For Halloween, I am sure the kiddies had their Captain America, Black Panther, and Iron Man costumes. For a small child, and for many adults, myself, the Fictional world of the Avengers, or sometimes even the fantasy world of the Lord of the Rings, is a much more exciting and desirable reality than the mundane everyday. Perhaps another critic would be willing to demonstrate how shallow big budget special effects-laden sensationalist movies are today. Whether some, or most of what pop-culture presents as the Greater Reality, it still offers some sort of identification and inspiration to many people.
Were I not in Religious Life, as a mid-thirties white guy, I would probably have been so-overly identified with Star Wars that my life would have been ruined right now. The Greater Reality of many adults, what somewhat affirms our perspective of the world, sometimes providing an escape, but also firing the heart with emotion and inspiration, are the multi-faceted stories of Harry Potter, the Avengers, Star Wars, Justice League.
Read More at California Augustinians
Photo Taken at the Huntington Library Art Collections, a nameless Saint. Could this Saint meant to be you?
8 Reasons Why Augustine’s Confessions Still Matter
I believe that plenty of people who call themselves atheists, agnostics, or renounced their Catholic faith are not irreedemably damned. I believe that not so much because God doesn't damn people, but more, because many of them just think that they are atheists, agnostics or not-Catholic anymore. Augustine, as he describes in his Confessions, makes it clear that God drew close to him, in spite of Augustine's sinful life, and drew him back.
Augustine was taught about Jesus as a child, by his Mother, Saint Monica. He was not necessarily raised pagan, he was just never baptized. He even would search for the name of Jesus in pagan literature. He drifted, joined a cult, became a skeptic, and eventually found his home in communion with the Church.
God is not some bearded man in the sky who created the world in six 24 hour days, so many people leave the Church, and declare that they are agnostic or atheist. Augustine was deeply troubled by a literal interpretation of Genesis, probably just as troubled as many intelligent adults are by Modern Evangelical Fundamentalists. Augustine describes this in his Confessions.
Young People swear that they had religion "crammed down their throat." Augustine took a Sea Voyage at Night, from Africa to Rome, to get away from his Mom who wanted him to be Catholic.
Temptations are tempting because they seem to feel good. Augustine makes no qualms about covering up the internal conflicts we face, about the gruesome delight of sin. He also does not justify himself by evading the fact that these same sins leave you incredibly bereft. Augustine's candid discussion of Sin, Grace & Redemption would resonate with many young people.
We both know what it is to have a Broken Heart. Many young people are putting off marriage, many of them are just as cynical about finding someone worth marrying as they are about finding a religion worth committing too. Augustine describes the heartbreak he experienced when it didn't work out with a woman he loved.
As Augustine matures, so does his perspective on God, Faith & the Church. I believe that many young people claim agnosticism without realizing this is part of maturation. I think they are turned away by Catholics who have had an easier time at their faith, not realizing that this Negative Way is part of Spiritual Maturation.
People wonder if religions is useless. Augustine became disillusioned with a narrow perspective of Catholicism before returning. He also became disillusioned with many other Religious cults of his time, including Philosophy & Manicheanism. Conversely he also credits non-Christian pagans with being stepping stones on his way to the fullness of Truth in the Church. I think many people who leave the Church because they think that we teach that being non-Catholic instantly damns one to hell.
Augustine does not always have easy answers, in fact his Confessions often presents unanswered questions. Some Catholics find genuine comfort in Church Teachings which are stated clearly. Many people, including myself, find quick, easy, and clear answers constricting. Augustine's Confessions reminds us of the importance of Mystery.
Ultimately, Augustine's Confessions are not so much about himself, but about God's work in his life. You can always read plenty about Augustine if you want to know him, including a biography from his long time friend Saint Possidius. Since his Confessions are about giving Glory to God, they will provoke readers to see God working in their own life.
