God is doing something here... but what?

[Kateri92]

I am 22 year old college student and back when I was in high school I discerned religious life for a few years (maybe 2?) and then at the end of my senior year in high school I decided that it wasn’t for me. Since then religious life has been “off my radar” (but not really).

So, this lent I decided to ramp up my spiritual activities by going to daily mass, adoration, rosary and doing spiritual reading. The the results thus far, however, have lead me to start thinking about religious life again. However, I can’t help thinking that being a religious sister would be to restricting for my personality (I would most certainly be a cranky nun). I sometimes think that if I was a man, I would probably become a priest but I’m not so I cant.

So my dilemma is that I want to devote myself to Christ and his church but I don’t want to be a nun (unless I was the mother superior I could see myself doing that…sort of…). I have given a bit of thought to being a missionary but that still doesn’t sit perfectly with me. I’m really confused. I know A LOT about religious life but I just can’t seem to find something that fits. Do you have any suggestions?

 

[the_phoenix]

You have a lot to pray about.

A little story:

A friend of the family became a priest. He wanted to be a diocesan priest and stay right in the same city that he grew up and went to school in, because all his friends were there.

However, he was told that under obedience,
he was being sent as a missionary
to Easter Island.
About 1,000 miles out in the middle of nowhere in the Pacific Ocean.
He was the only priest on the Island, and the only American.
He had to learn Spanish to communicate with the natives
and hear their confession.

And guess what?
He ended up loving it.

He was able to come back and visit the USA
once every few years to see friends and family,
so I got to see him once in a while
as I was growing up.

 

[DesertSister62]

WHAT A WONDERFUL STORY!!

It just goes to illustrate that God knows so much more about us than we realize and because He does, He knows where our happiness lies!

We also need to keep in mind that God will only remind us so many times before He lays it down and we find out years later that we missed a wonderful opportunity.

DesertSister62

 

[vsedriver]

you are only 22. You don’t need to decide your life’s mission right now. Instead, just pray and ask Jesus to tell you what he wants for you. I too thought seriously about a religious life. I asked God to make use of my life as he sees fit. I became a wife and a mother. You will always be happy doing the will of God. You may also find yourself on a great adventure either way.

 

[Lamentation]

I am 22 year old college student and back when I was in high school I discerned religious life for a few years (maybe 2?) and then at the end of my senior year in high school I decided that it wasn’t for me. Since then religious life has been “off my radar” (but not really).

So, this lent I decided to ramp up my spiritual activities by going to daily mass, adoration, rosary and doing spiritual reading. The the results thus far, however, have lead me to start thinking about religious life again. However, I can’t help thinking that being a religious sister would be to restricting for my personality (I would most certainly be a cranky nun). I sometimes think that if I was a man, I would probably become a priest but I’m not so I cant.

So my dilemma is that I want to devote myself to Christ and his church but I don’t want to be a nun (unless I was the mother superior I could see myself doing that…sort of…). I have given a bit of thought to being a missionary but that still doesn’t sit perfectly with me. I’m really confused. I know A LOT about religious life but I just can’t seem to find something that fits. Do you have any suggestions?

Perhaps consecrated virginity is a way to go:
consecratedvirgins.org/

We have a consecrated virgin who works at the seminary and she’s always a blast to talk to.

 

[Contra_Mundum_1]

Just carry on doing this (daily mass, adoration, regular spiritual reading, etc) and see what happens. Sometimes it takes time to figure things out.