The Disciples’ Call: Theologies of Vocation from Scripture to the Present Day
A new book of essays about the theology of vocation, edited by Fr Christopher Jamison, published by Bloomsbury.
Here is the publisher’s blurb:
There is currently no shared language of vocation among Catholics in the developed, post-modern world of Europe and North America. The decline in practice of the faith and a weakened understanding of Church teaching has led to reduced numbers of people entering into marriage, religious life and priesthood.
Uniquely, this book traces the development of vocation from scriptural, patristic roots through Thomism and the Reformation to engage with the modern vocational crisis. How are these two approaches compatible? The universal call to holiness is expressed in Lumen Gentium has been read by some as meaning that any vocational choice has the same value as any other such choice; is some sense of a higher calling part of the Catholic theology of vocation or not? Some claim that the single life is a vocation on a par with marriage and religious life; what kind of a theology of vocation leads to that conclusion? And is the secular use of the word ‘vocation’ to describe certain profession helpful or misleading in the context of Catholic theology?
And here are some reviews:
This series of essays is eye-opening, mind-broadening and heart-expanding. It offers the reader a look into the rich tradition, history, and theology of vocation – lay, priestly, monastic, and religious – as well as consideration of the meaning of vocation in the present day. The essays tell a story of where we have been – looking to the times before and after the Second Vatican Council – and consider with well-reasoned ideas and thoughtful insights where we need to go in the future. We stand at a critical juncture in the history of the Church: these writings will foster a lively regard for Catholic faith. —Abbot Gregory J. Polan, O.S.B., Conception Abbey, USA
This fascinating book has something for everyone. Almost without exception, the chapters are beautifully written, scholarly but accessible to people who are not specialists. It explores how the life of every human being is a vocation, whose deepest meaning is to respond to God’s call to love and freedom. It also suggests how each of us can discern what might be our particular way of realising this vocation, through marriage, religious life, priesthood or single life. I could not put it down. —Fr Timothy Radcliffe O.P.
Fr Stephen Wang, Jericho Tree’s main editor, has a chapter on ‘Vocation to the Diocesan Priesthood’.
Tags: consecrated life, diaconate, featured, lay life, marriage, ordination, priesthood, religious life, single life, theology of vocation, vocation
‘ where we need to go in the future’. . . .
Permanent Deacons can have a vocation in God which means to be a family man ~ and have a formal vocation within the parish. Woman do not have this privilege and have been erased from the Rock. Yet Christ instilled against cultural norms the place for women 1) In who He chose to hold the keys 2) In choosing Mary to be His bearer of good news.
I don’t believe women are to be priests. But I do believe that the holistic vocation which Christ gifted them with has been distorted and denied and needs restoring.
If a woman at present is called to exercise a deeper vocation in loyalty to her Catholic Faith, there is no official formal vocational route within the parish, unless that women either leaves her parish to join an order, becomes a consecrated individual with no vocational structure, or becomes a member of a lay fraternity, else a member of a third order. Permanent deacons are allowed and supported by their diocese to formally practice their vocation without leaving their family home, but still are privileged to have a formal pathway down which to travel, supported by their deacon brotherhood, the diocese, and the bishop. They have a formal training and a formal role in which to exercise their deacon ministry, in order to serve others, serve the church, and fulfil their spiritual and practical calling. It is a wonderful presence to witness this vocation, which is a visible physical and spiritual bridge between the secular world and the spiritual world, and one that our young men can be affirmed by, and aspire to. Women need the same affirmations and aspirations. Women too can bring a ministry to the church, which at present has not yet been fully realised. If we are to really transmit the Catholic faith to so many families beyond today, we absolutely need to embrace women with a new Charism, and new formal vocation. I do not feel the need for there to be women priests, the ministry of a priest is not translatable between genders. Mothers are different from fathers, but no less.
Just as the first woman was inseminated by a male seed, and so gave birth to the whole of mankind, just as the Virgin Mary was inseminated by God, and so gave birth to God, so was Mary of Bethany inseminated with the word of God through her contemplative spirit, And so did Mary Magdalene give birth to The Good News; the resurrection of Jesus Christ,
and so is a woman’s role written by God.