Unit 5
The Vocation to Consecrated Religious Life
Some women and men are called to consecrated religious life. To many, this vocation is the most difficult to understand. They might wonder why someone would want to sacrifice a life with a spouse and children, or the opportunity to be a public sign of Christ and administer the Sacraments, for a life that seems set apart, isolated, and even confusing. But the truth is that those called to consecrated religious life are called to a life that is wonderfully unique and special: they sacrifice married life or the priesthood to live exclusively for the Kingdom of God. A consecrated religious lives the union with Christ now that awaits the rest of us in Heaven. So, while it may seem a consecrated person gives up so much that others have, they do so only to gain so much more.