Luanne Zurlo - Single for a Greater Purpose: A Hidden Joy in the Catholic Church

Single for a Greater Purpose is a book that will surely aid the spirituality of those who read it.

Cardinal Timothy Dolan
Archdiocese of New York

There is a phrase that has become something of a cliche a voice for the voiceless but its a phrase that deserves to be revived to help describe what has been achieved in Single for a Greater Purpose . I can only guess at the number of dedicated singles who will find in these pages not only lively encouragement but also a depth of insight and spiritual illumination they will find nowhere else.

Fr. Paul Murray, O.P.
Professor, Pontifical University
of St. Thomas Aquinas

An important and quite beautiful exploration of an underappreciated state of life, written by one who has lived the single vocation with grace and courage, to the benefit of both Church and society.

George Weigel
Distinguished Senior Fellow and
William E. Simon Chair in Catholic Studies
Ethics and Public Policy Center

This book is critical. It also happens to be a rigorous, joyful labor of love, and a gift to us. Read it. Pray about it. Discuss it. Guided by it, start looking around and rethinking assumptions and routines. When we pray for vocations and discernment about Gods will for a soul, lets be open to the proposal Luanne Zurlo puts forward here God has put it on her heart for times such as these. Thanks be to God for her hidden joy, and the door she is opening in the Church and the world with this book.

Kathryn Jean Lopez
Senior fellow, National Review Institute
and Editor-at-Large, National Review

The universal call to holiness is a call intended for each one of us. Even to begin answering a call, one must first hear it. Pondering these pages is sure to help a reader to listen better, and to be courageous in finding a way to answer the call by offering something beautiful to the Lord.

Joseph W. Koterski, S.J.
Fordham University, Bronx, New York

Embracing St Pauls confident hope that in everything God works for the good with those who love him, Luanne Zurlo marks a path for men and women who, for whatever reason, find themselves single but with full hearts for Christ.

Fr. Paul N. Check
Rector, St. John Fisher Seminary
Diocese of Bridgeport

LUANNE D. ZURLO

SINGLE

FOR A

GREATER
PURPOSE

A Hidden Joy in the Catholic Church

SOPHIA INSTITUTE PRESS

Manchester, New Hampshire

Copyright 2019 by Luanne D. Zurlo

Printed in the United States of America. All rights reserved.

Cover by David Ferris Design.

On the cover: Watercolor swallow (553478275) Eisfrei / Shutterstock.

Unless otherwise noted, Scripture quotations are taken from the New American Bible 1987 Confraternity of Christian Doctrine, Washington, D.C., and are used by permission of the copyright owner. All Rights Reserved. No part of the New American Bible may be reproduced in any form without permission in writing from the copyright owner. Quotations marked RSVCE are taken from the Revised Standard Version of the Bible: Catholic Edition, copyright 1965, 1966 the Division of Christian Education of the National Council of the Churches of Christ in the United States of America. Used by permission. All rights reserved.

Excerpts from the English translation of the Catechism of the Catholic Church, second edition, 1994, 1997, 2000 by Libreria Editrice VaticanaUnited States Conference of Catholic Bishops, Washington, D.C. All rights reserved.

Quotations from English translations of papal encyclicals are from the Vatican website (http://w2.vatican.va/content/vatican/en.html) Libreria Editrice Vaticana. All rights reserved. Used with permission.

No part of this book may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form, or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, or otherwise, without the prior written permission of the publisher, except by a reviewer, who may quote brief passages in a review.

Imprimatur : Timothy Michael Cardinal Dolan,
Archbishop of New York, May 6, 2019

Sophia Institute Press
Box 5284, Manchester, NH 03108
1-800-888-9344

www.SophiaInstitute.com

Sophia Institute Press is a registered trademark of Sophia Institute.

Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data

Names: Zurlo, Luanne D., author.

Title: Single for a greater purpose : a hidden joy in the Catholic Church /

Luanne D. Zurlo.

Description: Manchester, New Hampshire : Sophia Institute Press, [2019] |

Includes bibliographical references.

Identifiers: LCCN 2019018424 | ISBN 9781622826568 (pbk. : alk. paper) ePub ISBN 9781622826575

Subjects: LCSH: Single people Religious life. | Single people Sexual

behavior. | Celibacy. | Chastity. | Catholic Church Doctrines.

Classification: LCC BV4596.S5 Z87 2019 | DDC 248.8/4 dc23

LC record available at https://lccn.loc.gov/2019018424

To my parents,
who gave me the faith, love, and freedom
that enabled me to discern
Gods unique plan for my life

Contents

, by Fr. Wojciech Giertych, O.P.

Appendices

I.

II.

III.

IV.

I waited, waited for the Lord; who bent down and heard my cry, Drew me out of the pit of destruction, out of the mud of the swamp, Set my feet upon rock, steadied my steps, And put a new song in my mouth, a hymn to our God.

Psalm 40:1

I will give you treasures out of the darkness, and riches that have been hidden away, That you may know that I am the Lord, the God of Israel, who calls you by your name.

Isaiah 45:3

Launching Ourselves Forward in Love

You have chosen a very strange kind of balance for us,
the kind of balance that can only be achieved and kept
if we are moving,
surging forward with lan.... We have been given a highly precarious state of being,
characterized by complete insecurity.
As soon as we find ourselves examining our life,
it leans over and swerves.
We can only stay upright if we keep moving
launching ourselves forward in an lan of Love.
All the saints who have been given to us as models
or at least many of them
seem to have been covered
by comprehensive insurance policies
giving them a kind of spiritual security,
covering them against all manner of risk, sickness,
even spiritual childbirth.
They had official times of prayer,
ways of doing penance, and a whole code
of counsels to bring them
wisdom and defend them. But we live in our day
in the midst of a crazy liberation;
it is in these circumstances that the adventure
of Your grace is enacted.
You refuse to give us a road map.
Our journey takes place at night.
Each act that we are asked to perform
becomes clear at the precise moment when it is due,
like the illumination of a series of signals. Often the only thing that we are guaranteed
is the regular weariness
of having the same work to do each day:
the same rooms to clean,
the same faults to correct,
the same blunders to avoid. But beyond this guarantee everything else
is left to Your imagination
that enjoys having such a good time with us. Venerable Madeleine Delbrl, We, the Ordinary People of the Streets

Acknowledgments

If it werent for Catholic priests, Id still be an anxious, wandering pilgrim in search of peace and truth. This book is the fruit of years of personal study, prayer, and countless questions posed to a number of patient, holy, and smart priests.

First and foremost, I thank Fr. Wojciech Giertych, O.P., who has been most influential in forming my understanding of the truths of our precious Faith. Fr. Giertych patiently answered my questions, provided me with the framework with which to approach this topic, twice reviewed my manuscript, and nudged me to complete this project. Words cannot express the depth of my appreciation for this beloved Polish priest tucked away behind Vatican walls.

Next page