For just as the body is one and has many members, and all the members of the body, though many, are one body, so it is with Christ.

— 1 Corinthians 12:12

Either before you arrive or as you wait for class to begin, find this short passage from Sacred Scripture in your Bible or through an online search. Reading it will prepare you for this week’s material.

—Matthew 19:16–22

O God, who inspire men and women to follow you through lives of priestly and religious consecration and who enrich the Church with a variety of vocations, pour out upon us, your servants, the grace to follow you more closely and to offer ourselves as a perfect gift of loving service. Through Christ our Lord. Amen.

As you watch the video lesson, refer to these key highlights. Feel free to use the space provided to take notes.

• Man is created to share in the goodness of God and to manifest the glory of God.

• A vocation is the calling or destiny we have in this life—how we are invited to share in the goodness of God and to manifest the glory of God.

• To embark upon and to remain faithful to a vocation one needs grace; God gives grace especially in the form of virtues, which empower one to carry out a vocation.

• All of us, no matter what vocation we have, are called to the perfection of charity.

• In the religious life, one follows Christ more closely through poverty, chastity, and obedience for the purpose of loving union with God and the great and difficult service of his kingdom.

• The priest makes Christ present; he offers prayers and sacrifices for the people and gives them divine gifts from on high.

Wisdom of the Saints

Even as in the order of natural things, perfection, which in God is simple and uniform, is not to be found in the created universe except in a multiform and manifold manner, so too, the fullness of grace, which is centered in Christ as head, flows forth to His members in various ways, for the perfecting of the body of the Church.

— St. Thomas Aquinas

Take a moment to go through these questions with the group. For larger classes, divide them up into partners. Answers are provided to assist you in leading discussion.

1. Did God have to create? How does this shape the Catholic understanding of vocation?

   God did not have to create us. In his eternity, God lacked nothing and so needed nothing. Creation is not “the product of any necessity whatever, nor of blind fate or chance” (CCC 295). Rather, creation is for the glory of God—not that his glory can somehow increase, but that it can be manifested and communicated (see CCC 293–94). It follows that Christian vocations do not exist to serve God’s needs but rather as distinct ways of manifesting the glory of God.

2. Why must one be called to embrace a vocation? Why is it impossible to give a vocation to yourself?

   All supernatural vocations—whether to married life, to priesthood, or to consecrated life—are beyond our natural powers. The reason is plain to see: to live a supernatural vocation requires a certain grace

   

In the case of marriage and priesthood, this requires the grace of a sacrament, whether holy Matrimony or Holy Orders. In the case of consecrated life, this requires the grace of a sacramental consecration, whether by a vow or promise. Therefore, to receive a vocation one must look to God who alone gives grace.

1. Who in the Church is called to perfection?

Everyone! The Lord Jesus Christ summarizes the law and prophets by two short commands: “The first is, ‘Hear, O Israel: The Lord our God, the Lord is one; and you shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your mind, and with all your strength.’ The second is this, ‘You shall love your neighbor as yourself’” (Mk 12:29–31). All are called to the perfection of charity described in this double love command. As we have it elsewhere: “You, therefore, must be perfect, as your heavenly Father is perfect” (Mt 5:48).

The Lord does not demand perfection without providing the means to achieve it. Rather, he gives to each, in the context of hisvocation, the grace to flourish. Thus, “All Christians in any state or walk of life are called to the fullness of Christian life and to the perfection of charity” (CCC 2013).

1. Most men and women feel strongly about equality, and yet the Church seems to suggest that religious life is somehow better. In what sense is religious life perfect? Is this in conflict with the dignity and equality of man?

All men are created in the image and likeness of God. All are called to the heights of sanctity and to the vision of God in heaven. Furthermore, by baptism, the Christian faithful enjoy “a true equality with regard to dignity” as all have been made part of the people of God, and so share in the Lord Jesus Christ’s priestly, prophetic, and royal identity (CCC 871–72).

And yet, we know that there is diversity within the body of Christ: “For the body does not consist of one member but of many” (1 Cor 12:14). The differences that exist within the Church are meant to serve its unity and mission (see CCC 873), but we cannot fail to acknowledge that true differences do exist.

