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Students and a Sister at Memphis, Tn's St. Cecilia Academy for Girls.
"Do what you feel now! Electric feel now! Do what you feel now...umm..moving on" |
While thinking about St. Dominic yesterday, I again focused my mind on the vast numbers of young women entering the "
Nashville Dominicans". This order is so sought after throughout the United States, that bishops, I am told, interview with them for placements in dioceses. That's a good change from the days when I was in seminary when such an order was seen with suspicion due to their wearing of habits and dedication to the more traditional style of religious life.
From time to time, a young woman will approach me and cautiously state that she has thought of a vocation to the religious life. Thing is, she'll admit, she doesn't know much about what religious life is or what a religious sister does.
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| Athletic ability is not a pre-requisite for the convent. But it seems the sisters do enjoy a game of Baseketball. |
The answer is not too complex but it's not altogether simple either. And there are several options for religious life depending on the charism of the order (a charism is the reason for the order, so to speak, such as teaching, hospital work, orphanages, or other evangelical works). Any woman considering a religious order or the religious life should weigh seriously what the order is asking of them, what do they want and if she has the proper disposition and love for the charism to make a good match.
Here's a
good piece from the always vocations-oriented diocese of Arlington. The article states these wise words from a religious sister:
“God wants us to be happy and the Lord who made us and made our hearts knows what can bring us to the greatest happiness,” said Sister Margaret Michael. “Really living and discovering our vocation should bring us to our greatest joy, so I would encourage women to really look and see what His will for them is. Whether it’s marriage, single life or religious life, God has our greatest happiness at heart, so we don’t have to be afraid.”
