{"id":83755,"date":"2014-02-25T11:54:13","date_gmt":"2014-02-25T19:54:13","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.thomryng.com\/amateurmonk\/?p=83755"},"modified":"2019-03-07T17:35:53","modified_gmt":"2019-03-08T01:35:53","slug":"the-vocation-of-living","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.thomryng.com\/amateurmonk\/the-vocation-of-living\/","title":{"rendered":"The Vocation of Living"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"Thom<\/a>
\nI<\/span>t’s been a long time since I last talked about my own life here. <\/p>\n

Obviously, there was a whole lot of journalling when Francine and I walked the Camino<\/a>, but since then not so much.<\/p>\n

When I started this blog, I was discerning whether God was calling me to the Diaconate<\/a>. Since the Archdiocese of Seattle currently has no plans to call for new Deacons, the answer to that question would seem to be no – or at least, not yet.<\/p>\n

We cannot discern these things in a vacuum – that way lies madness – but we must rather discern from within the Church and according to the mind of the Church. <\/p>\n

My friend Rev. Bryan Dolejsi<\/a> currently serves as the Archdiocesan Vocations Director, and he’s told me in no uncertain terms that he’s focused like a laser right now on the Priesthood, not the Diaconate. Obviously this needs to be his focus, for without the Priesthood our Sacramental life would fail.<\/p>\n

So for now, I’ve placed this nagging feeling as much in the back of my mind as I can. Sometimes, however, it comes out to the forefront and I roll it around in my heart and mind for awhile.<\/p>\n

I prayed a lot about it on the Camino. It particularly came to mind as I prayed in choir with the monks of San Salvador de Monte Irago<\/a> in Rabanal.<\/p>\n

The best answer I have is: “Perhaps. But not yet.”<\/p>\n

\"Adoration\"<\/a>
\nMeanwhile, I continue to volunteer in our parish.<\/p>\n

I’m a teacher and facilitator in our parish’s program of adult catechesis, something I find both rewarding and energizing. We have a lot of work to do to bring our RCIA program in line with what the Church expects, but it’s a job I look forward to tackling after Easter.<\/p>\n

\"Corpus<\/a>Back in January, Father Maurer asked me to coordinate our Altar Servers in the parish. <\/p>\n

This means I’m now responsible for the recruitment, training, and scheduling of the Servers. As part of that, I’m on the parish worship committee. We’re already planning for Holy Week and Easter.<\/p>\n

To help learn the Altar Server gig, and also to provide some instruction and example, I served as a junior Altar Server throughout Advent and the Christmas Season. I’ll reprise this role somewhat during Lent, as well as serve as MC for Holy Week and the Vigil.<\/p>\n

It sounds like a lot, but all of it is a joy. Sure, there are frustrating moments – it wouldn’t be life, otherwise.<\/p>\n

There’s much more, of course. How could there not be? After our life-changing Camino, there’s still the business of life to attend to – the vocation of just being alive.<\/p>\n

\"Paradise<\/a>Francine and I continue to hike, though not nearly enough.<\/p>\n

I continue to work at a venerable Seattle law firm five days a week. <\/p>\n

With a lot of help from our friends, we built a new chicken coop (aka Paradise Towers<\/em>), and we painted the garage.<\/p>\n

We have a frenetic new kitten, who is running us ragged and starting to get on the last collective nerve of our other two cats.<\/p>\n

