Seven Practical Steps to Discerning Your Religious Vocation

By Sister Marla Marie Lucas

Is God calling me to offer the gift of my life for the up-building of his Church?

Do I desire to follow Jesus more intimately as a religious sister?

Do I know of others who are curious to learn more about religious life?

In today’s secular climate it is extremely difficult for a young woman or man to heed and courageously follow the call of the Lord. Many noisy distractions, empty ideologies, technology, and career advancement opportunities are vying for their attention and inhibit the cultivation of a spiritual life. Moreover, it is countercultural to see a young man or woman intentionally carving out daily prayer time “to be” with and “encounter” Jesus, the light and joy of hearts. For young people to experience or recognize a “stirring” of the heart or a call, they need to pray and seek communion with our Lord.

To help cultivate a “culture of vocation” in our Maronite Church, parishes and families should encourage religious and priestly vocations from within their own community. If you are a young man or women reading this or know of others who may be interested in learning about God’s will for their life’s mission please share these seven steps which specifically guide one to explore the vocation of religious life. These steps are summarized from the book Discerning Religious Life, Sr. Clare Matthias, CFR.

1.     Make a Commitment. Discernment is a journey and it takes time. Sr. Clare suggests taking six months to a year to look into the possibility of a call to the consecrated life.

2.     Develop your Prayer Life. To discern well requires a daily prayer life and deepening your relationship with God. Holy Mass, frequent Confession, adoration, and personal prayer time, including silence, praying with the Scriptures, and Marian Consecration are highly encouraged. Also, limiting technology and social media, which can easily rob us of the quiet we need for prayer, is vital to hearing the Holy Spirit’s promptings.

3.     Seek Accompaniment. A discernment journey needs a good guide. It is highly recommended that you have a good spiritual director to meet with on a regular basis. A spiritual director can be a priest, religious, or even a layperson. When seeking a spiritual director look for someone who is living their faith and trained in this accompaniment.

4.     Don’t Date and Discern. To truly give the space and attention to discerning religious life, a dating fast is advised. Marriage and religious life should be discerned separately.

5.     Start Visiting. Make contact with congregations that you know and are interested in learning more about, and schedule a visit. Sister Clare recommends, “visit sooner rather than later. It is important to make a step forward for the continued revelation of His will.” Your visit will help you to experience first hand the daily life and mission of the sisters.

6.     Look for Confirmations of the Call.  As you grow in understanding your call, you will experience confirmations in the form of peace and joy. These confirmations will come from the community, your spiritual director, and those who know you best. Often parents will resist your vocation because it doesn’t align with their plans for you. Here is good counsel from the book: “The important thing is to honor your father and mother and to follow Christ. Jesus knew we would face confrontations on this point and his teaching is clear: ‘If anyone prefers father or mother to me, he is not worthy of me. (Matt 10:37)’”

7.     Take a Leap of Faith. The purpose of discernment is to help us to make a concrete decision and take action.  Perhaps a longer visit to the convent will help confirm and clarify your call. The community journeys with you and through your visits and interactions will evaluate your readiness and aptitude for consecrated religious life.  Be at peace and be courageous. Remember a call comes from Jesus and he is with you every step of the way.

Please pray with us for the women joining us for our discernment retreat in April. We encourage you to share with others about our Maronite Servant of Christ the Light mission and website maroniteservants.org.

If you are discerning a religious vocation or know someone who is encourage them to contact Sister Marla Marie at 508-996-1753 or sister@maroniteservants.org for ongoing accompaniment and helpful discernment resources.

Perfect Love in Action

By Sister Therese Maria Touma, MSCL

If I, then, the Lord and Master, have washed your feet, you must wash each other's feet. I have given you an example so that you may copy what I have done to you. In all truth I tell you, no servant is greater than his master, no messenger is greater than the one who sent him. (John 13:14-16)

During the Last Supper, Jesus held nothing back in giving of his very flesh and blood to nourish and unite his closest friends (and all of us) to Him in the gift of the Eucharist. On that sacred night where he also instituted the Sacrament/Mystery of the Priesthood, he also taught us one of the most life-forming lessons as he (who is our Lord and God) got down on his knees and washed the feet of his apostles to model to them what true humility and perfect love looks like in action.  It pours itself out for the good of the other…

As I reflect on this powerful scene of Jesus washing his disciples’ feet, his simple yet profound actions portray that there no boundaries when it comes to stooping down to love and serve us, his beloved sons and daughters. There is nothing too ugly that Jesus cannot touch and heal within me and in the hearts of all those I serve. The Crucifix is the ultimate reminder of this total self-giving love. Jesus’ hands are extended wide open as they are nailed to the cross for our salvation and the forgiveness of our sins.

