tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-13522238.post310209616651109213..comments2024-03-14T11:50:14.761-04:00Comments on DarwinCatholic: ABD: Always Be DiscerningDarwinhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08572976822786862149noreply@blogger.comBlogger7125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-13522238.post-21964320164811479392012-01-11T21:55:37.262-05:002012-01-11T21:55:37.262-05:00Nope, not a soul.Nope, not a soul.Matthew Lickonahttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01073464100061129072noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-13522238.post-9754536587568321802012-01-11T20:07:04.057-05:002012-01-11T20:07:04.057-05:00Jeeves does all the discerning for Bertie Wooster....Jeeves does all the discerning for Bertie Wooster.<br /><br />International Orthodox U. has nothing on the Catholic University of North Texas, now does it?<br /><br />Lordy, I hope no one is still reading this post.MrsDarwinhttp://darwincatholic.blogspot.comnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-13522238.post-17120049396812617732012-01-11T18:08:11.360-05:002012-01-11T18:08:11.360-05:00What if you are Bertie Wooster? Also, I totally d...What if you are Bertie Wooster? Also, I totally dare you start a school called Orthodox U. Or maybe International Orthodox U.Matthew Lickonahttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01073464100061129072noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-13522238.post-83171005964840967362012-01-10T11:26:05.480-05:002012-01-10T11:26:05.480-05:00Being pretty much in Tom's situation -- temper...Being pretty much in Tom's situation -- temperamentally unsuited for the priesthood and not having found anyone I could seriously see myself marrying -- I confess I find it rather freeing; either obstacle could dissolve at some point, at which case the decision would have to be revisited, but in the meantime, I've been given the lighter load. I've occasionally met Catholics who get bent out of shape about the fact that not everyone has a higher calling (or even, more baffling, that not everyone has a higher calling <i>from the beginning</i>); I have never understood it. Marriage and the priesthood are higher callings than anything I've been called to (at least yet), but they are higher precisely because so much more hinges on them, and because of that they come with massive burdens. They are certainly worth the extra burden, if you can reasonably get them; and most people who are really well-suited to them don't feel the extra weight at least most of the time. But the burdens are so great God had to make them sacraments to give people the grace to do all that He wanted from them. As long as it's not itself made an excuse for shirking the decision, I've never seen why people fret about the fact that the world's weight has not yet been put on their shoulders. <br /><br />And in the meantime, as MrsDarwin says, we all have the vocation of our baptism, and a very important and precious one it is, too; even the vocations of marriage and priesthood are just more concentrated forms of it.Brandonhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/06698839146562734910noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-13522238.post-43332759364398349092012-01-10T09:14:20.691-05:002012-01-10T09:14:20.691-05:00Tom, I think that's an excellent point, and on...Tom, I think that's an excellent point, and one that Brandon addresses over at his post. Every baptized person has the vocation to live out Christ's teachings according to their current state in life, whether married, single, or consecrated. <br /><br />A year ago, I wrote a post <a href="http://darwincatholic.blogspot.com/2011/02/in-praise-of-single-man.html" rel="nofollow">In Praise of the Single Man</a>, in honor of the guys I know who are in your situation. (Since that time, one of my brothers, in his thirties, has gotten engaged to a wonderful woman he met on CatholicMatch.com. It may not be for everyone, but boy, it worked for him.)<br /><br />I've said this several times in various places, but one simply can't discern a vocation to marriage in the abstract. It's a vocation that has to be considered in the light of a particular other person with whom one wants to enter the state.MrsDarwinhttp://darwincatholic.blogspot.comnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-13522238.post-36537678408301266922012-01-10T09:03:42.278-05:002012-01-10T09:03:42.278-05:00These are good points. In my case, I wanted to ge...These are good points. In my case, I wanted to get married and have a family. My brother (who is a priest) never desired those things. His idea of a good time in his late twenties was delivering meals on wheels and trekking around the world solo. Nobody in the family was surprised when he became a priest at 36.JMBhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/02542004362101344466noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-13522238.post-89805382358519521642012-01-10T02:32:42.330-05:002012-01-10T02:32:42.330-05:00What if you don’t fulfil either set of criteria, f...What if you don’t fulfil either set of criteria, for marriage or the priesthood? Bearing in mind that the priesthood is always there, but that every married person has a time in his or her life before he or she met the prospective spouse and fulfilled items 2–5.<br /><br />Believe it or not, I am asking this seriously, as a Catholic who would <i>like</i> to be married but simply does not meet any eligible women. What vocation is there left for me?Tom Simonhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/16067031472666752839noreply@blogger.com