{"id":153399,"date":"2022-06-10T09:30:08","date_gmt":"2022-06-10T13:30:08","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.regnumchristi.com\/en\/ask-a-priest-should-i-pursue-priesthood-if-thats-a-better-state-of-life\/"},"modified":"2024-10-22T15:00:18","modified_gmt":"2024-10-22T19:00:18","slug":"ask-a-priest-should-i-pursue-priesthood-if-thats-a-better-state-of-life","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.regnumchristi.com\/en\/ask-a-priest-should-i-pursue-priesthood-if-thats-a-better-state-of-life\/","title":{"rendered":"“Ask a Priest: Should I Pursue Priesthood If That\u2019s a Better State of Life?”"},"content":{"rendered":"
\n
Q: I recently had a crisis regarding discernment of my vocation. I was always open to both religious life and married life. I have a girlfriend. Now, my concern is, if virginity and priesthood are objectively better states of life, why should I not just pursue holy orders? I am aware that one can also attain sanctity through marriage, but would it not be better to choose a path that can better develop your sanctity? Maybe I am just being scrupulous about whether I can attain sanctity through marriage rather than religious life. I am really having a hard time discerning. \u2013 K.M.<\/p>\n

\n<\/address>\n<\/blockquote>\n

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

A:\u00a0The key thing is that we are open to the path to which God is calling us.<\/p>\n

Certainly there are elements of consecrated virginity and priesthood that can be said to be higher than marriage.<\/p>\n

But that presupposes that God is calling a person to that path. A person who avoids marriage, for instance, out of fear of commitment, wouldn’t necessarily be following a higher call than someone who marries.<\/p>\n

Also, someone who pursues priesthood for the wrong motives wouldn’t necessarily be doing better than a married man who is faithful to his wife and family.<\/p>\n

Another core issue here is discernment.<\/p>\n

It’s good to remember that discernment very much involves the Church. It’s one thing for a man to feel drawn to the priesthood. But that attraction needs to be evaluated by vocation directors, seminary formators, and a bishop or religious superior.<\/p>\n

So, the best thing would be to speak with your pastor or a vocation director or spiritual director. Or, if you feel called to religious life, speak with the vocation director for that congregation.<\/p>\n

It helps to have the guidance of an objective third party who can guide you and help you work through the concerns and issues you have.<\/p>\n

In the meantime, it would be good to intensify your prayer life and sacramental life.<\/p>\n

A book that might help you is To Save a Thousand Souls<\/em><\/a>, <\/em>by Father Brett Brannan.<\/p>\n

Count on my prayers, OK?<\/p>\n

Keep learning more with <\/span>Ask a Priest<\/a><\/p>\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 your question HERE<\/a>\u00a0and 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\/153399","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=153399"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.regnumchristi.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/153399\/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=153399"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.regnumchristi.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=153399"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.regnumchristi.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=153399"},{"taxonomy":"post_folder","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.regnumchristi.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/post_folder?post=153399"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}