Skip to main content

It was not you who chose me, but I who chose you.


God granted a lovely day for seven young women to make a long step forward in their journey to him. Sister Teresa Maria, Sister M. Caterina and Sister Mary Francis  consecrated themselves to him more profoundly through the vows of Obedience, Chastity and Poverty. They proclaimed with great joy and determination their desire to do this for him and for his Church. They professed their vows with glorious freedom, knowing the challenge of each, but also knowing, profoundly, the One to whom they could trust such a radical gift.

And we all got to share in it.

Just before Mass began, four postulants declared their readiness to learn. They publicly asked for our Rule and Constitutions; they appealed to the Sisters to teach them this life, to teach them to live according to the Gospel of Christ in our particular religious family. They received our religious habit (always a moving experience for everyone present) and their new religious names: Sister Maria Christi, Sister M. Xavier, Sister M. Veritas, and Sister M. Annuntiata.

It is always beautiful. Every time. Watching young women with hearts high in joy and expectation, willing to give everything to God for their whole lives. No, none of them professed final vows – they each took a step toward it – but in every case, the delight and glory and desire to give everything shone through their words, their prayers and their entire being.

Of course, it is always a tremendous celebration – families, friends, long-term friends of our community, priests (by the bucket-load), and as many Sisters as can manage to finagle their way home all share in the glory of the day. (And we give thanks for those who made it possible. One Sister told the story of her principal, who substituted for two of the Sisters, so that their local community might be in Alton for the feast.) There are a lot of tears; there is a tremendous amount of laughter. The music hit an all-time high…everything was perfect.

And God granted us weather that looked like May.

People don’t get it. Bishop Paprocki, in his homily, spoke of the incomprehension of our world and culture for this life: they really don’t get it. Why would bright, beautiful, talented young women want to do this? It’s not even efficient! But it touches reality more deeply; consecration to God in the religious state shows forth clearly what really matters in life. It shows that God is worth everything. One Sister commented that love is not efficient. It doesn’t like short cuts and minimal. Bridal love and mother love is not business-like and streamlined.  It’s all about extravagance.

And these are the brides of God and the spiritual mothers of the world.


They say that a picture is worth a thousand words (or so). Here is a photo record of the beauty of the day. It begins early in the morning – the superiors serve the Sisters breakfast – and continues to the afternoon festivities. 

Comments

Anonymous said…
A beautiful description of family joy shared in Christ. God bless you all.

Popular posts from this blog

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