We play board games and RPGs with our friends.<\/p>\n

I run a popular, though sporadic, PBeM<\/a>.<\/p>\n

I write, though again not nearly enough.<\/p>\n

And I pray. And I read. And I continue to discern.<\/p>\n

\"Hikers\"<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

It’s been a long time since I last talked about my own life here. Obviously, there was a whole lot of journalling when Francine and I walked the Camino, but since then not so much. When I started this blog, I was discerning whether God was calling me to the Diaconate. Since the Archdiocese of Seattle currently has no plans […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"nf_dc_page":"","_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2},"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[38,9,8,90,15,3,49,19,36,39,4,18],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-83755","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-dreams-and-visions","category-family","category-francine-my-love","category-holy-rosary-parish-tacoma","category-meditations","category-moments-in-time","category-ocia","category-pray","category-rev-bryan-dolejsi","category-rev-jacob-maurer","category-sacred-liturgy","category-vocation"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p1aGBK-lMT","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_likes_enabled":false,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":85445,"url":"https:\/\/www.thomryng.com\/amateurmonk\/one-small-step\/","url_meta":{"origin":83755,"position":0},"title":"One Small Step","author":"Thom","date":"28 June 2015","format":false,"excerpt":"Yesterday, Francine and I drove up to Sacred Heart church in Fairhaven, near Bellingham, to attend an informational session on the Diaconate. We put about 250 miles on the car. The talk was given by the director of the program, Rev. Frank Schuster. It was videotaped, so I'm sure it\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Francine my love"","block_context":{"text":"Francine my love","link":"https:\/\/www.thomryng.com\/amateurmonk\/category\/francine-my-love\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Yr Obd't Servant in Fairhaven. Photo by the fabulous Francine","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.thomryng.com\/amateurmonk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/06\/Thom-in-Fairhaven-240x240.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":88673,"url":"https:\/\/www.thomryng.com\/amateurmonk\/changes-2017-welcome-father-wagner\/","url_meta":{"origin":83755,"position":1},"title":"Changes 2017: Welcome Father Wagner!","author":"Thom","date":"03 July 2017","format":false,"excerpt":"This weekend, Father Michael Wagner celebrated his first Masses at our parish of Holy Rosary as its Priest Administrator. In his homily, he gave us a thumbnail sketch of his life and vocation story. Welcome Father Wagner! Within ten minutes of meeting him, he had already given me a catechesis\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "2017 transitions - Holy Rosary \/ Visitation"","block_context":{"text":"2017 transitions - Holy Rosary \/ Visitation","link":"https:\/\/www.thomryng.com\/amateurmonk\/category\/2017-transitions-holy-rosary-visitation\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.thomryng.com\/amateurmonk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/07\/Wagner-2017.jpg?fit=378%2C480&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":71,"url":"https:\/\/www.thomryng.com\/amateurmonk\/a-call-to-vocation\/","url_meta":{"origin":83755,"position":2},"title":"A Call to Vocation?","author":"Thom","date":"23 November 2009","format":false,"excerpt":"Today at Mass, two odd things happened. First, I should mention for those not Catholic that today's second reading at Mass was from the Epistle of Saint James, specifically 2:14-18. What good is it, my brothers and sisters, if someone says he has faith but does not have works? Can\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Francine my love"","block_context":{"text":"Francine my love","link":"https:\/\/www.thomryng.com\/amateurmonk\/category\/francine-my-love\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":109625,"url":"https:\/\/www.thomryng.com\/amateurmonk\/francines-funeral\/","url_meta":{"origin":83755,"position":3},"title":"Francine’s Funeral","author":"Thom","date":"26 June 2025","format":false,"excerpt":"Francine's funeral arrangements are in place. Vespers for the Dead Vespers from the Office of the Dead will be sung for Francine on Thursday, 10 July, 2025 at 6:30 pm Pacific Time at Saint Patrick Church in Tacoma. The principal celebrant will be our friend, the Rev. Jacob Maurer. Music\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "community"","block_context":{"text":"community","link":"https:\/\/www.thomryng.com\/amateurmonk\/category\/community\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.thomryng.com\/amateurmonk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/06\/Francine-2024.jpg?fit=900%2C1200&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.thomryng.com\/amateurmonk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/06\/Francine-2024.jpg?fit=900%2C1200&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.thomryng.com\/amateurmonk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/06\/Francine-2024.jpg?fit=900%2C1200&ssl=1&resize=525%2C300 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.thomryng.com\/amateurmonk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/06\/Francine-2024.jpg?fit=900%2C1200&ssl=1&resize=700%2C400 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":1356,"url":"https:\/\/www.thomryng.com\/amateurmonk\/congratulations-fr-bryan-dolejsi\/","url_meta":{"origin":83755,"position":4},"title":"Congratulations, Fr. Bryan Dolejsi!","author":"Thom","date":"02 August 2011","format":false,"excerpt":"I am tardy in offering congratulations on this venue to my friend, Fr. Bryan Dolejsi, for his appointment as Vocations Director for the Archdiocese of Seattle. This is apparently the first time in over 20 years that a priest has been appointed to this position. When I met Fr. Dolejsi,\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Francine my love"","block_context":{"text":"Francine my love","link":"https:\/\/www.thomryng.com\/amateurmonk\/category\/francine-my-love\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"http:\/\/pics.livejournal.com\/thomryng\/pic\/000858gb\/s640x480","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":87734,"url":"https:\/\/www.thomryng.com\/amateurmonk\/initial-reflections-on-the-quasquicentennial\/","url_meta":{"origin":83755,"position":5},"title":"Initial Reflections on the Quasquicentennial","author":"Thom","date":"18 October 2016","format":false,"excerpt":"This past Sunday, my parish of Holy Rosary celebrated its 125th anniversary - our Quasquicentennial. The project for this celebration was started several years ago by Dr Michael Barkley, a gentleman from the parish who deserves all credit for getting this ball rolling. His great-grandparents were in fact the first\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Bishop Eusebio Elizondo MSpS"","block_context":{"text":"Bishop Eusebio Elizondo MSpS","link":"https:\/\/www.thomryng.com\/amateurmonk\/category\/bishop-eusebio-elizondo-msps\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.thomryng.com\/amateurmonk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/10\/14725469_10153973441340382_8799153242963084326_n.jpg?fit=960%2C720&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.thomryng.com\/amateurmonk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/10\/14725469_10153973441340382_8799153242963084326_n.jpg?fit=960%2C720&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.thomryng.com\/amateurmonk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/10\/14725469_10153973441340382_8799153242963084326_n.jpg?fit=960%2C720&ssl=1&resize=525%2C300 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.thomryng.com\/amateurmonk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/10\/14725469_10153973441340382_8799153242963084326_n.jpg?fit=960%2C720&ssl=1&resize=700%2C400 2x"},"classes":[]}],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.thomryng.com\/amateurmonk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/83755","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.thomryng.com\/amateurmonk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.thomryng.com\/amateurmonk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.thomryng.com\/amateurmonk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.thomryng.com\/amateurmonk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=83755"}],"version-history":[{"count":5,"href":"https:\/\/www.thomryng.com\/amateurmonk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/83755\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":90794,"href":"https:\/\/www.thomryng.com\/amateurmonk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/83755\/revisions\/90794"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.thomryng.com\/amateurmonk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=83755"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.thomryng.com\/amateurmonk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=83755"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.thomryng.com\/amateurmonk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=83755"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}