Polarities of Vocation and State of Life

My daughter's unusual and sometimes confusing vocation has caused me to reflect. Having professed herself in Christ to a life of evangelical poverty, chastity and obedience within the community of Memores Domini ("Rememberers of the Lord") she lives actively as a lay person in the world and is not a nun or a sister and even avoids the language of "vow" and "consecration."  Most of us Catholics can't quite put our minds around this. I think this is because we simplify "vocation" into a single polarity:  lay/married and priest-or-religious.  It may be helpful to identify four distinct but overlapping and interpenetrating polarities: apostolic mission vs. regular life; celibacy and marriage; sacraments of orders and matrimony; and the religious (called out of the world) and lay states. The primal New Testament distinction involved those called by Christ to share in his mission of proclaiming the Kingdom and the Word. These would be his 12 apostles, the other disciples sent out in pairs, and Paul and others. Many wanted to follow him but were told, in no uncertain terms, to return to their normal lives. Mary and Joseph were not called to apostolic ministry. Secondly, we have the call to virginity. Most of the apostles, disciples and early priests and bishops were not virgins although Jesus, Mary, Paul and probably Joseph and John were. But the spontaneous, passionate embrace of virginity, especially by young women, was one of the great Christian shocks to the pagan and Jewish worlds which had nothing even remotely similar. The independence and defiance of Roman patriarchy by such young virgins was as confounding as their embrace of martyrdom.     Thirdly we have the sacraments of orders and matrimony which complement each other but are neither incompatible nor necessary. We have married deacons who are bound in conjugal union and yet ordained for a special ecclesial or apostolic ministry. At the same time, many single and professed abstain from both sacraments. The last polarity contrasts ordinary "lay" life in society with a "religious" call out of the world into the monastary or hermitage. This was unknown to the apostolic church but initiated by the desert fathers and dominated the medieval world.  Virginity ordinarily accompanies this life although there have been some (in my view misguided) attempts to fuse marriage with such a retreat from the world. The classical religious community would be a cloistered community, common in the middle ages, but the more active, "apostolic" orders (inspired by St. Vincent De Paul and his followers) who work in the lay world in teaching and service of the needy are "religious" and yet "lay" in a sense. And so, we have in the Catholic Church a rich variety of combinations.  We have married couples who are called to an apostolic mission such as the itinerants of the Neocatechumenal Way or the Maryknoll affiliates; we have consecrated, celibate religious (such as my nephew who is a Franciscan Friar of the Renewal) who are not ordained and yet serve actively among the poor of this world; we have consecrated virgins who are not ordained and who have no specific apostolic mission other than the ordinary baptismal life of prayer, service and holiness. Indeed, all of these variations are expressions of the deeper, foundational union we all share with Christ and in Christ through baptism. Balthasar has taught us that such life in Christ inexorably urges us to a gift of self, normally in a clear and definitive manner in  the vows that constitute matrimony or virginity. But this simple, unifying commonality expresses itself in a rich and variegated symphony as our charisms and missions work mysteriously together for God's glory, our salvation and the transformation of Creation.


P.S.  Is one vocation or state of life superior to another?  Yes and No. The final issue is holiness of life and so we can imagine that the greatest living saint might be someone who is not ordained, not called to ministry, not vowed to virginity and not blessed with matrimony. Think of someone patiently suffering a great affliction! Perhaps mental illness! But objectively there is hierarchy, or actually three different hierarchies.  First, the virginal state is superior not just because it involves heroic self-sacrifice but because it is a truer realization of the Kingdom of Heaven in imitation of Jesus and Mary. Secondly, the graces of the sacraments are very special and powerful and have a certain pre-eminence. Lastly, a special call to apostolic-ecclesial service does set one aside and above the ordinary pursuits of society. And so, a celibate, ordained, and apostolic Christian has a special pre-emience. But that does not translate into personal holiness. Indeed, more is expected of such a person and failure in holiness for this special one is more gravely sinful. Additionally, within a genuine Catholic culture there are clearly three privileged and sacred roles. First, those who suffer, physically or psychologically, have a special closeness to Christ and are to be honored. Secondly, those who identify closely with the poor and suffering have a particularly strong blessing. Lastly, and especially in a society so misguided as our own, a special honor is due those who witness to truth in catechesis, teaching, preaching and writing. Great is the need for such witness!