The Joy of the Sisters

The religious Sisters in my convent and I just finished celebrating Thanksgiving. I love this day because all of the Sisters in my convent gather together and there is much laughter mixed with the aromas of good home cooking!

This is exactly what I was attracted to with the Sisters in this congregation. When I was discerning religious life, I had certain "musts" in my mind. As a teenager, I did not know about spirituality let alone the depth of the evangelical councils of chastity, poverty, and obedience that I earned to submit to in order to live a life dedicated to God! Rather, I saw religious life as a total gift and I sought a congregation that lived that gift of self radically! So I searched for a group of Sisters who wore a religious habit and that "did the same thing."

As God led me through my search, I began to search deeper. Instead of looking so much exterior (although those aspects still mean a lot to me) I also began to see also the interior value. Prayer! Yes, a congregation that prayed together and were united in mind and spirit...not conformity where the self would be stifled...but uniformity. One-ness of heart; a heart for Christ!

My search was not long, though I was disheartened when I did not have a good experience with another congregation that I was looking at. I was directed, then, to the Sisters, Servants of the Immaculate Heart of Mary. I attended a "Sister's Night" where a lot of Sisters and young women gathered together for an evening of prayer and play (yes, Sisters play a mean game of basketball, volleyball, and softball!) I was thrilled and my heart released a sigh of relief the moment I saw my first IHM Sister. Something inside of me said, "Yes, Lord...this is it."

As the evening went on, I remember walking on "the bricks" outside and looking up at the cross above their chapel and thinking excitedly, "This is it! This is home."

The joy of the Sisters amazed me and it still does today! We work hard, we laugh hard, and we pray hard. We are all so different. But God only knows...we strive to be one! Isn't that where grace meets us? In the midst of the human, the incarnation, there Jesus is in the flesh! So here we are. Peace! We are so blessed!

Hope

Who says religious life is dying? I sure don't and I know the Sisters in my congregation do not either! My name is Sister Jacqulyn and I just made my temporary vows in the congregation of the Sisters, Servants of the Immaculate Heart of Mary located in Immaculata, PA. I entered only a year after college and I continue to see the fire and thirst that burns in young people's hearts who seek God in their lives. Maybe these posts can continue to fan that fire and keep the hope burning that God continues to work among us and within each of us. Through the example of our lives and our daily witness may we bring hope to others in the Church today. The Spirit is alive and active. Let us "go out into the deep" and welcome Him into our hearts and lives!