January 03, 2005
Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!
+JMJ
Feastday of the Most Holy Name of Jesus
Well I hope that everyone had a blessed Christmas and New Years! From Christmas until New Years eve, my family and I were in PA on vacation. It was so nice to just spend time with them for a bit, especially because I'm going abroad in one month. For those that don't know, I'm going to be studying in Scotland for the spring term! I am really excited about it and hey I may get to check out some convents while I'm over there=) During the month of January I'm doing an internship with a museum here in the city. I leave on February 4th, so I'm trying to soak in as much American culture and life in these next couple of weeks. As far as the vocation front, I still feel called, but I'm kinda holding back on communicating with orders until I come back from Scotland. Then it will be the summer and I can more fully concentrate. One of the crazy things about my discernment is that I always said that by senior year in college I would make a decision: to enter or not to enter (that is the question! I know that was bad....) Now that senior year is almost upon me, I still am not definite in my vocation. I feel very called to religious life, but there is so much diversity in that area! It feels like I have 300 orders to visit! Really, it's about 20 or so, but that is still a lot!
I would like to relate a story about my discernment that helped me put my vocation in perspective. After visiting the Nashville Dominicans in October, I was simply in love and on fire for Christ. I wanted to go back as soon as possible, so I emailed Sr. Mary Emily asking if I could go on the January retreat. I honestly thought that she would say yes, and that there would be no problems. God, however had other plans for me! Sr. Mary Emily emailed me back saying that the retreat was getting full and that maybe I should wait to come on another retreat. When I first read the email, I was devastated. I thought that it was Sister's nice way of telling me they didn't want me. So, when Sister called me a few days later, I didn't know what she was going to say. She told me that the reason she told me to wait was because I had already visited for 5 days and they wanted to give other girls a chance to visit. Also, the earliest I would enter is August of 2007, so I had some more time. This explanation put everything in perspective for me; I was being so selfish! I wanted the Sisters all to myself without thinking about the other young women who were discerning. I had already been there once, but for some women, this would be their first visit! So, although I'm bummed I won't be able to go this time, I hope that the other women have a great time and that I can visit again soon!
That's all for now, God Bless and Happy New Year!
Feastday of the Most Holy Name of Jesus
Well I hope that everyone had a blessed Christmas and New Years! From Christmas until New Years eve, my family and I were in PA on vacation. It was so nice to just spend time with them for a bit, especially because I'm going abroad in one month. For those that don't know, I'm going to be studying in Scotland for the spring term! I am really excited about it and hey I may get to check out some convents while I'm over there=) During the month of January I'm doing an internship with a museum here in the city. I leave on February 4th, so I'm trying to soak in as much American culture and life in these next couple of weeks. As far as the vocation front, I still feel called, but I'm kinda holding back on communicating with orders until I come back from Scotland. Then it will be the summer and I can more fully concentrate. One of the crazy things about my discernment is that I always said that by senior year in college I would make a decision: to enter or not to enter (that is the question! I know that was bad....) Now that senior year is almost upon me, I still am not definite in my vocation. I feel very called to religious life, but there is so much diversity in that area! It feels like I have 300 orders to visit! Really, it's about 20 or so, but that is still a lot!
I would like to relate a story about my discernment that helped me put my vocation in perspective. After visiting the Nashville Dominicans in October, I was simply in love and on fire for Christ. I wanted to go back as soon as possible, so I emailed Sr. Mary Emily asking if I could go on the January retreat. I honestly thought that she would say yes, and that there would be no problems. God, however had other plans for me! Sr. Mary Emily emailed me back saying that the retreat was getting full and that maybe I should wait to come on another retreat. When I first read the email, I was devastated. I thought that it was Sister's nice way of telling me they didn't want me. So, when Sister called me a few days later, I didn't know what she was going to say. She told me that the reason she told me to wait was because I had already visited for 5 days and they wanted to give other girls a chance to visit. Also, the earliest I would enter is August of 2007, so I had some more time. This explanation put everything in perspective for me; I was being so selfish! I wanted the Sisters all to myself without thinking about the other young women who were discerning. I had already been there once, but for some women, this would be their first visit! So, although I'm bummed I won't be able to go this time, I hope that the other women have a great time and that I can visit again soon!
That's all for now, God Bless and Happy New Year!
