Karen Hastreiter, a parishioner of the Cathedral of St. Paul in St. Paul and a mother of six, believes that all vocations are unique paths to holiness. Yet, it’s possible for us to idolize vocations, she said.
“Anytime that we put such focus on something where it displaces our relationship with God, it has become an idol,” Hastreiter told Rachael McCallum, producer of the “Practicing Catholic” radio show, for an episode set to air at 9 p.m. June 6 on Relevant Radio 1330 AM.
In journeying with young women exploring their vocations, Hastreiter said she’s seen the damage that idolizing vocations can do to Catholic culture.
“I like to remind people our primary vocation is to love,” Hastreiter said. “If we put that first, our relationship with God, our relationship with our neighbor, then everything else falls into place,” Hastreiter said. “Another thing that can be really difficult, especially as Catholics and as Catholics in a kind of dark age in the world in which we’re trying to reclaim some things that were lost, we can kind of go to one extreme or the other.”
Hastreiter quoted Aristotle as saying that virtue lies in the mean.
“It is very difficult for Catholics to walk a line of balance,” Hastreiter said. “They either go to an extreme of passivity, where it’s like, ‘I don’t need to do anything. I’ll just hang out and wait for God to send me a lightning bolt.’ … Another extreme, which is this kind of frenzied activity to discover their vocation and they kind of forget that vocation in its Latin roots means ‘to call.’ But it’s God calling us. We’re not calling him.”
There is more than one roadmap for life, Hastreiter said.
“All we have to do is look in the history of the world from Old Testament to New Testament,” Hastreiter said. “There’s a place for the Joan of Arcs of the world. There’s a place for the Margaret(s) of Scotland. There’s a place for the Thérèses of Lisieux. There’s just a place for so many types of people being called to love God in their own unique way.”
Hastreiter believes that love is foundational in pursuing vocations.
“If we bring him (God) into these moments of our own wrestling … I think that is so helpful and helps us to make these decisions in love. Asking (for) his grace, his guidance. That is super helpful.”
To hear more from Hastreiter about honoring different vocations, tune into “Practicing Catholic,” which repeats at 1 p.m. June 7 and 2 p.m. June 8.
Also on the program, Bishop Kevin Kenney explores how to trust God while wrestling with his will. And Bishop Michael Izen explores opportunities to foster faith and connection during the summer months.
Produced by Relevant Radio and the Archdiocese of St. Paul and Minneapolis, “Practicing Catholic” can be heard after it has aired at archspm.org/faith-and-discipleship/practicing-catholic or choose a streaming platform at Spotify for Podcasters.
