The Trouble with Angels

I just watched one of my favorite movies, entitled " The Trouble with Angels." It's the story of two young girls who go to an all-girl school run by nuns. On a deeper level, its the story of a vocation that was heard, regardless of the noise of life -- noise that we ourselves may cause.

The first time I saw this movie, I was in college... yes the baptist college. A group of my friends invited me to their house and said: "You've just got to see this Catholic movie that we found! You'll love it... cuz you're Catholic!" This was about two years ago. At the time, I did enjoy the movie, but I think I may have overlooked one of the principal messages of it, which, as I mentioned before, is that of the call of vocation. I watched it and enjoyed it because it represented an important thing to me: the Church.

Now that I've watched this movie again, in my room at St. Meinrad as a seminarian for the Archdiocese of Oklahoma City, I find myself reinforced and encouraged in my vocation to the priesthood. Just as the movie alluded to on many occasion, we are all called to a path in life, be that marriage, priesthood, or religious life. Yet we are not called to yield to our vocation in a passive sense. Rather, we are called to grasp it -- to choose it wholeheartedly. We are called to love our vocation!

Another thing I gleaned from this movie is the importance of my relationships that I create here in seminary. There is a scene in the movie about the death of one of the sisters. She is the closest friend to the mother superior. Before the funeral Mass, as the coffin is alone in the chapel, Mother Superior kneels next to the casket, in front of our sacramental Lord. She embraces the casket and weeps because of the lose of her sister. It is an intimate and truly fraternal love that they shared. Although I have only been in seminary one semester, I already feel this type of fraternal love growing among us here. it is something I cherish deeply, as do so many here at St. Meinrad.

If you are someone who is questioning your vocation, whatever it may be, or are still discerning God's path for you, I highly encourage you to see this film. Even if you are confident in your state in life, watch it, and you may understand a little better why some of us have chosen the path less taken. God Bless you.