I find myself fortunate, that as a Millennial, I was able to arrive at my Vocation. However, many young people are having a difficulty discerning. Instead of looking for a great adventure to set out on, they are looking for a safe place to land. Instead of finding Paschal Life in carrying the Cross of Christ, they are dead inside wanting to be carried by Christ.
They are often a vocation wreck, a harried discernment mess.
However, I do not outline rules for discernment in general, or decision making. I also hope that people who are fearful or frantic that God might trick them into this vocation to move along, they have nothing to see here. These are for those who need to look, for one reason or another, at the possibility of a vocation to Religious Life. Those who are discerning other decisions or other Vocations may find this helpful, but this post is not written for them.
Below find my tips
If you begin to feel strangely drawn, begin to have a desire, you should look into it. If you begin to find yourself defensive, opposed, or repulsed by it, it probably requires you to look again. I used to think “They Wouldn’t Let Me Make Memes.” I met a Sister who used to think Nuns were ugly. If you have no emotional reaction besides a little gratitude or cheer, kindly move on.
Do not Passively Discern in your head or your imagination. Do not think that by “praying about it” to yourself is actually discernment. If you have felt drawn or repulsed by it, become an Active Disciple, and then see how you feel about it.
Sometimes a desire for Consecrated Life is simply a call to Radical Discipleship. Spend more time reading the Scriptures, especially the Gospel. Have a Master/Disciple relationship with Christ. Pray daily. Befriend the Saints. Participate in service to the Church or the community. Go to Eucharistic Adoration. Deepen and grow your commitment to Christ, & the church. See a Spiritual Director.
Sometimes it is a good idea to defer discernment. If you are younger than a Junior in college, if you just broke up, or got rejected by a potential special someone, if someone close to you has died, if you have moved to a new city or state, or if you are changing jobs, it is a good idea to at least let 8 months pass before any serious committed discernment. I am not saying don’t discern, it is difficult to decide. Also, a yearning that persists through this is valid.
A conflicted desire for both Married Life & Consecrated Life deserves a critical look. If marriage appears more comfortable, or includes more perks, you need to be honest, both come with their own Crosses. Many people NEVER have a desire for Consecrated Life. The fact that you do means you should look.
You WILL NOT find immediate Peace, instead you find trepidation. All the Prophets & the Saints felt incredible turmoil. They found no Peace until they gave themselves over to a calling. Being afraid of a Vocation to Religious Life requires that you face it, not run from it. If may feel comfortable to turn away from it. If you feel drawn, but afraid, running won’t give you peace, it will only give you comfort. What is the worst thing that can happen, you find God’s plan for you in Religious Life and you discover immeasurable Love & Joy in Christ
Talk to a Religious. Visit a Religious House, a Convent, or Seminary. Spend a portion of your day with a Sister or a Priest. Attend Mass several days a week. Do a weekly Holy Hour. Deepen your commitment to discipleship. Attempt to pray the Liturgy of the Hours. Try the single life for a few months. This is Active Discernment.
You don’t join a religious order for yourself, you join for Christ, His Church, and that community. You don’t pick a habit or patron saint or location that suits your fancy. Eventually all the superficiality and sweetness will wear out, and you will realize that you are stuck with a group of quite unremarkable human beings. This is not a sign to leave or not, but you have to look deeper in yourself and the community you want to join.
Invariably, the moment you decide to actively discern or apply the boy or girl of your dreams WILL magically appear. GOD DOES NOT OR NEED a few bored lonely people with nothing better to do. God wants you to make a choice. Entering religious life does not make everyone else completely unattractive.
Do not wait for 100% certainty to join. No Religious Order expects that. It is easier to leave a Religious Order within a couple years than a Marriage. Do not wait to attain 100% holiness or practice perfect chastity for every millisecond of every day. Marriage IS NOT the magic cure for lust, people have lustful thoughts after being married, and can even fall in love with other people who they are not married to. The point is growing up and moving past your emotions, comforts of 100% certainty or comprehensive preparedness.