In religious life, men and women are called to follow Christ more closely by observing evangelical counsels of poverty, chastity, and obedience. “The state of consecrated life is thus one way of experiencing a ‘more intimate’ consecration, rooted in Baptism and dedicated totally to God” (CCC 916). To call religious life perfect does not mean that all religious are, by virtue of their consecration, therefore perfect. Rather, it suggests that the evangelical counsels are the perfect way of attaining perfect charity and that Christ calls some to this state for their own sanctification and for the building up of the Church.

1. How is the character given by the sacrament of Holy Orders different from the character given by the sacraments of Baptism and Confirmation?

By virtue of our baptism, all Christians are made like Jesus Christ who is, at once, priest, prophet, and king. Oftentimes Christians speaks of…“the priesthood of all believers.” This is not to say that all Christians are priests like the ordained ministers who preside at Mass, but it does mean that all Christians can offer worship and spiritual sacrifice to God by virtue of their baptism.

The character associated with Baptism first gives to the Christian this share in the priesthood of Christ which we have described. It gives him the very capacity for Christian worship and makes it possible for him to receive the other sacraments (see CCC 1272–73). The character associated with Confirmation perfects the common priesthood of all believers given at baptism and strengthens the recipient’s capacity to profess faith in Christ publicly (CCC 1304–5).

A Catholic priest is uniquely configured to Christ the high priest so that, by his actions, Christ himself sanctifies, teaches, and governs his people. While the characters associated with Baptism and Confirmation are primarily about receiving divine things (grace, virtues, gifts, sacraments), the character associated with Holy Orders is primarily about giving divine things. The ministerial priesthood is “at the service of the common priesthood. . . . [It] is a means by which Christ unceasingly builds up and leads his Church” (CCC 1547). The sacrament of holy orders makes it such that the man “may serve as Christ’s instrument for his Church, . . . [acting] as a representative of Christ, Head of the Church” (CCC 1581).

Catechism Connection

Entirely dependent upon Christ who gives mission and authority, ministers are truly “slaves of Christ,” in the image of him who freely took “the form of a slave” for us. Because the word and grace of which they are ministers are not their own, but are given to them by Christ for the sake of others, they must freely become the slaves of all.

— CCC 876

Discuss these questions with the group, pair them with a partner, or ask them to meditate on their own.

1. In what ways might religious life and the priesthood be more difficult than married life? How do you think the difficulties can benefit the person who is called to these ways of life?

2. What aspects of religious life are attractive? What aspects are intimidating?

3. Why do you think it might be important for all Catholics to understand the vocation of the priest? How might the witness of holy priests and religious be spiritually beneficial?

After concluding your group discussion, return to watch the second video where converts to the Catholic faith discuss their conversion and how they live today as Catholics.

Rome to Home

The Lord Jesus, the divine Teacher and Model of all perfection, preached holiness of life to each and every one of His disciples of every condition. He Himself stands as the author and consumator of this holiness of life: “Be you therefore perfect, even as your heavenly Father is perfect.”

… Thus it is evident to everyone, that all the faithful of Christ of whatever rank or status, are called to the fullness of the Christian life and to the perfection of charity.

— Pope Paul VI, Lumen Gentium, no. 40

Vocation: Taken from a word meaning “to call,” a vocation is the calling or destiny we have in this life and hereafter. Priestly and religious vocations are dedicated to the service of the Church as the universal sacrament of salvation.

Perfection: To be complete and lacking in nothing which one should have; for the Christian on earth, this means the fullness of charity which makes the individual a friend of God and inclines one to the loving vision of God in heaven.

Evangelical Counsels: These are the things Jesus recommends or “counsels” in the Gospel (see Mt 19); namely, to follow him in poverty, chastity, and obedience. The counsels are what the religious promise when professing their vows.

Holiness: To be set apart or reserved for divine use; in the Christian understanding, it means to be made more perfectly like God or to be filled with grace.
Contemplative Life: A form of religious life adopted by monks and nuns dedicated wholly to prayer, which builds up both the religious themselves and the Church through a life of union with God. Typically, those who pursue the contemplative life do so in monasteries or convents where the religious live the whole of their lives, sometimes without leaving.

Active Life: A form of religious life dedicated to prayer and to the direct service of those in need. Typically, those who pursue the active life carry out their mission in public settings by practicing corporal and/or spiritual works of mercy.

Mixed (Apostolic) Life: A form of religious life adopted by friars dedicated first and primarily to prayer. But, unlike monks or nuns, apostolic religious communicate to their contemporaries the Lord whom they have contemplated by learned preaching in a public context.

