What is a vocation and how is it different from a career?

A vocation is the way of life that we choose in order to live out our baptismal call. Religious life is part of a vocation. A career has to do with how we go about using our gifts and talents that have been given to us by God. A career is also part of a vocation. So, for instance, just the way you can be married, and that is a calling in the Church, and also be a doctor, and that too is a calling, you can be a religious Sister and also a doctor.

Do I have to wear black and white dresses and cut off my hair in order to become a sister?

The Sisters of Divine Providence wear simple dress in order to model a life of simplicity. Some of our Sisters choose to wear habits and that is fine. Some choose regular clothes, and that is fine too. You can wear your hair in any simple style you like.

Do all the sisters live at one convent?

The Sisters of Divine Providence is an apostolic community and this means that we go where we are needed in order to carry out the mission of making God’s Providence more visible in our world. This may mean living in a large motherhouse with 100 Sisters, living in small groups of 3-7, living in pairs, or even when circumstances call for it, living alone.

Do sisters sit in church all day long and pray?

Our schedules are determined by our ministry and our local communities. Every Sister, of course, reserves time for personal and communal prayer and daily mass, but there is always time for recreation, friends, and family.

If I become a sister, will I ever see my family and friends again?

Of course. Sisters do have a responsibility to their communities, but are also encouraged to stay in contact with family and friends. This is seen as a healthy part of living community.

Do I have any choices once I become a sister?

Once a person becomes a Sister, she still has many choices in her life. The difference is that a Sister will make choices in collaboration with other Sisters and with the whole community in mind.

Will people think I cannot find a husband if I choose to become a sister?

Most people know that women choose to become Sisters because they are living out what they believe to be their call from God.

If the life of a Sister of Divine Providence sister is for me, what are the signs?

If being a Sister engages your imagination and makes you feel energized, then you may have a call to religious life. That doesn’t mean there might not be some hesitation and resistance as well. That is healthy. But if being a religious sister gives you also some sense of peace and you feel drawn to look into it, then by all means do so. Sometimes the only way to know if something is the right fit is to try it out…with visits and time spent with our Sisters.

Why be a Divine Providence Sister?

The Sisters of Divine Providence need members in order to carry out their mission of making God’s Providence more visible in the world through ministry to others. We are looking for healthy, single, adult, Roman Catholic women who are willing to give their lives in service to this important mission.

Hello Everyone.

I wanted to share a poem with you from St. Catherine of Sienna. I love her stuff.

You drew us out of your holy mind

Like a flower

Petaled with our soul’s three powers

And into each power you put the whole plant

So that they might bear fruit in your garden

Might come back to you

With the fruit you gave them.

And you would come back to the soul

To fill her with your blessedness.

There the soul dwells –

Like the fish in the sea

And the sea in the fish.

You gave us memory

So that we might be able to hold your blessings

And so bring forth the flower of your glory to your name

And the fruit of profit to ourselves.

You gave us understanding

To understand your truth

And your will –

Your will that wants only that we be made holy –

So that we might bear first the flower of glory

And then the fruit of virtue

And you gave us our will

So that we might be able to love

What our understanding has seen

And what our memory has held.

My favorite part of this writing is the part about the fish in the sea and the sea in the fish. I can really picture ourselves as fish being in God like a fish is in the sea and God being in us like the sea is in the fish. It’s just like air, but somehow when it’s water it seems so much more full of life. Maybe because water is a sacramental and is so symbolic to us.

I really like Catherine of Sienna. Catherine of Sienna also said a couple of other things that I would like to share here. One is this: “Nothing great is ever achieved without much enduring.” The thing is that people who are achieving great things through much enduring don’t really know at the time that they are achieving great things, so the temptation to give up is very real.

There is something I endured recently. I went through something without being able to see any growth in it. My inclination was to just give up, but I had to believe that there was something for me there. I prayed everyday that I would emerge as a stronger person even though I couldn’t see how that would happen and I certainly didn’t think I was accomplishing anything. Now that I am coming out on the other side, I can see that there has been growth. If nothing else, I just know that I am strong enough to endure the things in my life that must be endured. That alone gives one a certain confidence. I also know more about what it means to depend completely on God. That is also enough to make life’s difficulties worth the trouble it takes to endure.

