Does the LORD Change HIS MIND?

mymamamary · #1 May 25, '12, 4:43 pm

Hey Forum!!

I'm scared and stuck. I feel the call to Religious Life and Priesthood, very strong!! i have a confessor/spiritual director, and yes, i am in dialouge with a Vocations Director, so i have things set up. Now my question is, since i feel the call so strong, its pulling me so strongly (By the way im 16) would the LORD ever change HIS MIND and Not let me become a Priest.?

I dont want to become a priest for the wrong reasons of fame

but WHY I DO/WHY I FEEL THE CALL

CELEBRATING HOLY MASS, CARESSING THE BODY OF THE LORD, TRULY, IN MY HANDS, WHAT A PRIVELIGE, WHAT AN HONOR, (this one leaves me floored with awe sometimes)

I can see myself clebreating Mass and Preaching

I WANT TO ABSOLVE PEOPLE (THORUGH THE POWER OF CHRIST, IN PERSONA CHRISTI, AND THROUGH THE HOLY SPIRIT)

devoting my life to Prayer, Adoration, and after these, visiting the homeless, the imprisoned, the sick, the dying (albiet im a bit squeamish of human blood-not animal blood though, cuz im a wanna be hunter)

Visiting the rehab centres, and prostitutes (NOT IN A BAD WAY OF COURSE!!!!!)

Celebrate the TLM

Sing Gregorian Chant

Devote my life to Prayer, Prayer, more Prayer, then good works!

(kind of retreat alittle bit from the noise of the world, and spend my day besides celebrating the SACRAMENTS, and Prayer, helping those who are hopeless, or downtrodden in societys opinion, as those people eg. sick, dying, homeless, imprisioned are the most beautiful!!)

Keep myself for Marriage with JESUS CHRIST, HIS SACRED HEART, AND HOLY MOTHER CHURCH!

I Love being a Virgin!!!

( i made the HUGE, HUGE mistake of having sexual expierences though, e.g masturbation, and pornogrpahy

)

So, can the LORD change HIS MIND on my vocation?? Is it alright to feel this sure

Yes, i do discuss this, but hey, public opinion and answers always help!!

Thank you for reading and replying, sorry its long!

**Ridgerunner** · #2 May 25, '12, 5:30 pm

Quote:

Originally Posted by mymamamary

Hey Forum!!

I'm scared and stuck. I feel the call to Religious Life and Priesthood, very strong!! i have a confessor/spiritual director, and yes, i am in dialouge with a Vocations Director, so i have things set up. Now my question is, since i feel the call so strong, its pulling me so strongly (By the way im 16) would the LORD ever change HIS MIND and Not let me become a Priest.?

I dont want to become a priest for the wrong reasons of fame

but WHY I DO/WHY I FEEL THE CALL

CELEBRATING HOLY MASS, CARESSING THE BODY OF THE LORD, TRULY, IN MY HANDS, WHAT A PRIVELIGE, WHAT AN HONOR, (this one leaves me floored with awe sometimes)

I can see myself clebreating Mass and Preaching

I WANT TO ABSOLVE PEOPLE (THORUGH THE POWER OF CHRIST, IN PERSONA CHRISTI, AND THROUGH THE HOLY SPIRIT)

devoting my life to Prayer, Adoration, and after these, visiting the homeless, the imprisoned, the sick, the dying (albiet im a bit squeamish of human blood-not animal blood though, cuz im a wanna be hunter)

Visiting the rehab centres, and prostitutes (NOT IN A BAD WAY OF COURSE!!!!!)

Celebrate the TLM

Sing Gregorian Chant

Devote my life to Prayer, Prayer, more Prayer, then good works!

(kind of retreat alittle bit from the noise of the world, and spend my day besides celebrating the SACRAMENTS, and Prayer, helping those who are hopeless, or downtrodden in societys opinion, as those people eg. sick, dying, homeless, imprisioned are the most beautiful!!)

Keep myself for Marriage with JESUS CHRIST, HIS SACRED HEART, AND HOLY MOTHER CHURCH!

I Love being a Virgin!!!

( i made the HUGE, HUGE mistake of having sexual expierences though, e.g masturbation, and pornogrpahy

)

So, can the LORD change HIS MIND on my vocation?? Is it alright to feel this sure

Yes, i do discuss this, but hey, public opinion and answers always help!!

Thank you for reading and replying, sorry its long!

I never had a vocation to the priesthood, and I knew it from the time I was just a little kid.I admired priests. I thought their lives were cool. But I knew, practically from birth, that my vocation was to be a husband and father. I don't know why I knew. I just did. And it wasn't sex, either. It was the role.

So maybe I'm not qualified to address this.

But it seems to me even so that if one is pretty strongly persuaded about his vocation, that's pretty certainly his vocation. Of course, he has to go through his doubts and his trials. (and boy are there plenty of trials in being a husband and father!) But we're just humans, and that's the way we are. We have doubts.

