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Something I’ve realized through this Harrison Butker ordeal is a fundamental misunderstanding of Catholic lingo, even by Catholics.
In our world today, vocation and career are often used interchangeably and because they are it causes confusion.
Not that I think me explaining the difference will help those who 1. Have been conditioned to be offended and 2. Those who just want to be offended, but, for fun and learning purposes, let’s dive into the difference.
For the Catholic Church, vocations are a state of life. There are only three: the married life, the consecrated religious life, and the single life.
Within your vocation, you live out your career or trade. For example, my husband obviously is a military man (his career), but his vocation is the married life.
My oldest daughter is currently in the state of the single life and her job is a Focus Missionary. She doesn’t feel called to always remain in the single life, but that’s her current state and the Church calls her to live it out well.
Some priests throughout history have been scientists (a job) while living out the state of life as a religious.
There are no other vocations as understood by the Catholic Church. And usually, once you get into the vocation you are called to, you feel like your life starts. This is not to say that your life was meaningless or had no value before, it’s just that you feel most alive.
My daughter told me a story that a priest gave in a homily recently. He was telling a group of teens that when he was a teen he had a girlfriend that he cared a lot about and she was his best friend. His friends convinced him to break up with her so he could date a girl in an upper class and he did, but his life was all off and he could see the sadness in his ex-girlfriend’s eyes.
Once he became a priest, she came up to him, looked him in the eyes and sweetly said, “There you are.” Meaning, she now saw him fully alive in his vocation as priest.
We can live out a career within our vocation, Catholic Pilgrims, but what Harrison Butker was trying to emphasize is that no matter your career in the married life, family comes first and taking care of them will be the most rewarding.
Live the Faith boldly and travel well this Tuesday.
Have you ever wondered what the rich young man in Matthew 19 thought Jesus would say to him? He goes up to Jesus, asks him what good he must do to gain eternal life, and after hearing Jesus' answer, he goes away sad. I'm curious what he expected Jesus to say. He tells Jesus that he follows all the commandments and he obviously feels like there is something more that he should be doing. I just wonder what it is that he was expecting. Or, maybe he didn't know what to expect, but it wasn't "go sell your stuff and come follow me." The other thing that strikes me about the young man is that even though he decides not to follow Jesus, he goes away sad. He doesn't go away confident that he's on the right path. He doesn't think Jesus is crazy and dismisses Him. He doesn't laugh at Jesus and try to convince Him that he really doesn't need to do that. No, he goes away sad. We all need to remember that Jesus will always call us to more, so we should expect that. Whatever He calls us to is going to involve a bit of pain in someway because He is most certainly going to call us away from our own will. That is always painful, because, deep down, we trust ourselves more to give us happiness than we just God. If we ask God what more we can do, and we can definitely tell which direction He's leading us, but we choose to ignore it, it will always make us sad. Why? Because God just showed us the potential He sees in us and we declined. That will never make us feel good. Jesus knows what will bring us true happiness, Catholic Pilgrims. We must trust that it's better than what we see for ourselves. Live the faith boldly and travel well this Monday.
Continue ReadingI made a short reel the other day that was supposed to be kind of funny. In Ireland, I saw tons of electric mowers just chugging along doing the work of making lawns look beautiful. (Everyone's yard in Ireland is pristine, btw. Very impressive.) Anyway, I likened the mowers to the Saints. They just get the good work done that needs to be done in order to make things better. Everyone else stands around gripping and despairing, but the Saints "just keep going, just keep going." To prove my point, Mr. Grumpypants had to show up and grump about how people who think they are Saints are all "naval gazers that think they are better than everyone else." Maybe he thought I was calling myself a Saint and he felt the need to set me straight. I wasn't calling myself that, but I do desire to be one. He said something, though, that I want to focus on. The Saints aren't people that call themselves Saints. They didn't think they were better than everyone else. In fact, they thought they could only do more and more for love of God. Mostly, they were focused on how they could be better and how they could live a mission here on earth to bring Christ to people. The Saints never settled and never do settle. And some people see this as burdensome and too pious. They look at themselves and think, "Hey, I'm a decent person. There's not much more for me to do. I don't want to go overboard with anything. Now, to be sure, loads of other people need to change, but me, I good right where I am." This is difference. True Saints never think of themselves as Saints and if they ever did, they would be full of pride and still have a lot of work to do. True Saints desire to be more Christ-like every day. They ask for grace, depend on that grace to help them restore, heal, and propagate God's kingdom here on earth. Holiness is the goal, Catholic Pilgrims, for love of God. Everyday we will have to ask for the grace to help us reach that goal. Live the Faith boldly and travel well. *St. Mary's located on the Ring of Kerry in Ireland.
Continue ReadingWhere's my Swiss Catholic Pilgrims at? This small-town church showcase is for you. Today, we have St. Ann's in Badus Township in South Dakota. It was built by Swiss immigrants coming into the area in the late 1800s and Badus is the name of a Mountain in Switzerland, hence the name. Within Badus Township, there is only one tiny town called Ramona. This area might win for smallest location in this series. There are only about 60-95 residents in this township today. The township sits on the eastern side of the South Dakota. Today, this church is permanently closed but it did find its way on the National Register of Historical Places in 1979. It was built in 1884. I think this church is a reminder of the pioneering spirit of our country at one time and the importance of religion to the pioneering communities. They built their churches with their own hands. I would imagine that you can't go in anymore, but if you are ever roaming around the eastern agricultural areas of South Dakota, you might find yourself passing this historical church. Have a great Wednesday, Catholic Pilgrims, and live the Faith boldly and travel well.
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