SECOND TALK

Rules for Making Election

Transcripts

+ In the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.

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In our life, there is a very important act, which is called “choosing”. A person chooses what to eat, what to wear, what kind of work he may like to have, what to study, what to say, what to think, what to buy, what to be in the future: a married person, a priest, etc.

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Man has the possibility to choose, and this is because God has given him A GIFT: freedom. And we have to use this gift wisely. Among all the things God has given to man, man cannot choose at random whatever he likes, whatever he wants, there are some rules for choosing things.

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The rules are:

• All men have a final end, that is, holiness; in order to achieve holiness, man has some means, St. Ignatius call them “state of life”, and these are: priesthood (or in the case of a woman, the religious life), and married life.

• When I choose something, especially when choosing a state of life, I have to have “right intention”, that is, whatever I choose, it has to be for the glory of God and the salvation of my soul. Some people, when choosing something, don’t have right intention, they don’t choose things for the glory of God and the salvation of their souls. It means that they don’t have right intention. For example, the story of the young rich man of the Gospel: a man ran up, knelt before Jesus and asked him, 'Good master, what must I do to inherit eternal life?' Jesus said to him, you know the commandments. And he said to him, 'Master, I have kept all these since my earliest days.' Jesus looked at him with love, and said, 'You need to do one thing more. Go and sell what you own and give the money to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven; then come, follow me.' But he went away sad, for he was a man of great wealth (cf. Mark 10, 17-22). This young man wanted to follow Jesus, but he wanted more to keep his richness. No right intention.

• Matter of election: what kind of things can I choose? Whatever I choose, it has to be good (I cannot think about choosing something bad, I cannot think whether to choose to be a doctor or a thief); what other things can I choose? I can choose things that are neither bad nor good: for example, I can choose whether to go school walking or by bicycle.

• There are some things that after choosing, I cannot change: for example, if I am a priest, I cannot think about getting married, if I am married to this person, I cannot think about getting married with other person. But there are some other things that after choosing can change, for example, I chose to study English, but later I think it is better to study other language.

• Regarding the things that cannot be changed, I just can do it better, for example, I am already a priest, I cannot choose another state of life, what I can do is to be priest in a better way; if I am a married person, I cannot choose another wife, what I can do is to be a better husband. Regarding the things that can be changed, if the circumstances have not changed, I don’t need to make a new change (if my job is ok, not very far from home, the money is enough, my coworkers are fine, I just don’t need to think about changing my job).

• Regarding a thing that can be changed, if when I chose it, I didn’t have a right intention (a good reason), better to make a new election, better to choose again (for example, I chose a girlfriend who although is not a very good catholic, but she has a lot of money, so when I get married with her, I don’t need to work, I can stay at home the whole day watching TV, scratching my belly, drinking beer.

Time for choosing

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In order to make a good election, especially regarding a state of life (to choose to be a priest, or to be a married person) there are three possible times.

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• First time, is when God moves a person’s will, and without doubting, or being able to doubt, that person follows what God shows him to do, as St. Paul and St. Matthew did in following Jesus. “As Jesus was walking on from there he saw a man named Matthew sitting at the tax office, and he said to him, 'Follow me.' And he got up and followed him” (Mt 9, 9). “It happened that while he was travelling to Damascus and approaching the city, suddenly a light from heaven shone all round him. He fell to the ground, and then he heard a voice saying, 'Saul, Saul, why are you persecuting me?' Who are you, Lord?' he asked, and the answer came, 'I am Jesus, whom you are persecuting. Get up and go into the city, and you will be told what you are to do.' (Acts 9, 4-6).

• Second time, it is by experience of consolations and desolations, and by the experience of the discernment of various spirits. It means: thru some consolations, thru a desire, an idea, the persons gets to know what God wants him to do.

• Third time, it is called also “quiet time”, because the person doesn’t experience the movement of consolation or desolation, and desires to choose a state of life, in order to be holy. It is called “quite time” also because the person uses his intelligence and will freely and quietly.

