More Advice from a Postulant

More Advice from a Postulant - Emily

"Is God calling me to a religious vocation?" you ask. Dear sister in Christ, praise God! You are on your way to finding the answer to the deepest desire in your heart. But first, there is one thing God asks of you. He has given you the key to the eternal treasury which holds all that you are seeking. This key is your yes! Give your resounding yes as Mary gave her Fiat and God will unlock for you this priceless treasury.

Only months ago I was asking the same questions you are: "How does God want me to give Him my fiat?", "Is He calling me to religious life?" Among the many ways God filled me with strength to overcome my fears and honestly seek His will were the words of Jesus Christ re-echoed by John Paul II: "Do not be afraid!" Hold onto these words and remember that "perfect love casts out all fear."

Know also that your Heavenly Father gazes on you with a unique love just for you. He who created you, who "knit you in your mother's womb" wants to satisfy your deepest desires, which He knows. Do not put Him off any longer but seek wholeheartedly His will for in it is your eternal felicity.

Above all, I have one word for you. It is the Word made flesh, Jesus Christ. He calls to you and says, "Arise, my beloved, my beautiful one, and come." "Follow him eagerly" so that you may truly say, "My lover belongs to me, and I to him." All He asks is for your "Yes"!

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Welcome to our Family, Postulants!!!

Today, on the Feast of the Birth of Mary, our new postulants entered the postulancy of our American Province of the Sisters of St. Francis of the Martyr St. George! We thank God for the gift of these vocations. Pictured above - on their very first full day in the convent - are (from left) Ashley Vola, Samantha Goodson, Miranda Edgar, Jennifer Clark and Erin Leis. Welcome, Postulants! We Sisters are grateful that you have accepted Christ's invitation to belong totally to Him in our Franciscan community, and we support you wholeheartedly with our prayers and help! If you would like to send a word of welcome and encouragement to these new postulants, we will pass the greetings along to them. Just leave them as a "comment"!

Looking Back with Gratitude

“Christ is calling you; the Church needs you; the Pope believes in you and he expects great things of you!” My life would never be the same as the words of John Paul II coursed through my mind and beat with fervor in my heart. Me? Could he possibly mean me? Like many others, I felt Pope John Paul II was speaking directly to me as I sat behind him in the nose-bleed section of the stadium in Saint Louis. Throughout my high school years after this encounter, the idea of having a possible vocation to the religious life shocked and bewildered me, but at the same time brought me such peace. As each year came and went, my relationship with Jesus Christ and His Church grew with greater depth, understanding, and love. Through daily mass, Eucharistic Adoration, the Rosary, Scripture and God’s divine intervention through his priests and religious, I soon realized that, yes, the Pope did mean me. Christ was calling me and how could I say no? After one year of college, I soon came to the realizatio

Journey with Mary: Sacrificial Love of Spiritual Motherhood

Recently, I found a reflection I had written during my first retreat as a postulant. The last conference that had been given was on Spiritual Motherhood. As I approached the 4 th Station where Jesus meets His Sorrowful Mother, this is what struck my heart: What is the sacrificial love of a mother? It is the self-sacrifice made to love her children. Mary’s self-sacrifice to be there with Christ, her Son, in His passion was the selfless love that united her with Him. Her heart was pierced with 7 swords in the agony of watching her beloved Son endure a cross that He did not deserve, but which He embraced for the love of the Father and mankind. Could she not have said to Jesus, “You don’t have to do this, there are other ways. Do you know how much pain You are causing me and those who love you?” She knew He could have chosen any other way to save us, but this was the Father’s will, and so in silent love Mary trusted. If the world is suffering, why do y

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