The other quote I like from Catherine of Sienna is this:

“To a brave man, good and bad luck are like his right and left hand. He uses both.” A person who can use negative circumstances to somehow glorify God is brave. My own inclination is to give glory and praise to God in the good, but try to downplay the bad as much as possible. If a person were to try to use the bad, he or she would have to embrace it somehow…to understand it and accept it. That’s the brave part, I think. We want to push the bad away…or at least I do. It’s much easier said than done to embrace the negative things that go on in our lives, or to even suggest that they are a natural part of living. We always act like the bad things shouldn’t be happening, when we’ve been told again and again to expect hardship in this life.

Anyway, I am rambling. I just wanted to share something of Catherine of Sienna with you.

Peace,

Sister Judy

Hello Everyone.

I got this whole quote from Joan Chittister:

 “’My loneliness was like a letter I carried with me, and glanced at nervously, and folded and unfolded, but never read,’ Sy Safransky wrote. Lent is the silent time of the Church. Lent calls us to go down into the hollow of ourselves and wrestle with our loneliness, asking day after day for forty days: What growth is it that God is calling me to right now?”

I think loneliness is one of the hardest things with which a person can deal. It seems everyone has to deal with loneliness at some point in his or her life, but I wonder how many of us use the experience to ask God to what it is we are being called in it.

I am moving pretty soon. I have been living in a house with just one other Sister who travels a lot and have spent much time home alone this last year. I am, in May, moving to another house with three Sisters, so that even though we have to travel some, it’s less likely that I will be left home alone quite so much. While I do appreciate solitude for some periods of time, I am essentially a people person who likes company.

Still, in this year of alone time for me, I do find that I pray more. I have less distraction and so go inside myself more to look for God there and ask the questions about what God is calling me to in this. I find myself looking over my life and asking God to help me find the deeper meanings in my memories. I find too that I spend more time consdiering my day and where God may have spoken to me in it. I can just  hope I have grown some in the experience.

I hope that during this Lent some of you have been able to move into a place of solitude where you can ask the important questions.

Much peace to all during this lent,

Sister Judy

Hello Everyone.

There is this quotation that I like from Thomas Merton and it goes like this: “When we find the truth that shapes our lives we have found more than an idea. We have found a Person.”

I think that it is both daunting and exhilarating to consider seeking the “truth that shapes our lives”. Daunting because, how can we possibly ever find it, or find anything that we can put into words. Exhilarating because if we find the truth that shapes our lives, then we must be close to the heart of Christianity. I imagine the heart of Christianity to be a place that where the fields are green and verdant and the sky is a deep stunning blue, with pure white fluffy clouds, and everything is just teeming with life. There would be birds and animals of all sorts and plants of every variety.  The person who finds this place would be filled to overflowing with love for God and all the graces that come with that love. For me, just believing that such a place exists, spurs me on in the daily, sometimes humdrumness of life. The idea that I may one day be in a place like that is enough to turn the cold dreary days of a winter in Pittsburgh into days with energy and life.

If anyone reading this wanted to share what spurs them on as they wait for spring, I would love to hear from you!

Peace,

Sister Judy

Hello Everyone.

I have to say that I love Facebook. I got a page on Facebook in order to promote vocations to religious life, but instead, I have caught up with bunches of people from my past. It’s amazing how many people are on there. There are three people who I counted as some of my closest friends in high school who have contacted me through Facebook and I was so excited to hear from them. I was also contacted by a good friend from when I lived in New England. Now I correspond regularly with them and have been able to have phone conversations as well.

There is a quotation from Thomas Aquinas that I really like. It goes:

“Friendship is the source of the greatest pleasures, and without friends even the most agreeable pursuits become tedious.”

I think this is so true. Even though I come from a large family and have six sisters, I cannot imagine my life without the many friendships I have had. In fact, right now several of my good friends are traveling and not around right at the moment, and when I stop to think about it, going about my day is somewhat more tedious than if they were here. Friends just make the day better.

Anyway, those are just my little thoughts about Facebook and Friendship.

Peace,

Sister Judy

Hello Everyone,

Here are the results of a survey I got through  Vision Magazine. Vision Magazine is a publication for people who are discerning religious vocations. This survey is something they do annually. (It seems that inquiries into religious life are up.)