If the person doesn’t choose a state of life in the first or second time, he can make election in the third time, and there are two ways:

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• First way:

1. Set the content of the election: to be a priest or to be a married person?

2. Remember the final end of man: to praise God our Lord and save my soul

3. Ask God for light, so that I may see clearly what his will is

4. Seek to be objective: consider the benefits of being a priest and the difficulties, and also consider the benefits of being married, and its difficulties

5. See where my intelligence is more inclined to, not what I like or what I would like to do, no, see where my reason is more inclined to.

6. After the election, after deciding a state of life (to be a priest or to be a married person), the person has to offer the election to God.

• Second way:

1. Set the content of the election: to be a priest or to be a married person?

2. Remember the final end of man: to praise God our Lord and save my soul

3. Ask God for light, so that I may see clearly what his will is

4. Seek to be objective:
   
   a. Imagine a person I don’t know, then wish him to be holy, and see what I would suggest him to do, what state of life to choose, in order to honour God and save his soul. Then, choose for yourself what you suggest him to choose;
   b. Think that you are in the final judgement, and see what you would have liked to choose (to be a priest or to be a married person). Then, choose now for yourself what you would then wish to have chosen;
    

5. After the election, after deciding a state of life (to be a priest or to be a married person), the person has to offer the election to God.

Some people, when making election of state of life, look for many excuses, not willing to follow the will of God. Before creation, God already has a plan for me, a specific vocation. So I have the responsibility to seek what God’s plan for me is.

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I will present some of the excuses that people have when making election; some come from the family, some others, from themselves:

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I. Excuses that come from the family

• “My mom says that if I am a priest, she will be alone” (actually, if you get married or even if you die, she will be alone, too)

• “My mom says, I will probably fail” (no one knows the future, is your mother a prophet? Because you may also have success)

• “It is impossible God calls me to be a priest, because I am the only son in my family, if I go to the seminary to become a priest, who will take care of my parents?” (Jesus was also the only son in his family)

• “I am the only son the family, who will earn money for my parents?” (you’d better let God’s providence work)

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II. Excuses that come from oneself

• “To be a priest? I don’t dare to, I’m not worthy” (in fact, no one has the right to be priest; since God has called, you just follow him)

• “I cannot do anything well, how can I be a priest?” (Well, start doing things well)

• “Before, I was a great sinner” (St. Mary Magdalene, St. Mathew, St. Augustine, etc., were all great sinners, too, so what?)

• “I would first like to be in the world for a while, until my vocation grows a little bit more” (vocations grows in the seminary, are you going to keep thinking about vocation until you are 80 years old?)

• “It is better to be a good lay person” (well, better than that is to follow the will of God)

• “I have a girlfriend, I love her so much” (it looks like you love her more than God)

• “Go to the seminary? To become a priest? Get out of here. Forget about it!” (sorry; I wasn’t listening, are you saying to God “get out of here” and “forget about it”? at least be more polite with God!)

• “When I get really really sure about my vocation, I will enter the seminary” (vocation is a mystery, it belongs to the field of faith, so it has some obscure aspect, but that is what makes it have merit. What do you want? God coming to your house, to knock the door and say, hey! It’s God, I just wonder… I’d like you to be a priest, so I don’t know, are you interested?)

• “To be a priest, is it not like escaping reality?” (following Jesus is not escaping reality)

• “If I were a woman, I could be a sister, no problem” (well, you are a man, so what are you going to do?)

• “I don’t imagine myself to be a priest” (God does)

• “I cannot feel the fire of vocation” (that’s because you don’t have faith)

• “I don’t like the idea of being a priest” (are you saying that you don’t like the idea of God calling you to be priest?)

• “I like girls” (thanks be to God, that means you are normal)

Let us remember that when making election (especially when choosing state of life) we cannot present excuses, we have to remember the final end of man: glorify God and save your soul.

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AFTER YOU FINISH THE ELECTION OF STATE, TALK TO THE PRIEST.