Discerning Your Vocation in High School

Even in my freshman year of high school, people (adults) would ask me what I wanted to do after high school; what college I wanted to got to.  Many people expect you to be thinking seriously about what you want to be even at 13 years of age.  The truth is, you may have an idea of what you want to do as an adult, but that idea will most likely change.  Young teenagers change so much in their 4 years of high school.  And sometimes, graduating seniors still don't know exactly what they're going to do.

So do you really need to discern your vocation in high school?

Well, the answer is half yes, half no.  Yes, we should always be searching for the will of God in our lives and trying to live it out so that we can reach heaven.  But no, we don't have to have everything figured out perfectly to the last detail in high school.  We certainly shouldn't stress or obsess over it.

I used to think my vocational discernment began in high school (and maybe it really did) but I don't think I made any real progress until afterwards because that's when I really started putting time into discernment.  High school keeps most teens super busy and at that time in our lives, we are called to just be good students.  We are called to study, obey our parents and teachers, help around the household, and grow in holiness.  These should come first.

After high school, I took not 1 but 2 gap years and in these years, I had time to spend with Our Lord in serious discernment of a religious vocation.

Now I'm not saying you should leave off discernment completely until graduation, not giving it another thought and just living it up in high school.  No.  I simply mean, please don't stress over figuring out your vocation as soon as possible.  God may tell you right away exactly what you are meant to do but he might not and that's ok.  His timing is perfect and we need to first learn to trust Him.  Instead of worrying, here are some ideas of what to do so you can start pursuing God's will.

Pray!  (hehehe). I know I say this a lot in my posts but it's often the simplest and easiest thing to do.  Maybe starting morning and night prayers??  Here's a post I wrote not too long ago about integrating prayer into your life.

Read books about the Saints and religious life.  I don't necessarily mean specific discernment books but just books on the lives of the Saints and the lives of religious (fiction or non-fiction.)  These can be very helpful in giving you a picture of the religious life and they are fun to read as well.  Here are a few ideas (links to Amazon):

• The Story of a Soul: The Autobiography of the Little Flower
• The Springs of Silence by Madeline (Sr. Mary Gilbert) Defrees
• Mary Was Her Life: The Story of Maria Teresa Quevedo
• Stories of Don Bosco by Peter Lappin
• A Soldier Surrenders: The Conversion of Saint Camillus de Lellis  (This is fiction but a great story based on the life of a Saint full of grace and virtue.)

Take advantage of the time you have at Mass and adoration.  You may not be able to (or have time to) drive yourself yet to adoration and daily Mass, but don't stress about it.  Just try to make the most of the times that your family goes to Sunday Mass or adoration.  Spend some extra time just sitting with Jesus after Mass on Sunday.  Quiet your heart and just adore Him.  The more we are "in-tune" with God, the more we will be able to hear His still, small voice throughout our lives.

Grow and develop yourself; body, mind, and soul.  We learn something new everyday and it's often about ourselves.  Maybe we'll discover a hidden talent or maybe a virtue that we need to cultivate.  Take care of yourself and your relationships with other people.  God often uses those around us to guide us, so having meaningful relationships with family and friends is important.  We can all help each other find our vocations and our way to Heaven!!

Don't date.  Jk.  Don't just have a boyfriend because it's the thing to do in high school.  I know what I'm saying isn't the popular thing to say, but it's true.  Dating should be treated as a form of discernment and should be a serious relationship in which two people discern whether they are compatible and want to make a lifelong commitment to each other.  Whether you're dating or discerning, you're trying to figure out your vocation, your calling from God.  Instead of casual dating, try to work on your relationship with God.  This starts with understanding Him which leads to my final piece of advice.

Get to know God and strengthen your relationship with Him.  Remember to turn to Him always when things are difficult.  His love and mercy are always there for you.  Before you can become "the bride of Christ," you have to get to know Him and love Him!!  This is sooo very important and is a step many of us often forget about.  Spend time with Our Lord in prayer and spend time with Him in the people around you; your parents, siblings, friends, etc.  As we get to know Our Lord better we will rely more on Him and our trust will grow so that He can guide us in His perfect and holy Will for our lives!

Know, love, and serve God in this life so that you can be happy with Him in the next.  Remember to take one day at a time and do God's will for today!  That is how He will lead us in our life's vocation for the future!  Please know I'm praying for you that God bless you in your high school journey!  Pray, hope, and don't worry!!


In corde Mariae,

Sarah

Dominican Nuns Living Radical Love

Praised be Jesus Christ!

In my perusing the internet of all things religious life, I came across this beautiful community of Dominican Nuns in Summit, New Jersey.

Photo Credit: Dominican Nuns of Summit, NJ

I came across them in a rather intersting way.  Two secular lifestyle news blogs (that I never would have read otherwise) shared about a photographer who just sort of "happened" upon these nuns.  She was accompanying a writer doing a piece on modern-day monasteries.  After her day there, she was captivated by the nuns and their spirituality.  She ended up coming back over the period of seven years, to complete a project capturing the life of the nuns and specifically, one of the sisters' journey to vows.  The result is a beautiful slideshow of pictures capturing the Dominican life and this community.

