Help
With Your Rule
Seeking Christian Perfection as Mothers (2)
"The calendar of saints includes men and women of all types and stations [who have sought and gained christian perfection]. But the religious life is more conducive to perfection than life in the world, because it concentrates definitely on this aim by means of the vows of religion and organized prayer and asceticism. Perfection demands the observance of the precepts and of such counsels as apply to one's state in life."
Donald Attwater, "A Catholic Dictionary", USA, The MacMillan Company, 1931, p399-400
So, the question is, what is it objectively about the religious state that is conducive to holiness, and what can we naturally transfer in attitude and idea to the married vocation to help us better understand the potential of our married calling?
posted by Holly at 2:24 PM
1 Comments:
Let's unpack this. What is it about the religious life that makes it 'more conducive' to christian perfection than life inthe world?
First, objectively, the religious sets out to live her life for God, as a response to God's call, and to seek holiness, or intimacy with him.
Secondly, she makes a vow of religion which is a promise to God, usually public, and from this point forward, is obligated to fulfill it.
Thirdly, she engages in organized prayer and asceticism.
Fourthly, she observes the precepts and counsels as per her calling.
Precepts are the "rules of conduct and life necessary for all who wish to attain salvation" and counsels are rules and conduct "for those who, not satisfied with the bare minimum, choose to aim at greater moral perfection by means of good works not commanded but commended as better than their opposites".
We see here the distinctive calling of the rich young man of Scripture, who already obeyed all the commandments since his youth. He asked Jesus what he must do, and Jesus told him to sell all he had and give it to the poor and come follow Him. Jesus was calling him to a deeper intimacy with Him, and while this has been interpreted rightly so with regard to the religious vocation, I think it also applies to all who seek a deep union with God.
In additon, "Observance of the counsels is only meritorious if done from a supernatural motive."
So, given these aspects of the religious vocation, how can we apply the very same principles to our vocation as Christians, wives and mothers?
First, we can recognize the fact that God Himself has called us to this vocation of motherhood, and we too can legitimately live our vocation as a response to this call as well. We can cleave ourselves to Jesus just as well as the religious. We can do each task as a Yes to God's Will, which then provides the supernatural motive necessary to make our actions have supernatural merit.
Secondly, we too can have set prayer as part of our daily lives by the development of our mother's rules. And the necessary asceticism can be found in our vocation by doing all that we ought to do as regards our duties, and seeking to serve God and our families with our time and possessions, instead of concentrating on our own gain, greed or leisure.
Thirdly, we too can practice the evangelical counsels of poverty, chastity and obedience, as applied to married life (which we will get into soon).
And fourthly, it is not impossible for us to even make a public vow toward all of this, which is a root reason for the religious state being conducive to holiness, although we would certainly want to understand what it means for us first. There are such things as consecrated mothers.
So, there is nothing about seeking christian perfection which cannot be attempted and lived by a mother.
Post a Comment
<< Home