. Not doing so would mean that we would have no life in us. How can we share life, our life or any life, with our spouse or children if we do not have that life within us.

Marriage is essential for our society, for our church, and mostly for our salvation. Let us work and pray for the building of this great sacrament of service.

Other Resources
1. Check out www.onemoresoul.com Fostering God’s Plan for Love, Chastity, Marriage & Children
2. On Christian Marriage: an encyclical letter by Pope Pius XI http://onemoresoul.com/marriage-children/church-teaching/on-christian-marriage-casti-connubii-encyclical-letter-of-pope-pius-xi.html#more-154
3. For more on NFP http://www.phxnfp.com/
4. United States Conference of Catholic Bishops on NFP http://www.usccb.org/nfp
5.  Jason & Crystalina Evert http://www.chastity.com/
6. Theology of the Body http://theologyofthebody.com/

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Religious Life

Catechism of the Catholic Church #916

“The state of consecrated life is thus one way of experiencing a “more intimate” consecration, rooted in Baptism and dedicated totally to God. In the consecrated life, Christ’s faithful, moved by the Holy Spirit, propose to follow Christ more nearly, to give themselves to God who is loved above all and, pursuing the perfection of charity in the service of the Kingdom, to signify and proclaim in the Church the glory of the world to come.”

Pope Benedict XVI once said that young people who know how to pray and have an intimate dialogue with the Lord can be entrusted with discerning their call.
So in conjunction with this advice, here are some other practical tips of discernment:

• Attend daily Mass if your schedule permits
• Make a daily (or as often as your schedule permits) Holy Hour of Adoration
• Ask for Our Lady’s intercession, that she may teach you how to echo her own YES to the Father’s Will for your life
• Seek spiritual direction and guidance
• Learn about some different Orders and get in touch with the vocation directresses of  the ones to which you feel particularly drawn

Listen, Listen, Listen.  Oftentimes, the Lord leads us and speaks to our hearts in silence.  It is important for you to spend quiet time in prayer. Jn 16:24……. “Ask, and you will receive, that your joy may be full.” Be patient and stay close to Him in the Sacraments, He will make HIS WILL known!
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Priesthood

“I am often asked, especially by young people, why I became a priest. Maybe some of you would like to ask the same question. Let me try briefly to reply. I must begin by saying that it is impossible to explain entirely. For it remains a mystery, even to myself. How does one explain the ways of God? Yet, I know that, at a certain point in my life, I became convinced that Christ was saying to me what he had said to thousands before me: ‘Come, follow me!’ There was a clear sense that what I heard in my heart was no human voice, nor was it just an idea of my own. Christ was calling me to serve him as a priest. And you can probably tell that I am deeply grateful to God for my vocation to the priesthood. Nothing means more to me or gives me greater joy that to celebrate Mass each day and to serve God’s people in the Church. That has been true ever since the day of my ordination as a priest. Nothing has ever changed this, not even becoming Pope.”
(Los Angeles, USA, September 14, 1987)

Got questions about priesthood? Still not sure??? Why not give our dynamic duo a call! The Diocese of Green Bay has two wonderful vocation directors that are available for you whenever you have questions.

Fr. Tom Long
920-272-8293
tlong@gbdioc.org

Fr. Quinn Mann
920-312-0070
fatherquinnmann@gmail.com

Recommended Reading:
- The Priest is Not His Own by Fulton Sheen
- A Priest Forever by Fr. Benedict Groeschl, CFR
- The Diary of a Country Priest by Georges Bernanos
- Love and Responsibility by Pope John Paul II
- I Belive in Love by Jean D’Elbee
- The Cure of Ars by Francis Trochu
- Pastores Dabo Vobis (I Will Give You Shepherds) by Pope John Paul II
- Be a Man! Becoming the Man God Created You to be by Fr. Larry Richards