| | Consecrated Life – the Right Fit | | Loretta Matulich | | |  One size fits all does not apply to consecrated life
in the Catholic Church. Nor does “one style suits all.” Because the Holy Spirit has continually brought forth various forms of consecrated life to adapt to the changing times, we in our 21st century now have a treasure house of both the old and the new from which to choose. Just what forms of consecrated life are available today? This article hopes to set forth the array of possible choices and serve as a brief reference tool for both those called to the consecrated life as well as for those who assist in the discernment of vocations. Most often a parish priest will be the first to assist someone in discerning a vocation to the consecrated life because he is most likely the person to whom one would initially confide the call and from whom a person would seek counsel.
The call
We know that God has designed all vocations in the Church out of love for us. Each person, created by God with a unique identity, discovers that He works out circumstances and opportunities for us to recognize and be able to respond to the particular role we are to live in Salvation History. God does not do “mass production”! He does not set up assembly lines to produce Model-T people, nor Model-T vocations. |
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The key, then, is to find the right “fit”. For those called to marriage, the right fit might be “Mr Right,” or “Miss Right.” For those of us called to the consecrated life, however, we must find that way of life best suited to us and then embrace that definitive vocation. It should be noted here, importantly, that the term “consecrated life” is not synonymous with “religious life”. That is to say, although all religious live a form of consecrated life, not all consecrated persons are members of “institutes of religious life”. Moreover, “consecrated life” is defined in the Code of Canon Law as a state of life distinct from both clergy and laity [C. 588.1].
Categories of Consecrated Life
The World Synod of Bishops in October 1994 prayerfully examined the consecrated life in the Church today. On March 25, 1996, the Feast of the Annunciation, the Holy Father issued an Apostolic Exhortation, Vita Consecrata. This papal document reflects the proceedings of the Synod and thus speaks of the gift and mission of the consecrated life at the service of the Church. Vita Consecrata was the third of a series, the first two dealing, respectively, with the other two canonical states of life the laity (Christifideles laici) and the clergy, specifically the priesthood (Pastores dabo vobis). Vita Consecrata, then, ...Contd. | | |
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