View the slideshow here.
Another article with some more pictures.

Photo credit: Toni Greaves

These nuns have also done interviews with Regina Magazine and other popular Catholic blogs.  There is plenty of information about them on the internet and thier website: https://www.summitdominicans.org/

Finally, here is an excerpt from thier website that sums up the life of a Dominican nun prety well.

“The nuns seek God by observing the norms of the purely contemplative life, by maintaining their withdrawal from the world by enclosure and silence, by working diligently, studying the truth eagerly, searching the Scriptures with ardent heart, praying intently, willingly practicing penance, pursuing communion through their manner of government, in purity of conscience and the joy of sisterly concord, “in freedom of spirit.”

                                              — Constitutions of the Nuns of the Order of Preachers

Please keep these holy nuns in your prayers!  God bless you!

Prayerful Discernment

Hello friends,

Recently I shared on Maidens for Mary about having a good prayer schedule and helpful prayers for young women.  I'd like to share similarly here but with a focus on how to grow in prayer while discerning your vocation.

When a young woman is discerning her vocation, it is so very important for her to have a deep prayer life.  I only say this because I know.  I thought I was doing alright by going to weekly Mass on Sundays, saying a couple morning prayers and our family rosary, but this Lent I decided to increase my prayer time and it has opened my eyes and my heart.  There are so many wonderful and beautiful prayers available to young women that we should use frequently and with devotion.

Do you feel stuck or stagnant in your vocation discernment?  I certainly did.  Day after day passed and I wasn't progressing in anything.  I can waste a lot of time on social media.  So for Lent, I decided to give up endless scrolling and try to read more spiritual works.  This was the push my spiritual life needed.  It certainly isn't easy but committing to a time period, such as Lent, surely helps one stay dedicated.  Of course, it is really by the grace of God that we can grow in grace and holiness.

1. I started with reading.  Yes, reading is increasing my prayer life.  How?  Well, I started with Matthew chapters 5, 6, & 7 and the the 4th section of the Catechism of the Catholic Church.  This section of the Catechism is all about prayer.  As you read, you obviously begin to think about, or meditate on, what you're reading and go over your favorite parts.  Highlighting, underlining, or taking notes is a great way to remember your favorite lines even better.  I think reading is a very good way to begin praying more often because it keeps your attention.  At least a good book will.  If you'd like ideas, here are the books I've been reading this Lent:

The Catechism of the Catholic Church
The Life of Christ
An Introduction to the Devout Life
Revelations of St. Bridget: On the Life and Passion of Our Lord and the Life of His Blessed Mother

2. The next step in using these readings for prayer is to contemplate their relevance in your life, and more specifically in your discernment.  Then, speak to Jesus in the silence of your heart about them.  Talk to Him as if He was sitting right in front of you.  Then, sit quietly and listen.  You may think of something or you may not.  Let God do His work.  Ultimately, He is planting a seed in your heart and you may not see it grow and blossom until much later.  God will give you His answers and grace exactly when you need it. I know it's hard to sit and just be quiet. My mind wanders.... a lot. Maybe start with 5 or 10 minutes a day to just be silent with God. We can work up to more time later.

3. So this is how reading became a prayer for me.  Then, I wanted to follow the direction I'd been given by multiple people and say prayers more frequently.  I have one friend at Mass who reminds me, "pray the divine office!"  I finally picked it up to start morning and evening prayers every day.  The hardest part for me was finding the right pages which you have to look up online.  I think this is what kept me from praying them before.  But here's a trick: get a wall calendar or calendar planner book and write out the page numbers from https://divineoffice.org/ for every day for the next week or two weeks.  Then, when it comes time to pray, you won't have to open your laptop or pull out your phone.  Just use your calendar to easily find your place.  Another helpful idea is to move your ribbons to the next day's pages when you're finished.

4. The last way I have grown in discernment prayer is by attending morning Mass and adoration during the week.  The kick-starter for me was the feast of St. Joseph, March 19th.  (Thanks St. Joseph!!)  If you can make a point to go to Mass on special feast days, even if they're not holy-days of obligation, you'll be on your way to attending daily Mass more regularly.  Figure out when your patron Saints' feast days are and go to Mass then.  Also, it's much easier to start getting up for morning Mass if there's an 8:30am Mass (Instead of 8:00am) nearby.  Half-an-hour makes all the difference!  If there's a rosary or divine mercy chaplet before or after Mass, try to stay for these as well.  This way, you can get your daily rosary in and spend time in community prayer.

Ok, now I'm going to go back to meditation for a moment.  I always found it hard to set aside time for meditation and contemplation in my day because it's so much better to do this in front of the Blessed Sacrament.  I find it hard to concentrate on mental prayer at home but I can't make it to the adoration chapel every day.  So instead, I decided to stay after daily Mass in the Eucharistic Adoration chapel.  Since you're already at church, you can get your quiet prayer time in while you're there.  Even staying just 15 minutes after Mass can make a big difference.

