I'm inclined to think that, to some degree, this is because there is significant reason to be skeptical that 99% are actually called to marriage. I think probably 99% *want* marriage, and since marriage is a much more socially normal and conventional than any form of celibacy or vowed/consecrated/ordained life, there is insufficient oppo…
I'm inclined to think that, to some degree, this is because there is significant reason to be skeptical that 99% are actually called to marriage. I think probably 99% *want* marriage, and since marriage is a much more socially normal and conventional than any form of celibacy or vowed/consecrated/ordained life, there is insufficient opportunity for people to pause and be challenged to reconsider the assumption that the desire for marriage is the same as a genuine vocation. Religious life and holy orders have structures to help filter out folks who do not seem to have a genuine vocation: marriage has no such structure, effectively letting anyone who wants it in as long as they find a spouse. (Sure, marriage prep is a thing, but to compare that to a seminary application is disingenuous.)
I tend to think that the share of folks with genuine vocations to marriage is actually a much, much smaller share of the population than we assume, but many genuine vocations to religious life, holy orders, and other forms of celibate life are lost because of the general conflation of desire with calling, and a lack of both support and challenge.
In my experience, discerning a religious vocation ended up being what gave me clarity that I had a vocation to marriage. It’s through praying and using Ignatian discernment with these vocations that God can speak to how he made your heart. If every Catholic did this, we would have more priests and religious in my opinion.
I'm inclined to think that, to some degree, this is because there is significant reason to be skeptical that 99% are actually called to marriage. I think probably 99% *want* marriage, and since marriage is a much more socially normal and conventional than any form of celibacy or vowed/consecrated/ordained life, there is insufficient opportunity for people to pause and be challenged to reconsider the assumption that the desire for marriage is the same as a genuine vocation. Religious life and holy orders have structures to help filter out folks who do not seem to have a genuine vocation: marriage has no such structure, effectively letting anyone who wants it in as long as they find a spouse. (Sure, marriage prep is a thing, but to compare that to a seminary application is disingenuous.)
I tend to think that the share of folks with genuine vocations to marriage is actually a much, much smaller share of the population than we assume, but many genuine vocations to religious life, holy orders, and other forms of celibate life are lost because of the general conflation of desire with calling, and a lack of both support and challenge.
In my experience, discerning a religious vocation ended up being what gave me clarity that I had a vocation to marriage. It’s through praying and using Ignatian discernment with these vocations that God can speak to how he made your heart. If every Catholic did this, we would have more priests and religious in my opinion.