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Vocations Stories. . .
Where I Belong
by Sr. Mary Elise, P.V.M.I.
Like many teenagers today, I was looking for a purpose in life and wanted to know what my future would hold.
After attending a Parish Mission I decided that daily Mass would keep my problem before the Lord and I would get the help I needed. I also prayed each morning to St. Joseph for guidance. Our of the blue, the thought of Religious Life came into my mind. That was the last thing I was praying for, or so I thought.
In order to stop thinking about it, I decided to stop going to daily Mass. I told my confessor about it. “He knows me,” I thought, “and will assure me that Religious Life is not for me.”
Father patiently listened to my story and, to my chagrin, said, “Betty, I’ve been waiting to hear that. Pray, return to daily Mass and let the Spirit guide you.”
Father called me each week for a “chat”. I told him that I definitely did not want to teach. I was interested in working for and with people, but the Foreign Missions did not appeal to me.
After learning about the Parish Visitors of Mary Immaculate from Sister Mary Scholastica, Father called me, saying that he wanted to see me “as soon as possible”. He handed me the plenitude of material Sister had sent and simply said, “This is where you belong.”
Although I thought that I “definitely did not want to teach,” our Lord gave me the great joy of being a catechist for most of my Parish Visitor life. God certainly does have a delightful sense of humor.
From "The Parish Visitor" Autumn 1999 issue. Used with permission
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