VISION VOCATIONMATCH.COM
Results of Annual Survey on Trends in Catholic Religious Vocations

Continued jump in interest in religious vocations attributed
to desire for deeper spirituality and easier access to information via the Internet

Chicago, March 17, 2009—Nearly 70 percent of Catholic religious communities have seen a jump in vocation inquiries in the past year, according to a survey conducted by VocationMatch.com, the leading online religious vocation discernment website. Sixty-nine percent of the communities responding to the website’s annual “Survey on Trends in Religious Vocations” reported increased inquiries into religious life.

 Discerners—those interested in religious life—are primarily under 40 years old and say they are looking at religious life because of a desire for deeper spirituality. Most are quite serious about exploring religious life, and nearly 20 percent plan to enter religious formation in the next 12 months.

“This information is vital to the life of the Catholic Church and the future of religious life,” commented Holy Cross Brother Paul Bednarczyk, C.S.C., executive director the National Religious Vocation Conference (NRVC) in Chicago.

 The NRVC and its publishing partner TrueQuest Communications annually survey discerners who have completed profiles on VocationMatch.com, as well as vocation directors of religious communities featured in VISION Vocation Guide, an NRVC print and online publication.

 An impressive 90 percent of discerners say their inquiries into religious life are made easier because of access to information about religious life on the Internet. “With the dawn of instant and anonymous information-gathering via the Internet, we’ve begun to see a steady increase in inquiries about religious life, which we expect will translate into more vocations over the next decade,” said Patrice Tuohy, executive editor of VISION Vocation Guide and VocationMatch.com.

 All in good faith

In addition to their desire for a deeper spirituality and a life of faithfulness to the church, discerners say they are most drawn to a particular religious community by its prayer life and community living. A significant 35 percent ranked justice and peace outreach as essential.

 Men flip for habits

An interesting turn in trends: A higher percentage of men compared to women (68 to 61) ranked wearing a religious habit as important or essential to what attracts them to a religious community. This preference has flipped from a year ago when women outranked men in their interest in wearing religious garb.

 Let’s get personal

Not surprisingly, those discerning a call to religious life still consider personal contact with someone in religious life as the most essential resource for gathering information about vocations (53 percent). However, “Come and See” weekends ranked high on every age group’s list (42 percent) as did working with a counselor or spiritual director (38 percent). A religious community’s website ranked next, above vocation directors, parish priests, parents, and friends, and 58 percent rated vocation-related websites as either very important or essential to their information-gathering.

 Religious life is ageless

In a piece of very good news for religious communities with aging memberships, “living with someone not my age” is ranked as the least challenging aspect of religious life. Celibacy, a life of service, and living simply are all perceived as more challenging to this year’s crop of discerners than last year’s. Prayer and spiritual direction continue to rank as the most essential element in making a decision about religious life, and the discipline of prayer remains the greatest perceived challenge in living as a religious priest, sister, or brother.

Brothers gain ground

Religious brothers must be getting the word out because interest in their way of life has jumped 9 percentage points in the past two years. The apostolic/evangelical way of life—living and working outside of a monastery or cloister—remains discerners’ preferred religious lifestyle, with the exception of 50- to 59-year-olds, who feel most drawn to a semi-cloistered/active way of life.

 Surprise! Religious life is alive and well

“That it still exists!” was the enthusiastic response of one young woman when asked what surprised her most about religious life. Other things that surprised both men and women were the number of different religious orders, the variety of ministries, and age restrictions. One man felt overwhelmed by the “amount of joy I have at the idea of joining”; another “that it is everyday ordinary people who are called to religious life.” One woman was surprised by the peace her choice for religious life affords her; another by the “freedom it brings.”

 Hopes and fears

As for fears, many women expressed a fear of not seeing friends and family enough if they entered religious life; men expressed a fear of the loss of personal freedom and being unfaithful to their vows. One man captured the sentiments of many: “My greatest fear is not of religious life itself, but of the process of getting there–the reordering of my life to make the religious life possible.”  

 Half of all discerners going through VocationMatch.com are under 30–good news for communities looking for an infusion of youth. A sizeable 16 percent of discerners are over 50, a fact which invites religious communities to find new ways to associate with discerners of all ages.

