First, the Catholic Church recognizes the importance of our daily work. Especially people like Opus Dei, who realize that we should dedicate our daily work to God, but also our regular morning prayers and such. This compared to my Protestant denomination who cannot see the value of prayer that exists in our daily work and dedicating that to God.
But even more so, it gets me thinking about the Priesthood. Knowing the responsibilities just of family, it is hard for me to imagine how a priest could maintain a family and totally dedicate himself to God's work as a shephard and pastor of a parish. This helps me put into perspective and totally understand our disciplinary decision to not allow Latin Rite priests to marry. I think it's a good thing, but definitely controversial to many.
5 comments:
Good morning. I've just come across a website with daily readings and prayers. Very interesting.
www.universalis.com
Thanks Joseph for this excellent post! I totally agree with you regarding priestly celibacy. I know that some pastors can successfully do this -- have a family and a parish/congregation. But I completly support the Church's teaching on this discipline (as I also support Her wisdom on all of Her teachings).
It is my opinion that something would have to give on an emotional and spiritual level between the two -- spouse/parent vs. pastor.
Thanks for the post Mel! This is actually a blessing. I've been meaning to search for a good on-line source for the Liturgy of the Hours / Daily Office. This is perfect!!! God works in mysterious ways.
Yep Mel, that's the Liturgy of the Hours that I am always talking about. All Priests, religious brothers and sisters, and deacons recite those every day, as well as lay people like myself who try to do as much of them as our daily life allows. It's a good thing to comment in a post on balance! You should try them some, I think they would be very beneficial to you, especially since you are beginning a study of the Psalms.
Jesus himself took the apostles away from their jobs and families to follow him.
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