Young people: the hope of our future

Today and yesterday I spent time with a young woman who is discerning her vocation to religious life and is very much attracted to the Sisters of the Sorrowful Mother. All of us who have met her have enjoyed her immensely and she us.  This was her third visit to Our Lady of Sorrows Convent.  She was deeply touched by community life as lived here and feels at peace with us.   This is what makes vocation ministry enjoyable, as much time goes into waiting and hoping and praying with little tangible results! I pray every morning and evening that young women whom God is calling to consecrate their lives to Him will overcome whatever resistances surface within them and whatever obstacles others put in their way.  This woman is strong, deeply spiritual,  is becoming her own person, is highly motivated, is truly a leader—characteristics we look for in women seeking to enter religious life in this 21^st century, qualities that certainly were key in the sisters of all religious communities who built the educational, healthcare, and social work systems throughout the U.S. in the 1800 and early 1900’s and that are thriving to this very day.