{"id":153205,"date":"2019-06-22T15:39:32","date_gmt":"2019-06-22T19:39:32","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.regnumchristi.com\/en\/ask-a-priest-do-we-give-up-our-talents-on-entering-religious-life\/"},"modified":"2024-10-22T14:55:39","modified_gmt":"2024-10-22T18:55:39","slug":"ask-a-priest-do-we-give-up-our-talents-on-entering-religious-life","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.regnumchristi.com\/en\/ask-a-priest-do-we-give-up-our-talents-on-entering-religious-life\/","title":{"rendered":"“Ask a Priest: Do We Give Up Our Talents on Entering Religious Life?”"},"content":{"rendered":"
\n
Q: I’m thinking about a vocation. I want to be a nun really bad. I can’t imagine myself being married, and I really want to be a contemplative. But I also have a musical talent. I play music at my church, and my mom says that it is just a natural gift. I don’t know that I’d be able to utilize this gift if I become a nun. Does God give people talents just so they can offer the sacrifice of not using them? This is the question that has burned in my mind for a while. \u2013 K.<\/address>\n<\/blockquote>\n

Answered by Fr. Edward McIlmail, LC<\/em><\/p>\n

A:\u00a0It’s great to hear of your vocational interest in being a nun. It’s a beautiful way for a woman to commit herself to Our Lord.<\/p>\n

You pose an either-or<\/em> question. “Either I use my musical talent or I let it languish.” Often in the Church things are a bit more both-and<\/em>.<\/p>\n

That is, you could be a nun and<\/em> use your musical talent. Music is a big part of liturgy, and it’s a special way to give praise and glory to God.<\/p>\n

So don’t think that you would necessarily have to give up your musical talent if you joined religious life.<\/p>\n

One of my brother priests was a medical doctor before entering religious life. He now uses his medical knowledge in the field of bioethics, which is a great service to the Church and the world. St. Hildegard, a Doctor (in the sense of “teacher”) of the Church from the 12th century, used her musical skills while being a religious. So God has a way of channeling our talents for his purposes.<\/p>\n

For the record, though, it is worth noting two other things.<\/p>\n

First, there is no guarantee that our specific skills will be used, or used in the way we think, if and when we enter religious life. That is for superiors to decide. The key here is that God blesses whatever we do under obedience.<\/p>\n

Second, people who enter religious life already give up a gift: their physical fertility. Yet, in your case you could have an extremely fruitful life by being a spiritual mother to the countless souls you pray for.<\/p>\n

In any case, it would be good to intensify your prayer life and sacramental life, and to start contacting religious congregations that might attract your attention. You might find this resource on discernment helpful: Called and Chosen: A Retreat Guide on Vocation and the Calling of St. Matthew<\/a>.<\/p>\n

And remember, God won’t be outdone in generosity. Count on my prayers.<\/p>\n

Keep learning more with Ask a Priest<\/a><\/h3>\n

Got a question? Need an answer?<\/h3>\n

Today\u2019s secular world throws curve balls at us all the time. AskACatholicPriest is a Q&A feature that anyone can use. Just type in your question or send an email to AskAPriest@rcspiritual.wpenginepowered.com<\/a> and you will get a personal response back from one of our priests at RCSpirituality. You can ask about anything \u2013 liturgy, prayer, moral questions, current events\u2026 Our goal is simply to provide a trustworthy forum for dependable Catholic guidance and information. So go ahead and ask your question\u2026<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

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Edward McIlmail, LC","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/485147bd811c2a8642adf1f1806f85f0adef2b00ef8ccabc9b46f8420af19e16?s=96&d=blank&r=g","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/485147bd811c2a8642adf1f1806f85f0adef2b00ef8ccabc9b46f8420af19e16?s=96&d=blank&r=g","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/485147bd811c2a8642adf1f1806f85f0adef2b00ef8ccabc9b46f8420af19e16?s=96&d=blank&r=g","caption":"Fr. Edward McIlmail, LC"},"description":"Fr. Edward McIlmail, LC, ordained to the priesthood in 2001, taught theology and Scripture at the then Mater Ecclesiae College in Rhode Island and is now a part-time chaplain at Overbrook Academy in Greenville, R.I. He holds degrees from Holy Apostles College and Seminary in Connecticut, the Regina Apostolorum Athenaeum in Rome, and Northwestern University in Illinois. He was an assistant publisher of the National Catholic Register and Faith & Family magazine and an editor of the Zenit news agency\u2019s English edition. He has written for\u00a0SpiritualDirection.com\u00a0and\u00a0ePriest. Fr. McIlmail also worked in spiritual retreats in the Northeast, New England, the Midwest, and the South\u00a0and assisted with mission work in Mexico. Born in Philadelphia, he worked in journalism and was active in the pro-life movement before entering the novitiate of the Legion of Christ in 1992. His contributions to RCSpirituality include responding to\u00a0Ask A Priest\u00a0questions and sharing his insights in our\u00a0Weekly Newsletter.","url":"https:\/\/www.regnumchristi.com\/en\/author\/emcilmail\/"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.regnumchristi.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/153205","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.regnumchristi.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.regnumchristi.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.regnumchristi.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/362"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.regnumchristi.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=153205"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.regnumchristi.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/153205\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.regnumchristi.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/145952"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.regnumchristi.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=153205"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.regnumchristi.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=153205"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.regnumchristi.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=153205"},{"taxonomy":"post_folder","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.regnumchristi.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/post_folder?post=153205"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}