The Glory of Religious Life
January 12, 2025
“And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, full of grace and truth; we have beheld his glory, glory as of the only Son from the Father.” (Jn. 1:14)
Love
I had a great Christmas. I hope you did too. Part of my joy came from visiting a small women’s monastery outside of Post Falls, Idaho called the Carmel of Jesus, Mary, and Joseph. Not more than 20 women (who all seem to be in their twenties) are living out the universal call to be saints at the monastery. Being a traditional Carmel, these sisters live just as St. Teresa of Avila or St. Therese of Lisieux did centuries ago: no internet, no phones, hand washing clothes, making their own clothes, growing their own food, etc. You’re not going to meet any of these sisters at a vocations event.
This Carmel is a truly cloistered community, meaning they are removed from the world. In their little church, they have two seating areas: one for the sisters off to one side of the sanctuary, and another in front of the sanctuary where everyone else sits (just as they do in any parish church). While the priest can see the sisters from the sanctuary, nobody else can. In fact, no one else gets to see them at all, not before, during, or after Mass—that’s part of what it means to be cloistered. The sisters are withdrawn from the gaze of the world, to be seen only by each other and by eternity.
One of them, Sister Ines MacKenzie (pronounced E-nez), a former parishioner of Holy Redeemer known as Maris, was transitioning from being a postulant to a novice. I was honored to be asked to preside at the investiture of Sr. Ines’s new habit (ankle length religious clothing), and to give the homily at the Mass that followed. This particular Carmel is traditional, so all liturgies are in Latin. My Latin is so bad that the people present thought I was speaking in tongues. Only God knew what I was saying. It must have worked though, as Sr. Ines transformed before her community’s eyes into a beaming novice. The occasion filled me with joy and hope.
It also filled me with love. As I stood at the grate saying my Latin prayers, I eventually looked up to bless Sr. Ines. Seeing her for the first time in over a year, kneeling in the middle of her chapel’s floor, surrounded by her sisters on either side, she beamed at me with a smile that said, “Father, I’m so proud of you. I’ve missed you. I am so happy you came so far to see me and to do this for me. I love you.” Fighting back tears, I dove back into my Latin prayers for cover. As I looked through the grating that separated me from Sr. Ines and her community, blessing her multiple times with holy water as well as handing the sisters her habit through the opening in the grating, I saw joy—joy that has its source in love. These sisters really love each other and God. It was transparently obvious in their smiles, eagerness, and care for each other. If only domestic families could live and love like this.
A plug for your prayers and expiation
Priestly and religious vocations don’t come without great spiritual struggle. The struggle to overcome our natural desire for marriage, children, family, and self-determination, as well as the longing to fit in, to find anonymity in religious practice, and our attachment to many vices. In addition to overcoming ourselves, there is the struggle against Satan and the fallen angels, who will do anything to stop someone from discerning a religious vocation, and to destroy one once it has started. To this end, we need to be praying and expiating for religious vocations.
Expiation is embodied in the sacrifice that Christ made of Himself for the redemption of the human race. It is a combination of atoning for sin and its consequences, as well as paying it forward with our sacrifices for love of God and neighbor. Jesus’ death is the ultimate act and example of expiation.
Our prayers and expiation allow a tremendous amount of grace from heaven to reach the intended recipients. I wouldn’t be a parish priest today without the prayers and expiation of countless people like you. Sr. Ines isn’t going to make it as a Carmelite without the same, nor are any of the five individuals from our Columbia River Catholic Parish Family in vocations formation for whom we regularly pray.
Clearing up a common vocational misunderstanding
In the Church today there is almost a universal misunderstanding of who God is “calling” to the priesthood or religious life. In the English language the word call implies one is being individually contacted, as in a phone call, and phone calls are private. That understanding of the word “call” is not what Jesus means when he uses it in the Gospels. Jesus uses the word call as we would use the word invitation, as in, all who hear it are welcomed. Recall Jesus’ parable of the great supper in St. Luke’s Gospel where a man is having a marriage feast for his son:
“A man once gave a great banquet and invited many; and at the time for the banquet, he sent his servant to say to those who had been invited, ‘Come; for all is now ready.’ But they all alike began to make excuses. The first said to him, ‘I have bought a field, and I must go out and see it; I pray you, have me excused.’ And another said, ‘I have bought five yoke of oxen, and I go to examine them; I pray you, have me excused.’ And another said, ‘I have married a wife, and therefore I cannot come.’ So the servant came and reported this to his master. Then the householder in anger said to his servant, ‘Go out quickly to the streets and lanes of the city, and bring in the poor and maimed and blind and lame . . . Go out to the highways and hedges, and compel people to come in, that my house may be filled.” (Lk 14:16-23)
Jesus finishes this parable in St. Matthew’s Gospel by stating that: “For many are called, but few are chosen.” (Mt 22:14) The “few are chosen” part isn’t because God hasn’t invited them, but because so few have responded! And in the case of a religious vocation, who can blame them? Accepting celibacy (as a young adult no less) for the Kingdom of God, when God clearly made us—mind, body, and spirit—for marriage, sounds like madness (especially in our pornographically saturated culture).
