Catholic Vocation Station
Discussion for present and future priests, nuns, brothers and sisters.
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Do sunflowers symbolize anything in Catholicism?
Never heard of it, and I've never seen sunflowers in church art (stained glass windows or that sort of thing). -
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Do sunflowers symbolize anything in Catholicism?
Sounds very strange to me - almost like trying to be psychic or something. Gives me the creeps. -
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Do sunflowers symbolize anything in Catholicism?
I recently went on a Come and See, and the sister who made the sign for my guest room door told me that Jesus put it on her heart to draw a sunflower on it. She wondered if they had some particular significance for me. As it happens, they don't - I've always considered them pretty mediocre as flowers go, and the only connection I have is that the foundress of the religious order that ran my high school compared keeping your eyes on God to sunflowers turning towards the sun no matter which direction it goes. Sister suggested that I pray on it, which I look forward to doing, but I'm just curious - is anyone aware of sunflowers having some symbolic significance in Christian tradition? Or if they are perhaps associated with a particular saint? My Googling wasn't very conclusive. -
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Can a Religious be a social reformer?
So much of the history of religious life--especially for women--is the history of reform! They were reformers in civil rights, in social work, in labor, in women's rights, in educational reform.... The first woman in the parliament of Hungary was a sister. Women religious were among the righteous who fought Nazis and protected Jews during World War II. I could go on and on. So see this as outside the scope of religious life, especially those who are in ministerial communities, is to misunderstand the history of sisters, especially. -
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Can a Religious be a social reformer?
A great deal of political involvement in particular belongs to the laity. It's very much an "in the world but not of the world" kind of thing, not that religious can't or don't sometimes express that kind of leaning, but it can actually be a bit of a scandal at times if it's overly emphasized. It isn't the main point of the religious life. I agree with the above thoughts as well, that the call has to be to the consecration, community, religious life primarily. Perhaps in the unfolding of a vocation there is a place for things like philisophical debates, but the majority of religious vocations, especailly for women, don't tend to lead that way. And it would be an unfolding in any case. That is the interesting part of religious life as it exists, actually as life really, but moreso in religious life. We don't always get to "choose our own adventure."
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