God’s Word

And his gifts were that some should be apostles, some prophets, some evangelists, some pastors and teachers, to equip the saints for the work of ministry, for building up the body of Christ. . . . Speaking the truth in love, we are to grow up in every way into him who is the head, into Christ, from whom the whole body, joined and knit together by every joint with which it is supplied, when each part is working properly, makes bodily growth and upbuilds itself in love.

— Ephesians 4:11–12, 15–16

Lord Jesus, teach me to be generous;
teach me to serve you as you deserve,
to give and not to count the cost,
to fight and not to heed the wounds,
to toil and not to seek for rest,
to labor and not to seek reward,
except that of knowing that I do your will.
Amen.

This serves as a review of the material that your students can read after each
class, but it may be helpful for you to read as well. Consider reading it before
each class to better prepare you for group discussion.

From all eternity and for all eternity, God enjoys boundless life and love.
Before the creation of the heavens and the earth, he lacked nothing, but
(happily for us) he chose to create out of the abundance of his goodness. It
was almost as if he had a secret too good to keep.

In his generosity, God makes a wide variety of creatures—from the
smallest grains of sand to the most exalted of angels—and each speaks
in a unique way to the glory of its Creator. The divine perfection cannot
be exhausted by one creature, and so God bestows on the world and on
the Church a variety of things and vocations to give us some sense of the
incomprehensible depths of his life and love. In each vocation, we discover
something new about the God. Thus, the question for each Christian is,
“How have I been made to glorify the Lord?”

In order to live a supernatural vocation—whether in marriage, religious
life, or priesthood—the Christian needs supernatural help, and so God
grows the hearts of his faithful in the virtues they need in order to live
holy lives. Vocation should not be seen as something that God forces onunsuspecting souls; yes, it may involve some very difficult challenges and sacrifices, but ultimately, God gives vocations to make saints, to make his sons and daughters truly happy.

We are all called to the perfection of love. And to those who welcome his offer of salvation, God gives grace not merely to survive but to flourish. He calls us all to be saints, but—depending on one’s God-given spiritual temperament, particular virtues, and personal history—that call takes different shapes, and the Church speaks of certain states as more perfect in that they offer better means to the perfection of charity.

In religious life, the individual is spurred on by a desire for the great and noble service of God and for a life of prayer. A religious pursues the perfection of love by vowing to live out the evangelical counsels of poverty, chastity, and obedience. The counsels are traditionally considered to be a perfect means to arriving at the perfection of charity, and so the life they foster represents a “closer following of Christ.” The vows are tailor-made to heal the effects of original sin through discipline and penance. They also rein in the pursuit of other goods like material wealth, family life, and personal independence for the sake of God, who is the one-thing-necessary, the best Good. Finally, the vows offer the whole of the person to God as a sacrifice. The religious lives this offering through a life of contemplative prayer and often through some form of service in the Church.

The first feature of all religious life is prayer, but some communities are exclusively devoted to prayer. This form of religious life—adopted by monks and nuns—is referred to as the contemplative life. Other communities devote themselves to spiritual or corporal works of mercy. This form of religious life—adopted by many more recent male congregations and active sisters—is referred to as the active life. There is also a third form of religious life referred to as the apostolic, or mixed, life. In communities of this sort, the form of life is contemplative, but having been spurred on by the experience of contemplation, the religious then goes out to preach. This form of religious life is practiced by communities such as the Dominicans and the Franciscans.

Many think being ordained as a priest is the same thing as professing vows as a monk or friar, but these are actually quite distinct. Of course, some monks and some friars are ordained as priests, but others are not. The person who professes the religious vows of poverty, chastity, and obedience freely embraces a specific form of life (e.g., as a Benedictine, or as a Franciscan) that involves a personal consecration to Christ. By contrast, the man who is ordained as a priest is consecrated by a special sacrament and receives a specific ministry for the teaching, governing, and sanctifying of the Church.

In the words of Archbishop Fulton J. Sheen, “A priest is not his own.” By the sacrament of Holy Orders, the man is conformed to Christ, both priest and victim, in the depths of his soul. An invisible spiritual mark configures him to Christ, a mark that can never be erased. This is called priestly “character.” Configured to Christ the priest, a man becomes an instrument of the grace of God—a giver of divine things—ordained for the building up of a holy people. The priest offers prayers and sacrifices on behalf of the people, and he serves as a channel for God to bestow his gifts and blessings.

