Your Vocation Is Love

If God is calling me to the vocation of consecrated life, does that mean I would make a bad mother/father or husband/wife?

Does having a desire to have a family mean that I'm not called to consecrated life?

These questions are often asked by those in the process of discerning a call to consecrated life.

If you reflect on the best parts of your life, chances are they have something to do with being loved or loving someone, often in the context of our families and closest friends. As C.S. Lewis observed, "Affection is responsible for nine-tenths of whatever solid and durable happiness there is in our lives."

While, sadly, many of us have experienced pain and brokenness in our families, that is not the way God intended families to be. God intended — and some of us have experienced this — for the family to be the place where the deepest love we experience this side of Heaven is expressed.

When it is lived out in the way God intended it to be, the love between spouses, between parents and children, and between siblings is some of the most powerful and wonderful love to be found in this world. Close friendship is also a form of powerful love.

So why on earth would anyone choose a way of life which rules out the possibility of being part of a biological family? Isn't life without familial love much less meaningful?

The answer is: yes. Life without spousal, parental, and fraternal love is empty and unattractive.

The truth is, the precious and beautiful realities of spousal, parental, and fraternal love are elements of consecrated life, in a way that is no less real and powerful than the potential for love in a biological family.

We are all called to love and be loved abundantly. God does not will for any of us to miss out on the best thing life has to offer: love, which has as its source God who is love. In the Gospel of John, Jesus says to His disciples,“This is my commandment, that you love one another as I have loved you" (John 15:12).

Consecrated men and women give and receive love in a way that is different, but no less authentic and powerful, than the way love is given and received by men and women called to family life.

In his Theology of the Body, St. John Paul II teaches that all women, regardless of vocation, are called to motherhood, and that all men, regardless of vocation, are called to fatherhood. Motherhood and fatherhood bring out the best characteristics and virtues of human beings, and result in our most meaningful experiences: intimacy, selflessness, care, generative creativity, and above all, love. The love of motherhood and fatherhood goes hand-in-hand with the love of spouses for one another and the love between brothers and sisters. In this milieu the love of friendship also flourishes.

Consecrated men and women participate in these loves in a genuine and full way. A religious woman is the spouse of Christ. Her children are all the people she embraces in her heart through her life of prayer and her works of mercy. Her many sisters and brothers are the members of her religious community, and she finds friendship in people from all walks of life. A priest, who is known, aptly, as "Father," is a spiritual father to his entire parish or all the people to whom he ministers. In the Person of Christ, he is the spouse of the Church. He experiences love of a spousal intensity from the Holy Spirit. Fellow priests and members of the faithful, both women and men, provide fraternal love and friendship.

Above all, consecrated women and men experience an intimacy with God which is extraordinary. In setting themselves apart for God, they make possible a relationship of love of a depth and intensity that exceeds all other love. They are set apart for Love Himself. In a poignant way, the consecrated person can say, "I am my beloved’s and my beloved is mine" (Song of Solomon 6:3).

There is no missing out on love in the consecrated life. For this reason it is sometimes said that those women who would make the best mothers would also make the best consecrated women, and those men who would make the best fathers would also make the best priests.

Yes, the consecrated person expresses and receives love in a different way than those who are called to family life. But the love of consecrated life is immense. It is lasting. It is fulfilling. It is intimate and deep. Setting yourself apart for Love Himself is a path to a life of love, in greater ways than you can ask or imagine.

Be not afraid!

What About My Student Debt?

Because of the high cost of post-secondary education in Canada, many young people today are faced with student debt.

In order to enter into religious life, candidates are usually required to be free of debt.

If you believe that you are being called to consecrated life, but are facing the obstacle of student debt, don't give up!

If you need to work for a period of time in order to pay off your debt before entering into religious life, use that time to deepen your discernment and grow in the spiritual life. Having to work and wait for something can reveal the depth of your desire and ability to persevere in your calling.

If your student debt is more than you are able to resolve, there are organizations dedicated to helping young people with vocations pay off their student debt. These include:

The Mater Ecclesiae Fund for Vocations

The Laboure Society

Also: don't forget to pray about it! Your vocation is God's idea, and He knows all about the obstacles you will face. It is not at all uncommon for Him to provide in unexpected ways, removing barriers from your path and enabling you to answer His call. If He is calling you, He will enable you to respond.

Even if His will is for you to delay your entrance because you are resolving debt, He will make that time fruitful, using it to prepare your heart for the graces of religious life. Be not afraid! 

Consecrated Life in Canada

As a Catholic young person, you may have noticed a phenomenon via social media in Catholic circles: in certain parts of the world, religious life is blossoming. 

Some communities in the US, such as the Dominican Sisters of Mary, Mother of the Eucharist, are growing rapidly and are attracting a large number of young people. 

In Western Canada, we are blessed with a thriving seminary and vocations to the diocesan priesthood. 

However, if you are a young woman, or a young man interested in a form of consecrated life other than priesthood, you may be wondering: what are the options for young Canadians with vocations to consecrated life? 

Are there any thriving, young communities in our part of the world? 

What can I do if the order I feel called to does not have any Canadian communities? 

Fear not! Young Canadians are hearing and responding to God's call, and discovering viable options for entering into religious life. 

There are several young, vibrant communities of women religious in Canada, including:

• a Vancouver foundation of the Dominican Sisters of St. Cecilia (apostolic; teaching apostolate)

• a Toronto mission of the Sisters of Life  (apostolic; pro-life apostolate)

• a Vancouver foundation of the Missionaries of Charity (apostolic; apostolate of service to the poor)

• Queen of Peace Dominican Monastery, Squamish, BC (contemplative nuns)

For men, and women who feel called to a different way of life, Canadians have found that travelling to the US to find a community is the next best thing to finding one in Canada. 

Young people in the Archdiocese of Edmonton have entered, or are discerning with, American communities such as:

• Dominican Friars of the Province of St. Joseph, Washington, DC (apostolic; apostolate of preaching and teaching)

• Carmelite Sisters of the Most Sacred Heart of Los Angeles (apostolic; apostolate of health care)

• Trappistine Nuns of Mount St. Mary's Abbey, Wrentham, MA (contemplative nuns)

• Sisters of Life, New York, NY (apostolic; pro-life apostolate)

Many US communities are very open to receiving inquiries from young Canadians interested in their way of life. 

Thanks to the internet, exploring and contacting American communities can be done easily via their websites and social media profiles. Many communities are active in social media and share a lot of their lives online. 

Be not afraid! If you are interested in the life of a community in another part of the world, contact them! And be sure to explore the Canadian options for discerners.