I’ve been thinking about marriage since I responded to a post on Catholic Online Forum. A young man was asking about what we thought important to finding the right spouse. I’ve some things I think worth saying on this topic. I think shared values and faith are pretty well understood to be important in seeking a partner. The following are rarely discussed to any extent and so here is what I have found to be important: Know yourself. This is an important key. There are things about each of us that when we are honest about ourselves are traits which … Continue reading
Tag Archives: marriage
Summer days start out early, the sun shines brightly through the skylight and I wake with the dawn. Today, I woke at 6:00. MORNING OFFERING I attempt to remember to greet the day with a brief prayer asking God to accept my efforts this day and asking for His aid in doing my work well. This is the ideal, this sometimes even happens! Other days, sadly all too often, my morning offering is made well after I begin my day. Still, I keep reaching for that ideal I have of waking and dedicating every day to God even before my … Continue reading
God desires our highest good and so He gives each of us a vocation to bring us closer to Him. God makes use of common things to communicate to us about our vocations. We pray for discernment and then look around at the evidence of God’s will for us that already exists. Why do we do this? Because most of the time the information about our own particular, unique vocation is already available to us but we aren’t looking properly and miss it. MY VOCATION I have discerned my vocation, prayed, evaluated my life, and practiced detachment to let go … Continue reading
Detachment is a marvelous concept which is essential to the fulfillment of any vocation. Detachment is that inner disposition which clings to God and refuses to cling to anything or anyone else in that same way. Detachment is the inner freedom to use and enjoy the material goods of this world without becoming enslaved to them. Detachment does not mean giving up everything good and fun and living a miserable life but it can mean giving up something very good that in human weakness one would rather not let go. GOOD AND GREATER GOOD What is this talk of “good” … Continue reading
Vocations come in many shapes and sizes. A person already married clearly has a vocation to marriage, or at least has chosen to have one even if that had not previously been in the plan of life. Marriage, like Holy Orders, is a sacrament that is meant to be for life. Once married, all discussions of an individual unique vocation for the married person must include marriage as an undisputed element in that vocation. Marriage, by seeking to live it fully in the Christian way, is a powerful means of sanctification in my life. The struggles married people have to … Continue reading
What is a Lay Vocation? A vocation is the work a lay person does for God and includes everything that person does in this life. Every vocation is as unique as the person to whom that vocation belongs. Each of us has a special call, a special vocation, and it will be made up of many elements unique to us and is designed to help us become saints. A Lay person is any person who has not received Holy Orders (anyone not a deacon, priest or bishop). What are the elements that make up a vocation? Every single activity in … Continue reading