The priest is also a sign of God’s nearness and love for his people. By his priestly ministry, he exhorts, inspires, and nourishes his people in their pursuit of God. For this reason, the priest ought to be holy. His virtues make him a better instrument for communicating God’s grace, and the whole of his life is to be taken up into his priestly identity and vocation. The priest pours himself out in communicating Jesus Christ to his flock in a variety of ways through preaching, sacraments, and pastoral service. Like St. John the Baptist, he is a friend of the Bridegroom—that Bridegroom who wants to bestow his love and favor on his chosen people. This way of life, even if lofty, is nonetheless really possible by a gift of God’s grace. For those who are called to it, it is a source of great consolation and happiness.

The Church does not have the power to change the sacraments or to create new ones, because they are divine things instituted directly by Jesus. When Jesus instituted the sacrament of Holy Orders, he chose men as his apostles and commissioned them to act in his name to sanctify, govern, and teach. (For example, he told them at the Last Supper to celebrate the Eucharist: “Do this in memory of me.” At his first resurrection appearance to them in the upper room, he gave them authority to forgive sins. Justbefore his ascension, he commanded them to go out into the whole world to preach, to baptize, and to govern the faithful.) They in turn chose men as their successors. In reflecting on this, the Church has solemnly determined that she is bound by this choice of the Lord and, therefore, is not free to admit women to Holy Orders; that is, that she has no power to do so.

Especially in recent decades, theologians have offered various explanations to account for this fundamental fact. While we cannot delve into them, a few key points deserve mention. First, the choice of Jesus was not a concession to sexism or to the antiquated cultural norms and gender roles of the past. In fact, Jesus was astonishingly free with respect to such things: he radically reconfigured the faith of Israel and the law and worship instituted by Moses around himself and his own teaching (and knew he would be killed for doing so), and in many ways, he emphasized the fundamental equality and dignity of men and women over against the existing mentality of the first century AD. As God incarnate, it is inconceivable that he would have established a sexist or unjust structure at the heart of the Church; that is, at the heart of the new covenant in his blood. Second, neither the choice of Christ nor the Church’s perennial practice implies any inequality between men and women. To the contrary, men and women have an equal dignity. As the Catechism puts it, “Man and woman have been created, which is to say, willed by God: on the one hand, in perfect equality as human persons; on the other, in their respective beings as man and woman. ‘Being man’ or ‘being woman’ is a reality which is good and willed by God: man and woman possess an inalienable dignity which comes to them immediately from God their Creator” (CCC 369). Women have an indispensable and crucial role in the visible life of the Church, but it is not exercised in the same way as provided by the sacrament of Holy Orders. Consider, for example, the work of so many nuns and religious sisters, not to mention the contributions of countless lay women, in virtually every domain of the Church’s life.

The Blessed Virgin Mary’s role in God’s plan of salvation is an outstanding sign of this. In a sense, the whole drama of the salvation of the world hung on her free response to the announcement of the archangel Gabriel that she would conceive and bear a son. As the Mother of God,…she is closer to Jesus (and to his divinity) than any other creature and has received more privileges of grace and glory. Yet Jesus did not choose her as a priest, nor assign to her a direct role in the administration of the sacraments. In a very real sense, she is superior to every priest—after all, she is the Queen of Heaven and the Mother of the Church!

In conclusion, the different vocations of the Church work together to the glory of God. By a variety of gifts and graces, the Lord builds up his Church. Most are called to marriage, which blesses men and women in the mutual support of the spouses and the raising of holy children. Some are called to follow Christ more closely through religious profession or to pour themselves out in priestly service for the Christian faithful. Regardless of the shape vocation takes, it ultimately testifies to the goodness of God who has bestowed upon us such varied and beautiful illustrations in his divine life.

Brannen, Brett A. To Save a Thousand Souls. Valdosta, GA: Vianney Vocations, 2010.

Butler, Sarah. The Catholic Priesthood and Women: A Guide to the Teaching of the Church. Hillenbrand Books, 2007.

Dubay, Thomas. “…And You Are Christ”: The Charism of Virginity and the Celibate Life. San Francisco: Ignatius Press, 1987.