We are instructed by Jesus to live in this perfect love and give of our self without holding anything back. What a beautiful and challenging invitation this is for us in living out our daily discipleship. To die to our selfishness, and to go out of our comfort zones to receive and share Jesus’ healing love and light with our wounded brothers and sisters. To paraphrase the great Saint John Paul II, it is giving our self away in selfless love that we truly find our self and experience deep fulfillment and purpose in life.

Thank you Lord Jesus for drawing close to me in my messiness. Come and heal what needs to be restored in my life and relationships. Jesus, you are my Divine Physician, come and wash away my sins and fill me with the newness of life. I surrender to you my brokenness, limitations and sins.  May my weaknesses be a way of drawing closer to you, you who are infinite mercy and perfect love. Grant me the grace to share this healing love I have received with all those I encounter and serve. Amen.  

First Profession of Vows - Sister Natalie Sayde

On the March 19, the feast of Saint Joseph, Sister Natalie Sayde Salameh joyfully made her First Profession of Vows as a Maronite Servant of Christ the Light at Saint Anthony of the Desert Church in Fall River MA. What a festive and uplifiting celebration for all in attendance, family and friends coming from near and far! Sister’s parents Joe and Wendy, and her two brothers Peter & Malcom came from Sydney Australia to witness this beautiful milestone of Sr. Natalie Sayde laying down her life and consecrating herself to God as a Maronite Servant in the vows of obedience, chastity and poverty.

His Excellency Bishop Gregory Mansour was the principle celebrant of the Divine Liturgy with nearly twenty priests, deacons and subdeacons concelebrating from the various Maronite and local Roman Catholic parishes. We were also blessed to have other communities of religious (the Sisters of Our Lady of Mercy, the Missionaries of Charity, the Dominican Sisters of St. Cecilia, and the Dominican Sisters of the Presentation) join us for the Profession Liturgy and reception, which immediately followed the Liturgy.

We give thanks to God for Sister Natalies Sayde’s vocation and consecration. Thank you for all your support, prayers, love and best wishes. Please continue to join us in praying for more vocations to our Maronite Servant community. Share our website with other women who may be open to considering a vocation www.maroniteservants.org.

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During the weekend of April 6-8 we will be hosting a Discernment Retreat for women. If you are interested in joining us for a weekend of prayer and reflection or now of anyone between the ages of 18-35 who would be please share our contact details with them….

Mission at St. Ann’s– Watervliet, NY

By Sr. Natalie Sayde Salameh, MSCL

On the Weekend of March 9 – 11, 2018, the Maronite Servants of Christ the Light facilitated a parish-wide mission at St. Ann’s Maronite Catholic Church in Watervliet, New York.  At the invitation of  Fr. Alaa Issa, administrator,  the theme of the weekend’s retreat was “Give and Forgive”, focusing especially on the loving embrace of the merciful Father who is always waiting to welcome us home back into His compassionate heart.

On Saturday, March 10, Mother Marla Marie facilitated a morning of recollection with the ladies of the parish, who appreciated the silence and space they needed to allow God to speak more intimately to their hearts.

Sr. Therese Maria and Sr. Natalie Sayde spent Saturday morning with the children of the parish, with a number of the teens helping us facilitate a morning of catechesis, prayer, fun, games, crafts, and activities. In the afternoon, Sr. Therese Maria led a beautiful hour of adoration where all the teens present experienced Jesus in the Mystery of Penance and praying before the Holy Mysteries.

 

Following Sunday’s Divine Liturgy, the sisters had a chance to meet and mingle with the parishioners at a special pancake breakfast and coffee hour. Sr. Therese Maria met again with the teens of the parish and facilitated a Q & A  on those issues that were affecting the teens the most.

On Sunday afternoon, the sisters accompanied Fr. Alaa on a number of home visits to the sick and homebound of the parish.

We thank God for the opportunity to spend a beautiful weekend with the parish family of St. Ann’s. We thank Fr. Alaa and his beautiful parish for their warm welcome and hospitality and for all those who opened their hearts and homes to us.