Which Vocation Am I Called Too?

[duchess453]

I have recently made the personal choice to learn as much as I can of the Catholic faith. My heart has always been drawn to it, partially due to my discovery of St. Therese. Now, I am looking at being the possibility of vocations. Namely marriage or a call to become a nun. God has placed both on my life, giving me the desire to have children and the desire to follow him completely. I am working on St. Therese’s book right now, and feel that when the time comes when I can after leaving my parents home go to RCA, I would take her as my patron or confirmation saint.

It’s a hard choice for me but, sometimes I really do feel my soul dragging in this world. I want to please God and ask for an eternal peace, one that seems hard to find in the daily struggle just to live in our world. I keep thinking back on the passage I read in the Bible of Jesus as the heavenly beggar, just yearning for us to open our doors to him. And despite the fact that even I am guilty of this, I want to stop living for what the world has to offer, in reality it alone provides no joy. I can’t even contemplate his gift for us, the fact he died for us, and there really is no way of repaying it. And every day we cry out asking him to answer our prayers…and every day he does, even the smallest and most insignificant of requests he turns an ear too.

I know if I choose to become a nun I risk losing my non-Christian family. They may very well never visit me, or write again as they have said they don’t approve. One friend I have however, stated merely that she feels they treat me less like a daughter and more like an unwanted house guest sometimes and it might not be so big of a sacrifice if it meant something better was on the horizon. At 22, I’m still worried about my future and what’s the best choice. Every time I see a little kid I go through the ohh, I want one which brings up worries of other things, is it selfish or not? I wanted to be married or well thought of it but felt it might not be for me.

I read a Bible verse claiming we must give up all even our children to follow him. When I recently went through a scare where my parents debated throwing me out because we don’t see eye to eye, I realized that maybe it was also a wake up call from God, to stop living for the world, and to willingly accept his embrace, and become one of his humble handmaids.

What do you think? What websites do you recommend on the Catholic faith? Any good blogs on the faith and vocations? What do you feel I am called to do?

 

[_Gemma]

Hi duchess453

I can relate a bit, being myself a 21 year old Catholic convert (Baptized this year) and I come from a non-supporting, non-Catholic family.
My faith journey has been over the past few years and now I’ve been a full Catholic for 4 months now and am comfortable in my faith I’m thinking about my vocation too.
I never felt a call to marriage and was interested in perhaps being a nun after working in the world but things seem to changing and I’m not sure if this is really for me. I know my family and priest want me to be married but it’s hard for me to imagine a man out there for me but I’ve decided to just trust in Jesus. Whatever happens, whatever is God’s will then I will let that happen.
I’m going to seek further spiritual advice from my Priest. Are you in the church yet? do you know of a good priest or Catholic you can talk to?
My first steps were contacting the church, going through RCIA which was great and I got to know my priest so now I seek advice off him.
I’m sure others here on the forum can offer better advice than me regarding vocations (because they have been Catholic a lot longer)

I like your devotion to St Therese! My devotion is to my patron Saint Gemma Galgani, who I share a name with - if you haven’t read about her she is a bit like St Therese but she never became a nun but she did have mystical gifts and died at 25.

I’m interested to see what others have to say here too

 

[Trishie]

Welcome to our Catholic Answers community.
It is sad that you are not lovingly embraced by your family. May God bless your family with a more loving heart towards you.

God bless you for your sincere loving desire to live according to God’s loving will.
We cannot of course assess which vocation is yours.
It could help to be mindful that Saint Therese isn’t the only saint in her family, and that religious life isn’t the only avenue to true holiness.

Saint Therese’s parents wanted to be priest, and nun, but they weren’t called to be, and had they been, there would have been no Saint Therese.
Therese parents however also became holy, as married persons,
Louis and Zelie Martin are themselves Beatified saints.

ocarm.org/en/content/liturgy/bls-louis-and-zelie-martin-parents-therese-lisieux-m

May God protect and guide you dear soul.

Kind wishes and prayers,
Trishie

You may already have the following link:
ccel.org/ccel/therese/autobio.toc.html

 

[powerofk]

The only advice I have is to keep praying. God’s will for you will be made clear one day, and for now, just pray and do what you believe Him to be asking of you today. The vast majority of people are called to marry and have children, because if that were not the case, there would be no human race for God to bring to Himself. Very few are chosen to be priests and religious. But for now, serve God in the best way that you can, and get involved in church activities. Pray to the Holy Spirit to give you guidance. Remember - it’s not what you want - it’s what God wants for you. Be willing to explore. Go on a Cursillo retreat. Go to Open Houses for convents. And go on day trips with Catholic singles. If you continue praying, when you meet your calling (whether it is the man you are to marry or the religious order you are to join), you will know what it is.

 

[SerraSemper]

I recommend my own blog because I try to write on every vocation a person may be called to.

 

[esmac]

Duchess,

I had a massive fallout with my father because of Christianity which he refers to as “religion”. That’s how he sees it, not for the beauty of what it is. So I can relate to you.

I think the best thing you can do is go visit a convent you have considered. Stay with them for a 3 day weekend, get a feel for it.

All the nuns I met while at St. Meinrad were very happy. They really were. They worked, they prayed, they lived with purpose and they were happy.

Keep in mind today’s Gospel reading -

regnumchristi.org/english/articulos/articulo.phtml?se=363&ca=975&te=735&id=20302

 

[duchess453]

They you all for replying. The link on St. Therese was AMAZING, it works great on my mobile too. I also found a book entitled "Authentic Beauty,"written by a Christian woman on how God is truly our Prince Charming. Though meant for a little younger crowd (late teens) its still a good read.

I still have concerns over it, but, I really do like looking at the Carmelite website, it seems they do care for the aged and ill. They have a neat formation blog that has really given me a little insight into how they live. I’ve started listening to EWTN and LOVE "Catholic Connections"and "Mother Angelica"on there. I listen to it everyday as I take my walk each morning.

I’m not sure still what my plan is fully. I still live at home and without the money to live on own its hard if theirs any backlash from folks. I keep looking for a full time job I’m qualified for but, there really isn’t many in my area though I keep applying. Any ideas for how to handle it? Part of me kind of wonders if that’s not God’s way of indicating that it’s not the life I’m meant to live in. Regardless, it could vary widely on when I can get into RCA though I’m a closet Catholic now. I do have a co-worker that goes St. Bernadette so that may be an option when I can go to a Catholic Church. I have looked at the blog someone posted on vocations, it was really well done.

I do think the Carmelite’s would be among my first choices. Someone mentioned another group here I will have to look into. I’ve also heard of the Little Sisters of St. Paul which has a massive library. I do think I would look more at en-cloistered convents. I have made a personal choice to live a promise to God of Celibacy and Chastity for 6 months until January 1, 2014 which I may extend to one year. I’m learning so much about him during this time it is truly a blessing every day. It’s also a great way of understanding what my life could be like in the future.