So these are just a few suggestions that can help with increasing your prayer time on a daily basis.  Ultimately, we want to make time to hear God's voice so we can discern our vocations.  He will speak to you in the silence with a still, small voice.  Also, if you're discerning a vocation to the religious life where you'll pray a lot, what better way to discern that life than by starting to live it?  (In a small way, step by step, anyway.)

"Seek by reading and you will find by meditating.  Knock by praying, and it will be opened to you in contemplation."
~St. John of the Cross

Finally, here are some beautiful prayers for vocation discernment:

My Vocation In Life

"Behold me at thy feet, O Virgin most kind, seeking to obtain through thee, the most important grace of knowing what I ought to do. I desire nothing but to comply perfectly with the Will of thy Devine Son at every moment of my life. Mother of Good Counsel, let me hear thy voice. It will dispel every doubt that troubles my mind.

I trust in thee, being confident that, since thou art the Mother of my Redeemer, thou wilt also be the Mother of my salvation. If thou, O Mary, wilt not send me a ray of the Divine Sun, what light will enlighten me? Who will direct me if thou refusest, who art the Mother of the uncreated wisdom?

Listen then, to my humble prayers. Let me not be lost in my uncertainty and instability; lead me along the straight road that ends in life everlasting, Thou, who art my only hope, and whose hands are full of the riches of virtue and of life, and who dispensest the fruits of honor and holiness."

Prayer To Know One's Vocation

Lord, my God and my loving Father, you have made me to know you, to love you, to serve you, and thereby to find and to fulfill my deepest longings. I know that you are in all things, and that every path can lead me to you.

But of them all, there is one especially by which you want me to come to you. Since I will do what you want of me, I pray you, send your Holy Spirit to me: into my mind, to show me what you want of me; into my heart, to give me the determination to do it, and to do it with all my love, with all my mind, and with all of my strength right to the end. Jesus, I trust in you. Amen.

Prayer To Know My Vocation

Lord, I want to be happy in this life and spend eternity with You in the life to come.

From the first moment of my existence, You knew my vocation. Please help me discover Your plan for my life.

Help me to know myself. Help me to know my fears. Help me to want what You want. Help me to trust You completely.

Send Your Holy Spirit into my mind and heart so I can see the gifts You have given me, and hear Your call to serve the Church. Increase my desire to bring others to You and to help them reach heaven.

Mary Most Holy, Mother of God, pray for me, that I can discover my vocation and have the courage to respond in faith. Amen

I hope you find these tips helpful and these prayers useful.  What prayers do you use in discernment? I'd love to know!  May God bless you and keep you!

Video: Investiture of a Contemplative Dominican Nun

Hello friends,

I've been looking at many different communities around the internet and their social media pages.  I came across a beautiful little community of cloistered Dominican nuns in Lockport, Louisiana.  There is a small Xanga page with their contact information.  Other than this page, they don't have any social media or info that I can find.

I did, however, find this short news clip that beautifully showcases the investiture of a 19-year-old girl in their community.  This is a rare look inside a traditional Dominican cloister.  I hope you enjoy!

The Dominican Nuns of the Monastery of the Heart of Jesus in Lockport, Louisiana are in full communion with the Roman Catholic Church, accepting all Magisterial teachings and directives.

"I Thirst!"

"I thirst."

"There cometh a woman of Samaria, to draw water. Jesus saith to her: Give me to drink. For his disciples were gone into the city to buy meats. Then that Samaritan woman saith to him: How dost thou, being a Jew, ask of me to drink, who am a Samaritan woman? For the Jews do not communicate with the Samaritans. Jesus answered, and said to her: If thou didst know the gift of God, and who he is that saith to thee, Give me to drink; thou perhaps wouldst have asked of him, and he would have given thee living water." (John 4:7-10)

"The wonder of prayer is revealed beside the well where we come seeking water: there, Christ comes to meet every human being.  It is He who first seeks us and asks for a drink.  Jesus thirsts; his asking arises from the depths of God's desire for us.  Whether we realize it or not, prayer is the encounter of God's thirst with ours.  God thirsts that we may thirst for Him." (CCC 2560)

"If you knew the gift of God!" (John 4:10)

"Prayer is the response of faith to the free promise of salvation and also a response of love to the thirst of the only Son of God." (from CCC 2561)

"During Holy Mass, I saw the Lord Jesus nailed upon the Cross amidst great torments.  A soft moan issued from His Heart.  After some time, He said: I thirst.  I thirst for the salvation of souls.  Help Me, My daughter, to save souls.  Join your suffering to My Passion and offer them to the heavenly Father for sinners.  (Diary of St., Faustina, 1032)

“He has so much need of love and He is so thirsty, that He expects from us the drop of water that must refresh Him! Ah! Let us give without counting the cost.”  ~St. Thérèse of Lisieux