Now suppose I have a vocation, mine is obviously per hominem. I
inherit the missionary spirit from my father. That spirit was
fostered by association with Rowley. My main object in entering the
Order of St. George was to work among soldiers, not because I felt
that soldiers needed "missionizing" more than any other class, but
because the work at Chatsea brought me into contact with both
sailors and soldiers, and turned my thoughts in their direction. I
also felt the need of an organization behind my efforts. My first
impulse was to be a preaching friar, but that would have laid too
much on me as an individual, and from lack of self-confidence,
youthfulness, want of faith perhaps, I was afraid. Well, to come
back to the Abbot Paphnutius and his three vocations--it seems
fairly clear that the first, direct from God, is a better vocation
than the one which is inspired by human example, or the third,
which arises from the failure of everything else. At the same time
they ARE all three genuine vocations. What applies to the vocation
seems to me to apply equally to the community. What you stigmatize
as our pseudo-monasticism is still experimental, and I think I can
see the Reverend Father's idea.
Pages:
431
432
433
434
435
436
437
438
439
440
441
442
443
444
445
446
447
448
449
450
451
452
453
454
455