The current thinking around who God is calling to religious life goes something like this: “God wants almost everybody to get married. Then there is a small minority of people God knows will remain single as a lay person. Then there is the one in a thousand sacrificial lamb whom God is calling to the priesthood or religious life.” Not only is this wrong, but it is also frightening to the poor soul we incorrectly may think God is asking to consider religious life as a last resort as a hoped-for sacrificial lamb.
The truth is, God invites every Catholic who can to be a priest, monk, nun, or religious sister. And who can? Single Catholics who are of sound mind and body, with no impediments (such as dependent children or public scandal, etc.). Thus, the invitation would potentially include the vast majority of teenagers, and the majority of those Catholics below a certain age who aren’t married.
Most will never hear that invitation because no one has ever presented it to them. Then there are others who have heard the invitation yet will not acknowledge that they have. Then there are some who hear the invitation, acknowledge it, and decline. Lastly, there are those who hear the invitation, acknowledge it, and accept it. God loves all the above, calling all of us to holiness regardless of the state in life we are in or have chosen.
Invite yourself if you still can, and others if you can’t, to explore priesthood and consecrated religious life. It’s okay to say “no” to God on this. It is a supernatural life, above and beyond our natures that God created. He knows that the vast majority would never agree to it even if they knew of it and could. Yet there is a supernatural life that He is calling all of us too, and that is holiness. Remember, we are held accountable to the high calling of sanctity regardless of our state in life: “Be perfect as your heavenly Father is perfect” (Mt. 5:48). We are all called to sanctity and that can be done in any state in life whether it be married, lay single, or religious; although based on the percentage of canonized saints who were priests or consecrated religious compared to the general population of lay men and women, one is much more likely to become a saint as a priest or consecrated religious than as a layman.
Fostering Vocations
Here are some suggestions on how we can help foster vocations to the priesthood and consecrated religious life.
1. Pray and expiate for people to be open to the invitation to religious life. Then pray and expiate for those who are in formation to religious life. The grace from our prayers and expiation is simply necessary for every religious vocation to succeed.
2. Invite single Catholics who you think would make a good priest, nun, or monk to consider being one. Do not ask them to discern whether or not God is inviting them, let’s assume God is. Rather ask them to discern God’s invitation for them to be one. Have them read this pastor’s column.
3. Let them know that they would be gaining far more then what they would be giving up. They can live in profound love and joy with God as a priest or consecrated religious.
4. Tell them that many people are searching for purpose in their lives. Jesus Christ, God, is the meaning of all life, and religious life is a life of tremendous purpose. There is tremendous joy in living a purpose driven life.
5. Let them know that if they say yes and persevere to consecrated religious life, they will literally save souls from the fires of hell. Can anyone think of something more important than that?
6. Let them know that they have a higher chance of being a better person for having chosen religious life than if they had not. Father Nathe certainly has.
7. Let them know that they will be rewarded beyond their wildest dreams in the life to come.
8. Let them know that if they say no to God’s invitation, God will honor that decision and still love them with all His heart and so will you. After all, you didn’t become a priest or consecrated religious and God still loves you and is calling you to be a saint too.
9. Tell them to make an appointment with their pastor if they want to talk to someone about priesthood or religious life. Every priest will make the time to see someone who wants to see them about a religious vocation.
On February 8th, St. Joseph Parish will host the annual vocations dinner. Hundreds of people attend this event every year to hear the vocation stories of a seminarian and a religious sister, and to financially donate toward vocation events in our area. Please consider attending and inviting a teenager or young adult to attend. Please see the flyer [below] page for more information and to purchase tickets.
May Almighty God Bless You,
Fr. Thomas Nathe
