....at:

http://intothedeep.wordpress.com/

..and published here with her (Brittany's) permission:

(I was very impressed by this).

Discerning the Call

Yesterday we had our last Inter-Congregational Novitiate class (ICN). I have to say that as tedious as some of the classes where, there were some absolutely fantastic presenters during the year who really helped me to reflect more deeply on my dedication to Christ; yesterday was one of those days.

The presenter began by discussing how we are all beloved of God. She said, “God does not love us if we change, God loves us because we can change.” That is an important distinction, for it is so easy for us to think that if we pray more, if we do more, if we were somehow more than we are at the moment, then God would love us more. We find it hard to accept that God loves us for who are are right now and where we are at, because we have a hard time even loving ourselves in the present. God loves us because we have potential, we have the ability to grow and become better people, to give of ourselves and to mirror His love to others. In a word, God thinks that we are simply marvelous (he called all of creation “good”, but mankind he called “very good”), and if we are not convinced of our own goodness, then we, in effect, insult God’s handiwork!

Discipleship, she said, is all about being confident and grateful: Confident that God loves us, and grateful because of what we have been given.

In testing the call to discipleship, and in this instance specifically that of religious life, we have to avoid three “dangers Ps”:

* Power
* Perk
* Privilege

She said that anyone who enters religious life because they want more power, want to be esteemed by others, or to be treated better than others, is entering for the wrong reason. Many things can be included under this, such as seeing it as a way of having job security, an education, not having to worry about bills, clothing, etc. Those are nice things, but they should not be the motivating factor.

After this we all broke up into small groups to discuss the story of our “call” and to see if we could draw out any common themes. Out of about 30 people, following experiences were common:

* Passion for the charism/ministry/apostolate
* Feeling at Peace with the idea
* A desire to serve and give one’s whole self in service
* It may have been unexpected
* There may have been signs and uncanny coincidences pointing you a certain direction
* You questioned and really examined the motivation for the call and it continued to remain firm
* You may have felt resistant to the idea (a sign that it was not coming from simply inside of you!)
* The timing may have been inconvenient
* Your dreams may have been “co-opted” by God, only to find out that they were later fulfilled beyond your imaginings
* You were given the strength to continually reaffirm the yes to this choice
* You were able to surrender yourself to God’s action
* You may have entered a completely different Congregation than the one you planned on entering
* Life before religious life may have seemed empty for you, although you were never unhappy
* There were people in your life who pointed the way, even when you could not see it (hey, have you ever considered religious life or priesthood?)
* When you visited your community you felt that you fit in and were at home

Certainly everyone’s experience will vary, but these were the basic themes. Essentially, “Someone”, not “something” should bring you and keep you in your vocation. It is good to ask “Why did I come?” and to know that, but she told us that it is a lot better to ask yourself “Why do I stay?”.

I pushed the topic a little further and I asked, “Now that we have seen what helped people to know that they should enter religious life, does anyone have any ideas about what helps them to stay?” I was very curious about this point.

There were several reflective answers given, among them:

* Even if it is hard, how could you say “no” to someone you love?
* The “yes” is renewed daily
* You examine the call and test it everyday (this is seen as healthy, if done with a spiritual director/guide) - know your motivations
* Ask yourself, “Am I going deeper, loving more, and growing as a person?” (i.e. the “fruits”)
* We have to keep in mind that feelings are not reliable, so we have to not make judgments when we are not at peace about a matter; it is better to wait, pray, and seek counsel.
* A feeling of peace does not always indicate that we are called somewhere. Sometimes we can feel so relieved that we finally made a decision, that the act of decision making is what caused the peace - not the decision itself, so it is important to have someone to discern with you.
* A story was told of someone who was doing wonderfully in formation in an active order; a gregarious woman who one day told her formators, “I am called to be a Trappist. This community here it too like me and I do not feel challenged to growth. I know I am being called elsewhere.” She went onto become a Trappist nun. Perhaps an extreme example, but if you are not growing and being challenge to grow, that is something to look at.
* Ask yourself, “Does this experience make me more aware of who I am?”
* And finally, keep in mind that Religious Life is not about what we do, but who we are.

The class was concluded with various biblical reflections, but the speaker offered us this final thought: “Someone once told me, ‘If you want to be a good disciple of Christ, you better look good on wood.”

wow.

I agree completely. Thanks for the link.

Beautiful, and just what I needed to read.

Thank you for posting this.

...just an aside for those who don't know:

"Philosobrat" is Brittany, currently a candidate and soon to be a postulant, I am sure, with the

Sisters of St. John Bosco or Daughters of Mary Help of Christians.

The vocation portal for the entire order is at:

http://www.salesianvocations.org/

with a men's and a women's (east and western province) branches.

Salesians work exclusively with youth, and wear a modified habit suited to their charism.

They were founded by a great saint, John Bosco, who I don't think ever looked beyond a person's soul, let alone their arms.

Thanks for posting.

Good luck Brittany!