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.