But you know something that always is a comfort to me....it's the thought that this life is our testing period on earth. Being "fulfilled" in the ways people often seem to expect it is not what life is all about. It's about stepping up to one's vocation and doing it. Wasn't it St. Paul who said "I have fought the fight. I have run the race. I have kept the faith"? That's what life on this earth is. We're here only a short while, and we're here to be tested. Sure, there will be moments of huge gratitude for our vocation. Sure. But that's not the measure. the measure is how we ran the race.

But no, God doesn't change His mind. His thought is His act, and He cannot change either one. He intends all things from all eternity. We can't really get that into our little minds, of course, but it's the truth.

It isn't God who changes. We are the ones who change in our perceptions of what God's will is for us. So why was I so sure all along about my vocation? I don't know. I suppose God knew I was a weak fellow and just didn't challenge me beyond my strength with doubts. That's kind of humbling when you think about it.

But as I said, I intend to run the race, fight the fight and keep the faith.

Be of good cheer!

curlycool89 · #3 May 25, '12, 6:10 pm

Quote:

Originally Posted by mymamamary

So, can the LORD change HIS MIND on my vocation?? Is it alright to feel this sure

Yes, i do discuss this, but hey, public opinion and answers always help!!

Thank you for reading and replying, sorry its long!

Interesting question!

Does God change His mind? No, of course not. God is the same yesterday, today, and tomorrow.

On the other hand, can our understanding of God's call for us change over time? Yes.

When it comes to Holy Orders as a vocation, all you have is your feeling that you are called when you enter a Seminary. Your vocation is not confirmed until the Bishop calls you to Orders; until that time your vocation is not for sure. It's the same thing for Religious life, except the moment your vocation is confirmed is when you have been called to Final (perpetual) Vows.

I heard this from a Religious, and I agree with his assessment: sometimes God does only call people to a novitiate. Same thing with the priesthood, sometimes they are called to go to the Seminary for a few years. They are confident enough in their call to pursue it, but sometimes they are just being called to learn more about themselves and their vocation through this.

For myself, I always thought I was meant to be an engineer (since I was 11/12) since it lined up so well with what I enjoyed (math and science). As it turns out, that was to get me here to where I am now and to discover what I believe is my vocation (to priesthood), which I will start to pursue this fall. Without engineering (and there's a whole set of circumstances that go along with that, including moving to a different city and province to study) I don't know if I would have discovered this call, or if it would have been the same call at all (I'm going to end up staying here in the diocese where I went to university instead of going home).

I like to say that sometimes God calls in chains or steps. Sometimes you're pretty sure of one thing, and then upon learning more or living it for a while (ex - in temporary vows for a religious) you may discover something else or that you aren't in fact called to this life.

Bartolome Casas · #4 May 25, '12, 6:44 pm

Sorry. I don't know any good answer to your question. I did read your question, though.

Well, I have always heard Catholics talk about a way to get clarity on decisions is to go on a traditional 30 day retreat per the method of St. Ignatius of Loyola.

edward_george · #5 May 25, '12, 7:08 pm

My best advice to you at this point is to commend you for taking the steps you already have, stay faithful to deepening your prayer life, and let God work how He will. In time everything will become clear for you, your vocation will all come together. No, God doesn't change His mind, but neither do we completely figure everything out from the get-go. Sometimes things are not how we thought they would be, but we look back and understand exactly how God was working and why we might have been led one way or another. So continue to pray and work as you are, and have faith that God will continue to guide you. It's not a short trip or an easy one, but it will all become clear.

You are in my prayers
-ACEGC

Christine85 · #6 May 30, '12, 7:36 pm

I think if you feel strongly towards that at the moment, and if it is truly God calling you he wont change his mind, what happens though is that you might change your mind, in that matter though I think that God would make adjustments,
Though sometimes we may feel called to something to help bring up to a higher level of holiness it doesnt always mean to become a religious , but youll obviously just need to discern more with a SD, it could be that you may actually be called to be a Priest

Three signs that one has a vocation
1. A desire to do it
2. The ability to live the life
3, Acceptance into the life

AdamPeter · #7 May 30, '12, 8:51 pm

Nope...the Big Guy doesn't change...we do though!

Let me give you an example from my life...(I'm getting ready to apply to seminary myself)

For all my teen years I was sure set on getting married & having married & having a family. I prayed to Mary about it constantly. I was basically sure about this aspect of my life.
Had it alll planned out so to speak. The idea of religious life had occured to me and I'd even gone as far as to contact different orders but I never followed it through.

Last year I had a life changing surgery (I had been Ill for a while)...shortly after that I began to think about religious life seriously. The idea of not being marries bothered me at first but gradually I began to be more bothered by the idea of NOT giving everything I had to Christ.

Basically like you say.

The Lord doesn't change His mind about us...He just works through the events in our lives to show us His great plan for us.