January 21, 2007
Random thoughts
+JMJ
Feastday of St. Agnes
I finally went to spiritual direction last week, after putting it off for a while. I think I put it off because it meant me opening up and talking about my vocation in depth. Well, it turned out to be a very good meeting between my and my spiritual director. I told him about my intention to enter the ASCJs and he was very happy for me. We talked about getting my school loan taken care off and he's going to talk to some of the Knights of Columbus on my behalf. I'm also trying to get a job (prayers much appreciated!).
Thinking about my meeting, there were two main points that came to me. The First was separating romantic notions from reality in religious life. Early in my discernment, I had a lot of romantic notions; the swish of habit skirts, kneeling in chapel in the morning, the clank of rosary beads. As I grew in my discernment, I learned that external signs like the habit and rosary must be backed up with internal maturity and faith. When I first visited the ASCJs, I was honestly disappointed that they didn't have a "full" habit. However when I saw their prayer life and love for each other, I fell in love myself.
The second thing I took from spiritual direction is that it's not all about me! What I mean by that is that I've been looking at religious life as "what can this do for me". When in spiritual direction, my SD kept talking about how my gifts and talents can be used for the community. I guess I never thought about my "gifts" and what I could bring to religious life. All in all it was a really good meeting and it gave me a lot to think about.
Feastday of St. Agnes
I finally went to spiritual direction last week, after putting it off for a while. I think I put it off because it meant me opening up and talking about my vocation in depth. Well, it turned out to be a very good meeting between my and my spiritual director. I told him about my intention to enter the ASCJs and he was very happy for me. We talked about getting my school loan taken care off and he's going to talk to some of the Knights of Columbus on my behalf. I'm also trying to get a job (prayers much appreciated!).
Thinking about my meeting, there were two main points that came to me. The First was separating romantic notions from reality in religious life. Early in my discernment, I had a lot of romantic notions; the swish of habit skirts, kneeling in chapel in the morning, the clank of rosary beads. As I grew in my discernment, I learned that external signs like the habit and rosary must be backed up with internal maturity and faith. When I first visited the ASCJs, I was honestly disappointed that they didn't have a "full" habit. However when I saw their prayer life and love for each other, I fell in love myself.
The second thing I took from spiritual direction is that it's not all about me! What I mean by that is that I've been looking at religious life as "what can this do for me". When in spiritual direction, my SD kept talking about how my gifts and talents can be used for the community. I guess I never thought about my "gifts" and what I could bring to religious life. All in all it was a really good meeting and it gave me a lot to think about.
// posted by Emily @ 10:43 PM 
