Intentions for Entering Religious Life Can be Right or Wrong
What are some good reasons to desire religious life? Are you motivated by love of Christ and service to his Church? Do you want to live your faith in community with like-minded Catholics who hold each other accountable? Is religious life a path to holiness, and a more perfect imitation of Christ? These are all good forms of motivation!
However, we must always be vigilant of errant forms of motivation. St. Francis de Sales warns against wrong intentions in his writings:
“Certainly, my dear daughters, many persons enter religion, who do not know why they do so. They come into a parlor, they see nuns with a serene countenance and pleasing manners, very modest, very happy, and they say to themselves, “Good God! how pleasant it is there! Let us go there, for the world does not smile upon us, we shall not find what we wish for in it.”
Another will say, “Oh! How well they sing in there!”
Others come to find peace, consolations, and all sorts of sweetness, saying in thought, “Oh! how happy the nuns are! They are out of the reach of father and mother, who do nothing but complain and whom one can never please, one has always to begin again. Our Lord promises many consolations to those who leave the world for His service; let us go then into religion.”
Here are, my dear daughters, three kinds of intentions, which are of no value for entering the house of God.”
Likewise, a person may see religious life as a refuge from their problems. Is it an escape from failed romantic relationships, or from commitment to another person? Is it merely security against unemployment or loneliness? Or could it be a status symbol, a way to achieve recognition and respect from others?
We are now aware of these difficulties, but until we become saints, we will not be completely selfless, and our thoughts may include a mix of these motivations. If we have some spiritual motivation – even if it is not purely spiritual – God can work with that! We all have room to grow.
To prepare for Sunday’s chat, please read our article, “Discernment With De Sales — Three Wrong Reasons to Become a Religious”.
In our Living Jesus Chat Room this Sunday, we will discuss these points:
- Do you find any of these motivations among your own? Is this discouraging?
- In the quote from St. Francis de Sales, does he assume that wanting serenity and happiness is wrong? Or does he disapprove because the decision has been made purely on an emotionalI level?
- Is it right for novices or candidates to leave a community early on to search for a different community that is a better fit?
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Come to our Living Jesus Chat Room, 7:30 PM to 8:30 PM Eastern Time U.S. this Sunday. Sign up here and get your own username, or just come on Sunday and sign in as a guest. Seats are limited so , come on time.