There is an urgency to our life to finding the One. Much has been written, discussed, documented, and described in art, poetry, music, film, video, talks, and blogs. Matching or making chemistry in romance never seems to be out of fashion. Romance is always timely and relevant it seems
At the core of who we are, we have an existential need to receive and give affection. We also need to give of ourselves, and receive it from significant people. The Less people, the more intense the feelings might be. At the basic level of human appetite we crave affection & sex. Being single or being in Consecrated Life neither deprives nor alleviates this need.
In years of ministry with young adults and adolescents, in hearing confessions, and casual counseling, in listening, in seeing tears, in watching the joy of those who follow Jesus, I felt motivated to write this years back, and revisit it today. When young people think of a Vocation today: Married Life is the Default or Normal Way for Christians to live their life, while Consecrate Life is exceptional, and Single People are the leftovers of God's plan. This is not advice for singles, neither is it a detail about the actual single vocation (or the variety of single vocations of Consecrated Life in the Church). I want to write that Married Life is not the Default Christian Life, neither is Consecrated Life exceptional, that everyone is called either permanently or temporarily to a Single Vocation.
Married Life or Consecrated Life
Many people figure that the major vocational decision is between getting married to another human or to God. Many Married Life as the Default. There is the command in the Bible since Genesis. Among devout Catholics there is talk of protecting the family. There is a lot of Talk of Theology of the Body, Relationships, Dating, Chastity, in regard to complimentarity, coupling, and the ultimate goal of marriage.
Marriage is characterized as being in crisis. Divorce is rampant. Young men refuse to take on the responsibilities of fatherhood. Much may be wanting in the Western World's pop culture perceptions of marriage, love & commitment.
Often the term Vocation Crisis refers exclusively to the rapidly diminishing numbers in Consecrated life. Others will apply the term Vocation Crisis to the state of marriage. Even lay Catholics who are deeply convicted of their personal vocation to have been married and have children, are deeply troubled to talk about this. It is such that people accuse me of being "TOO YOUNG TO BE A PRIEST."
However, Religious are not seen as single. Consecrated Life is described or perceived only as a marriage to God. Religious and Consecrated MUST be in an exclusive, singular, & all-consuming relationship. Even more explicitly people insist on this Everyone Must be Married theory when they understand that priests are married to the Church.
Consecrated Life, in the mind of many Catholic Christians, is really a kind of Marriage. There is NOTHING in God's plan that ISN'T MARRIAGE Therefore, Single people have just not found the person that they are looking for, or it is implied, that they are woefully inadequate as followers of Jesus Christ.
Single People don't get a break
Catholic gatherings, particularly young adult gatherings focus on socializing and connecting people. There are plenty of people who go expecting to find The One. There are events that are planned, hoping that people will find The One .
Conversely, they overlook countless members of society who have never been married. In many parts of the world, some people never marry to care for their parents. Throughout history, there have always been people who have lived lives of service because of their social status, and never married, without reference to Consecrated Life. People not marrying did not magically start happening the instant that the West abandoned God. It is presupposed by devout Catholics that every single adult that forgoes marriage for a career is a self-satisfied sociopath. It is never even hinted at that even young egotistical career-aholics might actually have a lifelong call to being single. Even in the secular career world, rarely is unattached singleness admired. Our American Culture, influenced by Protestantism that abandoned Religious Life, MANDATED MARRIAGE FOR EVERYONE, and so we are copying Protestantism in the Church.
Single people are said to be a negation. Negatively they are too egotistical to enter into a self-sacrificing married relationship, or positively just haven't found the right person. Most good Catholics who even accept the theory of a Single Vocation look at Single People as on the way to marriage, and want to fix them with someone. We wouldn't dare think of insulting someone by suggesting that they will find their vocation in loneliness and negation.
The primary relationship in one's life.
