Priest-professor answers your questions on vocation
Msgr. Michael Heintz is rector of St. Matthew Cathedral in South Bend, director of the Master of Divinity program at Notre Dame, and a popular graduate and undergraduate professor. He spoke with the IRISH ROVER on vocation, prayer, and spiritual life on campus.
Where does the concept of vocation come from?
Vocation of course comes from the Latin VOCARE, which means “to call” — we are called into existence by God; further, he calls us to holiness of life through our participation in Christ’s death and resurrection in Baptism; there is also a vocation to a particular state or form of the Christian life (marriage, vowed religious life, priesthood, single life). I would also suggest there is a particular vocation of each individual within the context of their state of life that is unique to them. I think of these various “vocations” as concentric circles, one building or resting upon the other
Does God have a perfect plan for our lives? Thus, can we “miss” our vocation?
We certainly believe God has a plan for each of us, just as he loves each of us (St. Augustine once said) as if there were only one of us. We can “miss” God’s call at any number of levels through negligence or inattentiveness. The key to avoiding this is to live a sacramentally grounded life of prayer. Living each day in communion with Christ, and supported by the sacraments (particularly Eucharist and Penance), we cannot but hear the voice of God in our hearts. God certainly does not want us to live in obsessive fear, however. He wants us to trust him and walk with him in confidence, not confidence in ourselves but in him.
What are some obstacles to vocational discernment, especially for college students? How can they be overcome?
I think one of the greatest challenges for all of us – collegians included – is inattentive living; that is, not taking the time to step out of the whirlwind of our lives and spend time in silence, contemplation, and prayer. We so value “doing” over “being” that we feel less productive (itself an idol) when we stop to pray, but it is absolutely essential. Another mistake is to focus on efficiency and success; these too can become idols. Fidelity is the key.
What are your general impressions of student spiritual life at Notre Dame?
I have been delighted to come to know a number of students (largely, but not exclusively, theology majors) over the past 10 years or so. I think the opportunity to celebrate Mass almost daily in most dorms – and in other venues on campus – is a real blessing. The sacraments are readily available, as are many of the devotional practices so dear to Catholics: rosary, adoration, etc. One of the greatest temptations for college students everywhere, including here at ND, it seems to me, is to buy into the culture of success and prestige. Following the Gospel is an invitation to eschew power, money, pleasure, and prestige. These can be great temptations for all of us. Another challenge is simply to make God the center of one’s life, and that means the habit and discipline of regular prayer, no easy feat on a bustling college campus.
People sometimes speak of 4 voices when discerning: their own, other people’s, Satan’s, and God’s. Is this accurate? How can we tell the difference?
I agree there are multiple voices, but I would not parse them so simply – there is a cacophony of competing voices calling us in numerous, often contradictory, directions. Hearing God in the midst of them (or, in the case of our true friends, through them) is not at all easy. I return to prayer as the key. The more time you spend with someone you love, the easier it is to recognize the voice.
What is your own experience of vocation? How and when did you decide to pursue ordination? How did you choose diocesan priesthood over priesthood within a religious order? What has been your experience of “vocation within vocation,” namely your call to serve as a university professor as well as parish priest?
My story is thoroughly unremarkable – no dreams, visions, or voices. I was drawn to the priesthood through the experience of growing up in a Catholic parish and admiring the priests there deeply. I saw that they had something I wanted to share. I chose the diocesan priesthood because I wanted to remain linked to this diocese, which had so nurtured my own faith. I am blessed to be able to have a foot in “both worlds” – in the academy and in the parish, which is where the Church actually does its theology, to borrow a phrase.
How can we know when we’ve “found” our vocation? Should we expect “love at first sight” and ensuing vocational assurance? What role does doubt play in discernment?
Doubt is actually healthy because it can make us test our motives and purify our desires. We often make the mistake of thinking that we must necessarily take the most difficult course of action, because, we think, this must be what God wants – he always wants us to choose the hard way. But this is not always true. While we cannot shirk the Gospel’s call (which is often hard), we also must realize that God can sometimes reveal his will through our own propensities and inclinations – the desire to marry and raise a family may be one of the ways, for instance, God is calling someone to marriage. Remember that vocation is not something extrinsic to us and later decided upon by God. I rather like to think our vocation is planted in us from the first moments of our existence (Psalm 139). Our task is to discover what that is, and when we do, we will achieve a level of peace and joy that is proper to such a discovery.
What does it mean to “discern marriage”? Can this be done outside an exclusive relationship? Can an exclusive dating relationship exist healthily without marriage discernment being a more- or less-proximate goal? From your work with dating and engaged couples, do you have any advice for those who may be thinking about marriage?
Discerning marriage is not easy in our culture. We often talk too much about compatibility. I think that is not a primary consideration. It’s about finding the person God created to complete you, to better you, to make you the person God created you to be: that is the person you should marry. I think, regardless of one’s own discernment, one should have a healthy and broad variety of friends – of both sexes – and to relate broadly to many folks. Exclusive relationships that do not deepen other friendships are probably not healthy. A healthy relationship is not possessive or domineering – it is not insecure about other friendships. Couples who are discerning marriage should pray together regularly. It is an activity that can be both graced and intimate.
St. Paul exhorts us to “pray unceasingly.” How can this be done?
I think St. Paul has in mind an awareness of God that abides. When someone loves another, he or she, even if not in the other’s presence, is aware of that relationship which means so much. Living in communion with God means always being aware of his presence, always acting, thinking, choosing, as if in conversation with him.
Kyle Sladek is a junior studying philosophy and theology who hopes Msgr. Heintz will offer a course in pun anthropology next year, ideally titled “From the Rising of the Pun to Its Setting.” Contact Kyle at ksladek@nd.edu.