Hello Everyone,

I wanted to share today something neat that I learned. I never knew what people meant when they spoke about halcyon days, but I just read some thing by St. Basil the Great (ca. 330-79) that explained it to me. I read this in a book of selections from Catholic spiritual writings called “The Grandeur of God”, edited by Joseph Durepos.

“The halcyon is a seabird that nests by the shore, laying its eggs in the sand, and bringing forth its young in the middle of winter when the sea beats against the land in violent and frequent storms. But during the seven days while the halcyon broods – for it takes but seven days to hatch its young – all winds sink to a rest, and the sea grows calm. And as it then is in need of food for its young ones, the most bountiful God grants this little creature another seven days of calm: that it may feed its young. Since all the sailors  know of this, they give this time the name of the halcyon days.

These things are ordered by the Providence of God for the creatures that are without reason, that you may be led to seek of God thing things you need for your salvation. And when for this small bird he holds back the great and fearful sea, and bids it be calm in winter, what will he not do for you made in his own image? And if he should so tenderly cherish the halcyon, how much more will he not give you, when you call upon him with all your heart?

I just think this is such a beautiful little passage that I had to share it with anyone who might be reading the Digital Nun today.

Peace to you,

Sister Judy  

Well, I am back from Texas. The weather here is considerably colder, but it’s good to be home nonetheless. I think that the trip was definitely worth it. The students from Rockhurst University did a great job and Srs. Guillermina, Zita, Therese, and I were and are all very grateful. Sr. Guillermina and I flew back home on Saturday.

I thought that I might share one little thing about myself. I am afraid to fly. I have never gotten used to it, especially during take off and when there is turbulence.

I never pray more earnestly than when I am flying. Recently, I came across this passage from Romans, that I have always liked, and I think I will use it when I fly from now on.

“For I am convinced that neither death nor life, nor angels, nor rulers, nor things present, nor things to come, nor powers, nor height, nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord.” (Romans 8:38-39)

I think this says it all. No matter what has happened, what’s happening now, or anything that will happen, we cannot be separated from the love of God in Christ. What could be more comforting than that. Also, when I flew this time, I looked out the window over the clouds and imagined that the Blessed Virgin was standing on the clouds watching over the plane. I prayed to her for comfort, and I was comforted just by doing so.

I know what everyone says about flying…that it’s safer than driving in a car. I am sure statistically that’s true, but you cannot tell that to my insides when the plane starts bumping about in the sky.

Anyway…mostly I just wanted to share that little passage from Romans. I hope it comforts you too.

Peace,

Sister Judy

Hello Everyone.

I am writing to you from San Benito, Texas, about an hour from the Gulf of Mexico and the Mexican border. As I mentioned before, I came here with five students from Rockhurst University to do a service trip.  We are at La Posada (our mission to persons seeking asylum in the United States) and there are about 12 or 13 refugees here from places like Guatemala, Honduras, El Salvador, Cuba, Ethiopia and the Sudan.

One of the refugees here was able to tell the students how she rode the railways, hopping trains all through Mexico, taking two months to get to the border of the United States. She has a court date tomorrow to see if she get asylum or not. Last night we had a celebration here because one of the Cuban men finally got his social security card, and can now work here.

The girls from Rockhurst University did a wonderful job, scraping and repainting a screened in porch and making order out of a storage area that needed it badly. Today, they left to spend the rest of their spring break at South Padre Island. Sr. Guillermina, my traveling mate, and I are here until Saturday, so we will just keep helping out until then. Tomorrow, we will wash and dry all the bed linens, go through donations of medications, kitchen supplies, and other things, and plant flowers along the driveway. There’s never a lack of things to do here.

When I get back, I hope to have some photos to share.

Peace to all,

Sr. Judy

Hello Everyone!

Well, this is me at the Los Angeles Religious Education Congress, standing in front of my table. I have to say that it was certainly the biggest event I have attended, as far as conventions go.

Because I was there alone, I was not able to leave my table much to go to the workshops, but I did attend the masses and they were beautiful. The Young Adult Mass was the best one. The mass was held in an arena the size of a small stadium and it was all but full. The singing and the liturgical dancers were beautiful.

My hotel was right alongside Disneyland. I could hear the screams of the roller coaster riders and see the rides from the street. I loved the palm trees and the sunshine. I also saw snow capped mountains for the first time in my life. That was a gift.

So, in all, California gets my thumbs up approval!