Love’s Calling: A Commenter’s Thoughts
I know it’s not Tuesday yet, and our next post is sure to be a great one. Definitely check back tomorrow for Melody’s post!
Today I want to share a comment from Grace, about what has worked in her family. If anyone has something to share in response, or your own story, please share! This is a great conversation we’re starting and as Grace said, it is so needed. Our Church is in need of young people listening for God’s call, and answering! Anything we can do to help foster that is going to change our future. Great saints could be in the making!
From Grace:
Our older children seem to know that they need to discern which state in life God desires for them. I think their openness is the fruit of different things. A few positives that I can name off the top of my head: my husband and I have always shared conversationally with them about our own searching to know (we both deeply considered the religious life before meeting each other and becoming best friends); also, and this may be the “biggie”, we have been graced as a family to live among many other families and friends who recognize the discernment process as a normal part of becoming an adult Catholic. This extended community of ours includes our inspiring pastors and local women religious, who both invite our family into regular fellowship, also fellow homeschooling families and non-homeschooling parish families ~ among whom are young adults who have already embarked, or are about to embark, on a religious life. Just this morning, my 15 year old son forwarded an email invitation he received from a homeschooling friend to join a priest-led discernment group that will meet monthly starting in Lent… and he is inviting his two teenage brothers to join him. One thing that I do wonder about is how our girls, who have far fewer invitations from the parish/diocese to discern a religious calling, can tap into similar opportunities.
Community is definitely an important piece! And her concern about our girls is a biggie, I think. In our parish here, we have great deacons and priests, but rarely if ever do we see religious sisters. How can we find and create similar opportunities for our girls to see joyful, happy religious sisters?
