Module 2.

SECOND AND THIRD VOCATION serves a particular area (education, health care, parish,
youth ministry, aged care, spiritual pastoral ministry, social
Topic 1: Second Vocation: A Choice among the Four States of work among the poor, as contemplatives or missionaries
Life
Four States of Life
second vocation:
*Each vocation: lives a life of faith & prayer to continually grow
the more stable call to one of the four states of life: priesthood, in one’s relationship with God
single blessedness, married, religious
is equal: one is not better or less than the other
Call to Holiness (primary vocation)
because God calls us to a particular vocation—whether
Four States of Life (second vocation) marriage, priesthood, religious life or single life—that vocation
is the best one for us, the one that 'fits' us best & makes us a
Sol happier person
Priesthood
Module 2-Topic 2: SECOND & THIRD VOCATION
Religious
Topic 1: Third Vocation:
Single the Call of the Moment

Married Third vocation:

Four States of Life the constantly changing immediate tasks/mission God is calling
Married: a person at the moment
lives a vow of faithful love to a spouse Call to Holiness
involves self-giving, love-giving & life-giving Four States of Life
commits in helping one’s partner grow & mature as a human Sol
person & Christian
Priesthood
seeks to form a home & their children in Christian faith &
values Religious

Four States of Life Single

Single:
Married
believes remaining single is the true & right way to faithfully live
one’s Christian call different circumstances, situations & challenges of life

may prefer to live alone or with a family or other single Biblical context of the third vocation:
persons You shall love the Lord, your God, with all your heart, with all
has more opportunity to devote one’s time & energy in the your soul, and with all your mind.” (Matthew 22:37)
service of others means: loving God engages:
Four States of Life the total person
Priestly:
person’s totality: engaged when:
lives a life of total service to the Church—needs to embrace
celibacy & commit to a life of prayer one’s smallest desires, intentions & actions all directed to the
love of God
proclaims the Good News & teaches the Catholic Faith
“Jesus never divided His life into categories…God accepted
ministers the sacraments, builds up the local faith community Jesus’ total life.”
& leads them in worship
no distinction between natural & spiritual activities 
Four States of Life
Religious: “I do always those things that please the father” (John 8:29)

commits one’s life in sharing the life & mission (charism) of every act of His life was God’s.
their religious community
- Bert Farias
embraces the call to poverty, chastity & obedience
Every act of our lives should be a contribution to God’s glory.
nurtures their call through the life of celibacy, faith, prayer & “Whether you eat or drink, do all for the glory of God.” (I Cor
service 10:31)
“In Him we live and move and have our being” (Acts 17:28)
-Bert Farias
• St. Therese of Lisieux…lived each day with an
unshakable confidence in God's love
• "What matters in life is not great deeds, but great
love. “
needs God’s grace to cultivate joyful acceptance,
selflessness & hope
usually compassionate, long-suffering, pious & contemplative
*saints: St. John the Apostle, St. Therese of Lisieux, St.
Bernard of Clairvaux
Sanguine people:

• Therese lived and taught a spirituality of attending to
everyone and everything well and with love
• Therese's spirituality is of doing the ordinary, with
extraordinary love…
Challenge of third sense of vocation:
struggles with superficiality, lust & lack of perseverance
needs God’s grace to cultivate purity, interior depth &
strength, & perseverance
usually cheerful, generous, sincere & sensitive to the
suffering of others

In the different circumstances, situations & challenges of daily *saints: St. Theresa of Avila, St. Francis Xavier
life, no matter how trivial, we must respond to God’s call to us
to become better human beings Phlegmatic people:

…not chase sex, drugs, travel, houses, fame, “likes,” retweets, struggles with wrong things just to please others, laziness, &
and on goes the list to the point of sedating ourselves ability to confront or take initiative

…but to pursue the supernatural high that explodes interiorly needs God’s grace to cultivate fortitude, holy ambition &
from a personal union with God strength of will

Importance of Four Temperaments to usually tranquil, full of common sense, assiduous & almost
Catholics/Christians: immune to anger

*in marriage: *saints: St. Thomas Aquinas, Pope St. John XXIII

crucial for spouses: know & understand each other’s Note:

temperaments support each other in the journey to holiness
*each temperament is a blessing—it takes all kinds to run the
*in our Christian life: world

knowing & understanding the four temperaments help us
understand other people, become patient & loving to them
gives: clearer view of other people’s struggles, challenges &
battles
just as distinct differences between man & woman dovetail &
compliment each other, the unified interaction & charity
between all four temperaments is a powerful thing

good Christian: strives to familiarize oneself with the

temperaments & let such knowledge teach oneself charity

one’s temperament: crucial in one’s spiritual life (path to

holiness)

with a certain temperament, one will tend to commit certain

sins yet possess certain virtues that gives one the strength to
seek God

Choleric people:

struggles with anger, pride & impatience

needs God’s grace to cultivate gentleness, humility &

patience

would usually have a strong will, great constancy & energy

for carrying our one’s tasks

*saints: St. Paul, St. Jerome, St. Francis de Sales

Melancholic people:

struggles with being critical, moody & despondent