Because people look at Vocation only in the big picture, and only in terms of a long term relationship, (because Consecrated Life is only a kind of marriage) people overlook the initial, the most urgent, and the broad vocation. God calls. Vocation means calling, God calls in a variety of ways, yet God calls us to discipleship FIRST. The process of Marriage, Consecrated Life, and Ordination may have evolved over the ages, the calling of Discipleship still remains critical, timely, relevant and urgent. Since Discipleship is the First Calling, it is the Default Vocation. Since Discipleship is the Default Vocation... Is that one we experience in a single manner?
The primary relationship for the disciple is a mentor relationship. In order for there to be a successful mentor relationship there MUST NOT BE ANY ROMANTIC INCLINATION. Perhaps the most important relationship one can have in their life is a mentor relationship. For the Christian, Jesus Christ is the primary Master / Mentor. Perhaps one can find a secondary Master / Mentor in a Saint like Augustine, Ignatius, Theresa of Avila, Francis of Assisi, or Mother Theresa. On a human level we actually need a mentor or two. The Church mandates that we have godparents and Confirmation Sponsors (but we are often pressured to select people who have no actual experience of Christian Discipleship, the Spiritual Life, or even practicing their Catholicism).
A lot of people imagine that the "secret" to chaste celibacy lies in supernatural power directly transmitted by God. There is certainly a need for grace. Others think that the secret is in natural balance, healthy relationships with self & others, regular exercise & days off. I have been surprised at how difficult chaste celibacy is without mentors & particularly a Spiritual Director.
The mentor, who is not parent, would have to be in a completely celibate non-romantic relationship. They would also have the advantage of grace and wisdom, in that the young person is not, and never in a position to pay them back. The mentoring relationship is clearly more valuable to the youth, and not to the mentor. However, sometimes the mentor does not need all the answers, for their presence is often enough to bring a sort of peace to the panicked frantic youth who is unsure that their life will work out for them.
Pop Culture
Adolescents today, show an increasing disinterest in romance, dating, and even sexual activity is down. Perhaps, not for the reasons most Catholics want, or presume. Without belaboring that reality, that doesn’t take much time to verify with Google searches, articles, and YouTube. Time seems to be show that young people crave a different sort of story. I have recently wondered at a pop culture trend in recent decades.
If one were to look at the trend in popular movies before 1980 and after 2000 you could characterize it as such. Movies before 1980 were primarily interested in romantic relationships, whereas many movies after 2000 were significantly more interested in the mentor relationship. If a movie were Sci-Fi, Action, or anything not a Romantic Comedy, a romance must have been included in the protagonist's story, and may have been more important than a mentor relationship. Romantic Comedies may be an obsolete genre, and now many action or adventure movies place romance as a secondary element behind mentoring.
Take Spider-man for example. He has been portrayed in cinema, for more than a decade, as an un-mentored and un-tethered young man, struggling tooth and nail to do the right thing. The most recent, and perhaps most successful Spider-man might be Marvel’s take with Tom Holland, where he is mentored by Robert Downey Jr.’s Tony Stark. Off camera, Downey takes his role as the star of the first Marvel movie seriously, in the way he is something of a casual president of the actors club of Marvel Superheroes. The charm of the new take on Spider-man, is that the on and off camera mentoring between Downey and Holland, between Stark and Parker.
Be it Harry Potter, the Lord of the Rings, Hunger Games, films that have become extensive cultural phenomenon's, I believe, because they have brought out the significance of the mentor relationship. Instead of focusing on self-actualization through romance, they have focused on self-actualization through wisdom.
The opportunity of the Postmodern West
There may be stats that show the damage to youth from broken marriages, or from broken parents. Although there are fully integrated healthy adults who have grown up from broken family systems, the Catholic tradition of godparents, and the natural inclination of diverse cultures around the world, does not put so much pressure on the nuclear family to produce perfect children.
We as Catholics have all our sacramental ceremonies, Baptism, Confirmation, Initiation, First Communion, in the context of the supporting community, that includes godparents, grandparents, and other adults that parents can turn to for support. And so to does the Sacrament of Marriage take place in the context of a Church, in an assembly, of friends, mentors, and supporting family.
