Joan Marie Wandel Posted August 28, 2012 Share Posted August 28, 2012 I was wondering what made you decided to discern. For me I never thought about becoming a nun until after WYD and it kept coming back to me so I'm heavily discerning Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lil'Monster Posted August 28, 2012 Share Posted August 28, 2012 Hmm gotta think about this one but I will get back to it later Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Joan Marie Wandel Posted August 28, 2012 Author Share Posted August 28, 2012 i will be waiting Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PhuturePriest Posted August 28, 2012 Share Posted August 28, 2012 I started discerning gradually. The last thing I ever wanted to do was become a Priest or Religious for the noble reason of not wanting to remain celibate, and the Lord slowly helped me, and I decided that perhaps being a Deacon would be acceptable since I would still then have my "needs" met, and soon enough the Lord softened my heart, and I began to listen to him. I fell in love with the Priesthood around March of 2011, and it led me to the Religious life. I had always thought of the Religious life, but I deemed five hours too far away, so the Diocesan Priesthood was a quick fix for that. But as is His custom, he softened me and I began discerning as far as England. Currently I have been in contact with the Franciscan Brothers Minor since January and we are in regular contact. They are about seventeen hours away. I love God's sense of humor. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
emmaberry Posted August 28, 2012 Share Posted August 28, 2012 I am going to cope/paste a bit from my application essay if that is okay with you, OP: [size=3][font=arial,helvetica,sans-serif]A week into my freshman year of college, my roommate and I were up late talking about our plans for our lives, specifically our future husband, families, and careers. Somehow the University’s local priest came up in the conversation. “Priests and sisters are so unlucky,†I said. “They are alone all their lives..... I want a husband!†“Oh I know, me too!†my roommate agreed. Confident that I would lead a happy life while nuns and priests withered in sadness, I laid down on my bed in the dark and stared up at the ceiling. I heard a voice within say, “But I never told you to get married.†I was down my dorm room hall in a second! I could not go back to sleep, and texted all my friends and told them I was going to become a nun. I joke with my roommate that she ‘inspired’ my vocation. [/font][/size] [size=3][font=arial,helvetica,sans-serif][size=4]Sprinkle this experience with the discovery of Eucharistic Adoration and the Sacraments and Whala!, you've got vocation.[/size][/font][/size] Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
OnlySunshine Posted August 28, 2012 Share Posted August 28, 2012 For me, it all started with an exploration of the different religions. I did not grow up in a strong Catholic household -- we were Catholic in name only and attended Church only when my mom and dad felt like it. In college, I grew distant from the Church and took a course on World Religions. I spiraled down into depression because of how lost I was. My mom was genuinely concerned for my well-being and offered to send me to a Young Adult retreat in December 2007. It was there that I met my first religious in habits -- the Sisters of Life and the Franciscans of the Renewal. The first night, I talked to Sr. Mary Gabriel of the Sisters of Life because confusion set in and I was scared of the internal battle that was being waged for my soul. She convinced me to stay the whole weekend and I am so thankful that she was there. The next night, we had the healing Eucharistic Procession service and I experienced an intense conversion of heart that led me to Confession where I made my reversion to the Church and I have been back ever since. Being with the Sisters and Friars sparked my curiosity and I went home and began my search. I have been discerning religious life ever since. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ice_nine Posted August 28, 2012 Share Posted August 28, 2012 After I reverted back to the Catholic Church, about 3 years ago this coming advent, you know I was just trying to learn and live my faith as some punk trying to get by without screwing up too much. Something that always attracted me to Christianity was how radically opposed it was to the systems and philosophies of the modern world. I started thinking that to truly embrace the Christian life in a meaningful way, and if I really believed in all of this I must eschew all of the wordly schools of thought (in particular the live-and-let-live philosophy, the idea that personal autonomy rather is essential and the most important too to finding freedom, that a comfortable life is the goal of existence, materialism/commercialism). All of these things are suffocating and not conducive IMO to attaining holiness, and so to work out my salvation I believed that a religious vocation would free me up from these faulty systems and ~*DISTRACTIONS*~ and allow me to best serve others and share and live the gospel. I wouldn't mind being a missionary, more or less wiping the dust from the modern West, who has largely spurned the Gospel, and taking it to a place that would be more receptive, but lately I'm learning that the US and Europe is also a mission ground. I ain't made any decisions about my religious vocation, and certainly I'm open to wherever God leads me, but yeah, that was the thought process that started my discernment. