Dear Ernie, I empathize with your eagerness to enter the seminary sooner rather than later; now that God has made clear his call, delay is necessarily a cross.\u00a0 But your reasons for finishing off college seem prudent, both naturally and supernaturally, and your spiritual director confirms them.\u00a0 So you can be morally certain that in your case, waiting another year is part of God\u2019s plan.\u00a0 As I read your note this morning, it occurred to me that God may be hoping you\u2019ll follow in the footsteps of your namesake. St Bernard (the \u201cHoney-sweet Doctor\u201d of the Church, as he is called) was prodigious on many counts.\u00a0 He founded the famous monastery at Clairvaux, which in turn fathered 68 other Cistercian monasteries.\u00a0 He gave spiritual (and political) guidance to Popes and Emperors, Kings and Barons, Abbots and saints.\u00a0 He resolved wars and schisms by the force of his wisdom and tact.\u00a0 He defended Catholic scholarship against secularism (the infamous rationalist Peter Abelard was his contemporary), rallied all of Europe in an effort to defend fellow Christians in the Holy Land (under the banner of the doomed \u201dSecond Crusade\u201d), and left a wake of miracles in his path as he trekked back and forth across the continent in defense of God\u2019s honor.\u00a0 True, all he really wanted was to retire from the world and devote himself to prayer and solitude, but he willingly embraced the cross God fashioned for him \u2013 much to the world\u2019s benefit. His most remarkable deed, to my mind, was his first.\u00a0 And that\u2019s what came to mind when I read your note.\u00a0 Bernard was of noble birth, and he showed extraordinary social and intellectual talent and skill from a very young age.\u00a0 By the time he finished his education (he was 22), all that the luxurious world of the Middle Ages (for nobles, anyway) had to offer was within his grasp.\u00a0 But he felt God calling him to forsake it all for a higher Kingdom.\u00a0 He struggled at first, but asked the Lord for strength and clarity, and he received both.\u00a0 And then came the amazing thing.\u00a0 Instead of just marching off on his own to join the newly reformed monastic community at Citeaux, he started talking to friends and family members about his decision.\u00a0 He spoke so powerfully about the merits of putting one\u2019s life wholly at God\u2019s service that he convinced one after another of them to accompany him.\u00a0 By the time he set out, he had gathered about him 31 young noblemen.\u00a0 They all showed up together on Citaeux\u2019s doorstep to offer themselves for the Lord\u2019s service, much to the surprised delight of the Abbot, St Stephen Harding, who had not received a new novice for several years.\u00a0 Nothing like it has ever occurred in the history of the Church. The moral of the story, my young nephew, is that God has work for you to do before you enter the seminary, and that\u2019s the reason behind the delay.\u00a0 Perhaps there is a throng of young men like yourself whom God is also calling to the priesthood, and he wants you to help them hear his voice. Prayerfully yours, Uncle Eddy<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Dear Ernie, I empathize with your eagerness to enter the seminary sooner rather than later; now that God has made clear his call, delay is necessarily a cross.\u00a0 But your […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":359,"featured_media":145992,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"inline_featured_image":false,"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"site-sidebar-layout":"default","site-content-layout":"","ast-site-content-layout":"default","site-content-style":"default","site-sidebar-style":"default","ast-global-header-display":"","ast-banner-title-visibility":"","ast-main-header-display":"","ast-hfb-above-header-display":"","ast-hfb-below-header-display":"","ast-hfb-mobile-header-display":"","site-post-title":"","ast-breadcrumbs-content":"","ast-featured-img":"","footer-sml-layout":"","ast-disable-related-posts":"","theme-transparent-header-meta":"default","adv-header-id-meta":"","stick-header-meta":"default","header-above-stick-meta":"","header-main-stick-meta":"","header-below-stick-meta":"","astra-migrate-meta-layouts":"set","ast-page-background-enabled":"default","ast-page-background-meta":{"desktop":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-4)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"tablet":{"background-color":"","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"mobile":{"background-color":"","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""}},"ast-content-background-meta":{"desktop":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-5)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"tablet":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-5)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"mobile":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-5)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""}},"footnotes":""},"categories":[3719],"tags":[],"post_folder":[],"class_list":["post-142202","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-uncle-eddy"],"pp_statuses_selecting_workflow":false,"pp_workflow_action":"current","pp_status_selection":"","pp_force_visibility":null,"pp_subpost_visibility":null,"pp_inherited_force_visibility":null,"pp_inherited_subpost_visibility":null,"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\n