Even married people who are mentored are mentored as individuals
Because the mentor relationship necessitates complete celibacy, as well as non-reciprocity in that the young person is not in a state to repay their mentor, it happens to the person as a single person.
People who are married or in religious life might cite the need for mentors in those states of life. I believe that there are many problems in married life because of a lack of mentors in earlier life. Many people enter marriage not as self-actualized individuals, and feel the need to separate in order to become actualized. Some people never learn to develop trust, something that can only be developed among people in completely celibate disinterested relationships like a mentor relationship. And perhaps couples have emotionally intense relationships where there is a desperate mutual need, these feelings do not get to the depths of the person, a type of relating that is often carried out by people who have had relationships with elders. Finally, many people falsely imagine that married life will grant a surrogate father or mother, or, in other words, another appropriate mentor.
It is not to suggest that somehow when one has found their vocation, or have gotten married, that they are eliminated from being mentors. The Mentor Relationship happens to and among individual persons. If a married person mentors it is as an individual and not as a couple. The young son needs his father to impart wisdom, and would personally benefit in the same way were his widowed grandfather or single uncle were to impart wisdom. In order to become a mature individual, there is virtually nothing that makes the person in married life or consecrated life elite. In order to impart wisdom one must have had, as a single person, had wisdom imparted to them, and had experience.
On the other hand, even when a couple turns to another couple for marriage, it may be the rare exception. However, the mentoring that happens here is often from the man to the man, and from the woman to the woman. It is often still between individuals navigating the same issue. Were this mentoring always to happen with all individuals present, From couple to couple, it would probably not be nearly as effective. Yet all this marks out the one exception where mentoring happens as a single person. However, if one has had some decent mentoring prior to marriage, will have so much more to give as a mature individual.
Someone who has, as fully as possible, worked at integrated and growing into a responsible individual can then almost go anywhere. They are likewise as effective as a biological father or spiritual father. A single person is a ripe for being mentored, and it is as a single person that one mentors.
It is always and only as a single person that one makes a choice on what vocation they will enter. It is as a single person, as a Christian Disciple, that one can commit their life to Christ, properly discern, pray, and be mentored before committing to a life-long vocation. Even if most people are not called to some kind of Single Vocation, or Consecrated Singlehood, there is nobody who is not called to a Single Vocation of Christian Discipleship & Discernment. Married life is not for everyone. These vocations take time and even years to discern or prepare. The call to Christian Discipleship is now, is urgent, and requires immediate action.
Having written recently about joining our Augustinian Communities for Morning Prayer, Here are some tips for someone to pray the Liturgy of the Hours. Please find in the previous post a bit of an introduction to the practice. Over the past several years, I have seen growing interest among young Catholics.
There are a few reasons why people who want to pray, but do not, that have nothing to do with their personal busy schedules: The Office books are expensive. It is too confusing for beginners who pray alone. Flipping back and forth in the breviary is difficult. It is still a challenge for proficients who only pray it alone. You have never heard of any of the songs in there.
There are a few reasons why people do pray. They are drawn to formal prayer, with more connection to the Liturgy & Scripture. They are discerning a vocation to consecrated life, or they have, and see the value in this. They are settling down and find more time in the day. They know a place where a group prays in common, and would like to pray for themselves.
Protection and Joy for the shortening and darkening days.
October for the Angels, November for the Saints in Heaven. September 29: The Archangels, October 2: The Guardian Angels. November 1: All Saints, November 2: All Souls.
Little is now known on this ancient tradition of October for the Holy Angels.
What is well known among Catholics of today, is that the character and mood of Liturgical Time in Autumn does coincide with death, particularly in November. The short days, the long nights. The year is ending. The Feasts of the Saints & All the dead sanctifies Autumn as the resonances of graces carry throughout the month, culminating in the Feast of Christ the King our Judge.
