Catholic Prayer: Why Prayer is a Vital Part of Your Vocation
“Do you think you might have a vocation?
I heard this question constantly when I was in high school and in college. Of course, what people meant by this question was, “Do you think you might be called to the priesthood?” I prayed and discerned a call to the priesthood throughout college, and finally discerned that I was called to be married. In my mind, this meant that I didn’t have a vocation – and I found that idea a bit depressing. It wasn’t until I studied the actual documents of Vatican II, and then many spiritual writings that came before Vatican II that taught the same unchanging truth, that I realized that everyone has a vocation – and that marriage and family life was every bit a vocation as a call to the priesthood. Marriage is not a “default position” (as I heard one priest call it). It is a very specific vocation to learn to love as Jesus loves.
The Call to Perfect Love
Most Catholics don’t realize that their vocation is a call to love as Jesus loves. This is a topic we’ll cover heavily in the Adventure of Faith course. The Second Vatican Council (in the document Lumen Gentium) reminded us of what has always been true. All of us are called to holiness, and that means that all of us have a vocation to love. Whether you are called to the priesthood, to religious life or to marriage and family life, you are called to grow in selfless love.
The Call to Love and Catholic Prayer
What does this have to do with prayer? If we don’t see prayer as an act of love, we’re missing the point of Catholic spirituality. Sometimes when we get into the habit of only praying for our own needs, we can come to see prayer as a self-centered act or even as an act of desperation. But even these prayers of petition can be acts of love when we properly understand them.
Prayer for another person (intercessory prayer) is also an act of love. Our prayer for others is part of our love for them, as well as our love for God. When we pray for others we participate in the goodness that God wants for those we pray for. So we show love for other people when we pray for them because we “will the good of the other.” But we also exercise our love for God as we participate in His goodness and in His love for those for whom we pray.
Additionally, to love as Jesus loves is only possible through grace – and that is a grace supported by Catholic prayer. Let’s just think about what our vocation calls us to. Agapé is the Greek word for the love that Jesus calls us to in His “new commandment” to love one another as He has loved us. In Greek, the word Agapé means “the love of the gods.” This means a love that is not attainable by human standards. How did Jesus show us Agapé? By sacrificing His entire self for us on the Cross. Jesus didn’t just give up His life. He sacrificed His body, His human dignity, and even His divine rights. He poured it all out for us (Philippians 2:5-11). The Resurrection showed us that as God He could do this – He could pour Himself out completely for us for all eternity and never exhaust Himself. After all, He is eternal. But what if we finite, mortal beings tried that? What if we poured ourselves out completely for others? Simply put, there would be nothing left. We’re not eternal or infinite. We would poof out of existence (to use a sophisticated theological phrase). Unless. Unless we could love with the infinite, eternal love of God. That is what the Church means by the “theological virtue of Charity.” So to love as Jesus loves is not just a nice sentiment. It’s not a feel-good statement like “now be nice to each other.” It’s a radical call for us to let God love others through us – to pour ourselves out for others and then to trust in the Resurrection. That kind of radical trust in God is only going to come through grace. That’s why love (Charity) is intimately united to Catholic prayer.
Finally, if we are going to love in this radical way through our vocation, we need to enter into the deep prayer of conversion. In his wonderful book Deep Conversion, Deep Prayer Father Thomas Dubay reminds us that deep prayer and deep conversion are both necessary – and that they are dependent on each other. We cannot love God with our whole heart, and we cannot love our neighbor as Jesus loved us if we do not get rid of the selfish tendencies in our hearts. Prayer and conversion are the only ways to do that.
The sacramental grace that comes with Holy Matrimony and Holy Orders, and with the sacramental of religious vows, empowers us to love with the love of God. But like all grace, this love, which we know as the theological virtue of charity, calls us to purification, conversion and participation. This happens for us through acts of charity but also through prayer.
Uniting your prayer life to your vocation and the graces that come from your vocational Sacrament is one of the keys to creating a “lay rule of life.” If you would like to learn more about how to build a spirituality that fits into your daily life, please explore the opportunity below to get more involved with the work of From the Abbey! Our mission is to help you learn and live the Faith and to grow in intimacy with God. We’d love to have you take the next step with us in rebuilding your spiritual life!
Brought to you by Jeffrey S. Arrowood at From the Abbey, dedicated to helping you rediscover the JOY of learning and living your faith so you can grow in intimacy with God.