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ice_nine Posted August 28, 2012 Share Posted August 28, 2012 After I reverted back to the Catholic Church, about 3 years ago this coming advent, you know I was just trying to learn and live my faith as some punk trying to get by without screwing up too much. Something that always attracted me to Christianity was how radically opposed it was to the systems and philosophies of the modern world. I started thinking that to truly embrace the Christian life in a meaningful way, and if I really believed in all of this I must eschew all of the wordly schools of thought (in particular the live-and-let-live philosophy, the idea that personal autonomy rather is essential and the most important too to finding freedom, that a comfortable life is the goal of existence, materialism/commercialism). All of these things are suffocating and not conducive IMO to attaining holiness, and so to work out my salvation I believed that a religious vocation would free me up from these faulty systems and ~*DISTRACTIONS*~ and allow me to best serve others and share and live the gospel. I wouldn't mind being a missionary, more or less wiping the dust from the modern West, who has largely spurned the Gospel, and taking it to a place that would be more receptive, but lately I'm learning that the US and Europe is also a mission ground. I ain't made any decisions about my religious vocation, and certainly I'm open to wherever God leads me, but yeah, that was the thought process that started my discernment. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
emmaberry Posted August 28, 2012 Share Posted August 28, 2012 [quote name='MaterMisericordiae' timestamp='1346137642' post='2475252'] The next night, we had the [b]healing Eucharistic Procession service[/b] and I experienced an intense conversion of heart that led me to Confession where I made my reversion to the Church and I have been back ever since. [/quote] YES to healing Eucharistic services! So many miracles happen-including your reversion, it sounds like! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
OnlySunshine Posted August 28, 2012 Share Posted August 28, 2012 [quote name='emmaberry' timestamp='1346145370' post='2475258'] YES to healing Eucharistic services! So many miracles happen-including your reversion, it sounds like! [/quote] It's where I first heard the Lord speak to me so clearly for the first time. I felt Him nudging me to go to Confession. He knew how lost i was. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NonNovi Posted August 28, 2012 Share Posted August 28, 2012 I started serving Mass when I was 18, because of a rather young priest.When I saw him guiding his parish and working, organising in every possible way, that was the first time I considered becoming a priest. If I could do what he did, I didn't seem to be such a bad option. A few years later I became friends with an even younger priest (who wasn't a priest yet back then), belonging to a rather traditional congregation. I was even more impressed by the way they do their apostolate and the feeling, the desire to be a part of all that started to grow. The final turn came last Pentecost. I participated in the annual pilgrimage from Paris to Chartres (France). After 3 exhausting days of marching, singing, talking and praying, I was so full of joy! During the final Mass I cried at the moment of consecration, I don't know why. Must have been the Holy Spirit (it was the day after Pentecost you know), I just felt Jesus being sacrificed. At that point I realised I wanted to be a priest. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
InPersonaChriste Posted August 28, 2012 Share Posted August 28, 2012 I shook the hand of a Nashville Dominican. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PhuturePriest Posted August 28, 2012 Share Posted August 28, 2012 [quote name='emmaberry' timestamp='1346131992' post='2475236'] I am going to cope/paste a bit from my application essay if that is okay with you, OP: [size=3][font=arial,helvetica,sans-serif]A week into my freshman year of college, my roommate and I were up late talking about our plans for our lives, specifically our future husband, families, and careers. Somehow the University’s local priest came up in the conversation. “Priests and sisters are so unlucky,†I said. “They are alone all their lives..... I want a husband!†“Oh I know, me too!†my roommate agreed. Confident that I would lead a happy life while nuns and priests withered in sadness, I laid down on my bed in the dark and stared up at the ceiling. I heard a voice within say, “But I never told you to get married.†I was down my dorm room hall in a second! I could not go back to sleep, and texted all my friends and told them I was going to become a nun. I joke with my roommate that she ‘inspired’ my vocation. [/font][/size] [size=3][font=arial,helvetica,sans-serif][size=4]Sprinkle this experience with the discovery of Eucharistic Adoration and the Sacraments and Whala!, you've got vocation.[/size][/font][/size] [/quote] I seriously need to stop reading your posts. You always convince me to join the Carmelite Monks in Wyoming. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PhuturePriest Posted August 28, 2012 Share Posted August 28, 2012 But it appears I wrote the process of how I started discerning, rather than the reason. I wish I could say I heard a voice during Eucharistic adoration or while laying in bed one night, but much like Father Vincent Serpa, this is not so. Rather, it was simply a conclusion. I started looking into it, and I realized this was maybe where I was called. It's rather boring compared to others that have posted, but it's mine, so... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PadrePioOfPietrelcino Posted August 28, 2012 Share Posted August 28, 2012 Growing up I always had a strong attraction towards ministry. I had thought that I would become sometype of ordained minister Ina Protestant Church. So when I became Catholic I began to understand my vocation in a different light. I had an experience where someone who was not even Catholic and didn't know I was studying about the Church told me They thought I would be a good priest. This was one of the final straws that led me to finally join the Church. So in many ways I almost feel like I was discerning the priesthood long before I became Cadtholic and before I knew I was doing it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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