Pray Morning Prayer with the Augustinian Community
A brief introduction to the Liturgy of the Hours
Recently in a parish bulletin, I provided a reflection on Morning Prayer. In an effort to allow parishioners to feel invited to join the Augustinian Community for Morning Prayer
The Augustinian community at Our Mother of Good Counsel gathers for Common Prayer twice a day. In the Mornings, before Mass, they are joined by parishioners who have become familiar with this form of prayer called the Liturgy of the Hours. Consider this an opportunity to learn about, and perhaps even join those gathered for daily Morning Prayer.
Our Catholic Faith tradition has evolved a variety of forms of prayer, including meditation, contemplation, spontaneous prayers, and Liturgy. Liturgy is always meant as a public prayer, and the Liturgy of the Hours is the only prayer, outside of the Mass that is prescribed by the Church. Sometimes it is referred to as the Divine Office, for being an official prayer of the Church. The Liturgy of the Hours follows the same Liturgical Cycle of Seasons, Weeks and Days as the Mass, and for many Catholics, becomes a way to deepen their experience of communal faith and their relationship with Christ. Although the Augustinians, as well as priests, sisters, friars and some lay-people have a commitment to reciting the Liturgy of the Hours, the Church does not obligate you to do so.
Morning Prayer gives Christians the opportunity to Praise God for the wonderful gift of life, a new day, and in particular the gift of Christ’s Resurrection. Evening Prayer, likewise provides an opportunity for Christians to Thank God for graces of each day and Christ’s gift of Redemption. The celebrations of Advent, Christmas, Lent, Easter, and the other great Feasts and Saints all factor into the celebration of Morning and Evening Prayer. When praying these words from the Scriptures and Tradition of the Church, they join with Christ who intercedes for humanity before the Father, they join the Cloud of Witnesses of Saints before, and the Church throughout the world gathered for Liturgy.
There are apps and websites to explore the Liturgy of the Hours (or sometimes called the Divine Office). The gathered community for Morning Prayer at Our Mother of Good Counsel uses the Christian Prayer book. Many Augustinian Parishes and Chapels will pray Morning Prayer immediately before the Morning Mass. If you live near a community of Augustinians, or a community of Friars or Monks, be sure to check if they have scheduled times for Common Recitation of the Divine Office or the Liturgy of the Hours.
I will be posting several brief posts on the topic of Augustinian Spirituality, coming from the perspective of a Friar and Priest in the Order of Saint Augustine. This includes the importance of the Rule of Saint Augustine, the meaning and symbolism of the Crest, or the use of the Heart, the extent of the Augustinian family.
I have recently published a post on the variety of works of Saint Augustine, that can be found on digital book retailers such as Amazon Kindle, Google Play Books, and Barnes & Noble Nook. It is important to realize that Augustinians are not meant to be experts of Augustine’s Theological Doctrine, as much to be Sons and Daughters of Augustine’s Spiritual Tradition. To better familiarize oneself with Augustine, it is probably best to start with his Sermons, rather than his Confessions. I will be posting on how to study and read Augustine.
The foundational document of Augustinian Spirituality, is of course, the Rule of Augustine. Many religious communities share this rule, but do not explicitly share our spirituality. Our understanding of Augustine's Rule is additionally illumined by all of Augustine's Spiritual writings, especially his confessions. Finally, the current Constitutions of our Order, draws upon all of this heritage to definitively define Augustinian Spirituality today.
Looking into the variety of resources published by Augustinians on the past, you will have a chance to look at profound reflections on the life of Augustine, and various other Saints.
Drawing upon these, and my personal experiences over the years, I will cover the three major areas: Community, Interiority, and Service to the Church. In addition, I will cover many of the images, symbols, statues, and icons that are relevant.
Written by Mark Menegatti, OSA
August 24, 2018
Photo Detail: Various Saints, including Saint Augustine & Saint Nicholas of Tolentino, Augustinian, at the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York.
