C
CarmeliteGirl25
Guest
I’ve been talking with a friend and I realized it’s been a while since I posted here. I usually post only at Phatmass, but since I have friends here, I want to keep you abreast of my progress. 
I’ve been really trying to slow down in my discernment and make wiser choices. Prayer is a HUGE part of it all, and I wanted to make sure I was going where the Holy Spirit was leading me. I prayed all throughout Mass on Pentacost for the gift of the Holy Spirit. It seems to be working.
I’ve been reading up on the life of St. Francis of Assisi, and I find him very intriguing. He’s my constant role model, and I would very much like to live as he did. I am still considering the Franciscan Sisters of the Renewal as my top priority, but a friend also suggested that I look into the Franciscan Sisters of the Immaculate. I’m trying to focus on one order at a time since I have mild ADD. But I intend to keep my options open.
I’m really trying to turn my discernment inward and focus on what my heart and soul believe instead of feelings or outside signs. There is danger in focusing on signs around you–I’m living proof. I totally believed each and every one of them, not really trusting in God and His hand in it all. I thought it was all easy from the order that I felt called to (trusting my feelings) to applying just because I was handed an application (I thought if I was being given the opportunity, God MUST be calling me there). Nothing could have been further from the truth. If I hadn’t been shown, firsthand, what the apostolate was really like, I would have entered not knowing what lay before me, and it would have been MUCH harder to leave. I have to thank God for that.
Right now, I’m very content with taking one step at a time until I know for sure (as sure as I can be) that the path I wish to take is God’s plan and not my own. I know, without a shadow of a doubt, that I am called to religious life, but I need to find the “niche” God has carved out for me. Until then, I plan to use my time very wisely. I’m getting involved in ministries in the Church and volunteer work. I’m still looking for a job, confident that God will make it happen soon. When the time comes for me to visit the CFRs in New York, whenever that may be, I plan to check them out first, and if I believe, internally, that God is calling me to look at them further, I hope to build a strong rapport with them before even thinking of applying. I’m going to do this with ANY order I make contact with.
I’ve been really trying to slow down in my discernment and make wiser choices. Prayer is a HUGE part of it all, and I wanted to make sure I was going where the Holy Spirit was leading me. I prayed all throughout Mass on Pentacost for the gift of the Holy Spirit. It seems to be working.
I’ve been reading up on the life of St. Francis of Assisi, and I find him very intriguing. He’s my constant role model, and I would very much like to live as he did. I am still considering the Franciscan Sisters of the Renewal as my top priority, but a friend also suggested that I look into the Franciscan Sisters of the Immaculate. I’m trying to focus on one order at a time since I have mild ADD.
But I intend to keep my options open.I’m really trying to turn my discernment inward and focus on what my heart and soul believe instead of feelings or outside signs. There is danger in focusing on signs around you–I’m living proof. I totally believed each and every one of them, not really trusting in God and His hand in it all. I thought it was all easy from the order that I felt called to (trusting my feelings) to applying just because I was handed an application (I thought if I was being given the opportunity, God MUST be calling me there). Nothing could have been further from the truth. If I hadn’t been shown, firsthand, what the apostolate was really like, I would have entered not knowing what lay before me, and it would have been MUCH harder to leave. I have to thank God for that.
Right now, I’m very content with taking one step at a time until I know for sure (as sure as I can be) that the path I wish to take is God’s plan and not my own. I know, without a shadow of a doubt, that I am called to religious life, but I need to find the “niche” God has carved out for me. Until then, I plan to use my time very wisely. I’m getting involved in ministries in the Church and volunteer work. I’m still looking for a job, confident that God will make it happen soon. When the time comes for me to visit the CFRs in New York, whenever that may be, I plan to check them out first, and if I believe, internally, that God is calling me to look at them further, I hope to build a strong rapport with them before even thinking of applying. I’m going to do this with ANY order I make contact with.
Too late for the warning! I’ve already prayed that he’d help me! 