On Finding a Catholic Order--A Personal Perspective
Although this entry on Kairos's blog did not directly address the question, the response it provoked did in some measure, and it also tells some part of the story that is somewhat hidden and obscure here. Perhaps the same points have been reiterated many times, but seeing what I see among many Catholics, I cannot but repeat them again. There are many orders because there were a great many Saints who found pathways to God. We are called to the particular order that God wishes for us for reasons that we may not even fully understand. So nothing I say below should be taken as warning or encouraging anyone to any particular order, it is simply my experience.
My augmented response:
And in six paragraphs you [Kairos] move from what I term the "Jesuit" view to any of the many "mystical" views. Recognizing this temptation, and also recognizing a temperament that is subject to very, very, very fine distinctions and scruples, when choosing a Third Order to join, I chose deliberately to join one that did not play to "my strength" (quotation marks, for what do we have that has not been given us from above) but to my weakness. While I find the Benedictines, Jesuits, and Domincans very, very appealing, it is for all the wrong reasons--I don't need to know more ABOUT God, I need to KNOW Him. Ultimately, these paths will also lead to union, but they present a tangled snare for those of us already too much in our heads. I prefer the stony path of conversion of my own heart. Every day, I call upon God to honor the promise made in Ezekiel and to take my heart of stone and give me a heart of flesh. I will be with Elijah at the Wadi Cherith and wait upon the Lord, I will stay with him in the mountain fastness and let Him reveal Himself as He will. I will not trouble myself with things beyond me, but I will focus on the love I owe Him for every breath and heartbeat. All that Catholicism is, when the finery is stripped away, is a pathway for loving God completely--a system of Love instituted by the Creator for our redemption and the redemption of the fallen world.
