Dear Lynn:

Marriage is not the lowest calling. Marriage is one of the Seven Sacraments of the Catholic Church. The vows I take as a brother are not a Sacrament. Thus, from that point-of-view, the calling of Marriage out-ranks my religious calling.

The point made about virginity and chastity is that the vows of a religious are counter-cultural. They point us away from earthy things and toward the heavenly. There is nothing wrong with earthy things in-and-of-themselves, but heaven is our eternal destiny. The earth will pass away.

The vows of a religious also point to the state of life in heaven. In heaven there will be no sex and no marriage. We will be complete and whole with God in heaven and have no need for those things. The religious vows are an imperfect picture of the perfect state of heaven in which we will be all one family in perfect union.  This is why they are so valued.

But, this is not to the exclusion of Marriage. Marriage is a Godly estate that is constituted by God as a Sacrament. This is a holy estate obviously needed for the propagation of the species and the ordering of families. In fact, the family is a more complete and perfect picture of the image of God -- husband, wife, children as God Himself is a family (Father, Son, Holy Spirit).

Marriage is of the earth and this is good. The religious vows image heaven, and this is better because heaven is better than the earth.

But this is theology. In the practical matters of this earth those who are called to Marriage accept a holy calling. Those who accept Religious life are also accepting a holy calling. Neither is better than the other for the individual person, rather it is about where is God calling you....

God Bless,
Bro. Ignatius Mary