savvy Posted December 26, 2012 Share Posted December 26, 2012 Merry Christmas everybody! As you know I have been discerning with the Monastic community of Jerusalem. They told me to take a look at other contemplative communities/monastic communities because they want me to be sure of what I want and sure that I have a call to their community. I have seen a whole lot of active communities. I have been to Carmel, and spoke to another monastic community, and both of them told me that they do not think I should go shopping with a contemplative vocation. If my heart is set on something, I should just focus on them. Even then the Carmel told me they would be open to let me visit for a few days. They told me I was trying to live with a different guy for sometime, just to try things out. The thing I am just looking at other communities, because I was told to, not because I want too. I have decided to talk to the Jerusalem community and tell them I just want to focus on them, and will do whatever it takes to qualify, whether it's learning French, learning to cook etc. I would appreciate feedback on this. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AnneLine Posted December 26, 2012 Share Posted December 26, 2012 I think you did what you were told to do... and it's time to do what your heart is telling you to do. You're also obediently telling the Monastic Community of Jerusalem the feedback from those other communities. My 2 cents.... and more than 2 cents worth of prayers.... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rosa immaculata Posted December 26, 2012 Share Posted December 26, 2012 Ave Maria! Dear Savvy, I am surprised by this kind of attitude towards a discerner, but surely the sisters gently advised you... Anyway, I totally 1) understand you: in some cases a vocation reveals itself by a strong attraction to one order, perhaps THE order (It is my case too), and 2) your idea to tell the sisters your intention to discern seriously with them! I think that if you gently but clearly say that to them, they will understand that you are not following a fancy or a superficial attraction but that you are perhaps called in their order and above all, that you need to discern with them, whatever will happen in the future; religious orders have a duty to help discerners, even if they are not called to their order... Anyway, you did good when you went to see other orders, and if you are yet attracted by the Jerusalem Community, it is a very good sign and now IT IS TIME :) I pray for you (I suppose you are in connection with the Montréal Community...) and I am sure the sisters will underestand you: they have had the same feelings as you... Merry Christmas! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Maravillas Posted December 26, 2012 Share Posted December 26, 2012 Hi Savvy! I think that you did what was right by trying other communities, but if your heart is set, no need to go on. As Rosa said previously, tell the Jerusalem community that you don't want to discern with any other community. I'm sure they will understand. They can't want you to be a perpetual discerner! I've had myself kind of the same experience with my parents. They thought the Carmel I am called to is "too strict" so they wanted me to go and see some others, to be sure I'm really free in my decision. I did visit 2 others, but my heart is really set and it didn't make me change my mind! =) I think it's just a way to be reassured about somebody's vocation, and to know where this person is in the discernment process. It's not the way I see things, but I understand that some people do believe it may helps. Anyway, it was just my opinion, take it or leave it =) I keep you in my prayers, because discerning is never easy! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
savvy Posted December 26, 2012 Author Share Posted December 26, 2012 Thanks for all your prayers and insights. I will be talking to one of the sisters tomorrow, and I will tell her exactly how I feel. My Renewed Seasonal wishes to everybody. :) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
petitpèlerin Posted December 27, 2012 Share Posted December 27, 2012 Ooh, Jerusalem! I first saw them at Mont St Michel this spring. Indescribably beautiful. I also saw them in Paris. Their presence in the city is of course something profound and beautiful, but their presence in the church atop Mont St Michel, after hiking all the way up, at the end of a long journey and it feels like you've arrived at the top of the world, and there is this spectacular, ancient church that scrapes heaven, and there are these beautiful monks and sisters keeping watch, praising God in the eternal liturgy. One of the more impressive moments of my life. Jerusalem is a rather unique vocation. It seems to me that would only help make discerning it easier one way or the other. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FutureCarmeliteClaire Posted December 27, 2012 Share Posted December 27, 2012 I think you did what you were told to do... and it's time to do what your heart is telling you to do. You're also obediently telling the Monastic Community of Jerusalem the feedback from those other communities. My 2 cents.... and more than 2 cents worth of prayers.... Totally agree. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TheresaThoma Posted December 27, 2012 Share Posted December 27, 2012 Just some random thoughts here. Maybe this was a little test of your vocation just to make sure that you had really considered your options. Have you visited other communities before? Its possible that they wanted to make sure you truely felt called to their specific community rather than you feel called to religious life in general and they just happened to be the first community you found. I know it was helpful for me early in my own discernment to go visit a community that I really didn't feel attracted to just to learn the difference between being attracted to the life in general and called to a certain community. I agree with the advice of going back to the community with what you have learned from contacting other communities and that you now want to seriously discern with them. Prayers for you as you take this step! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
savvy Posted December 27, 2012 Author Share Posted December 27, 2012 Just some random thoughts here. Maybe this was a little test of your vocation just to make sure that you had really considered your options. Have you visited other communities before? Its possible that they wanted to make sure you truely felt called to their specific community rather than you feel called to religious life in general and they just happened to be the first community you found. Hi Theresa, I have visited active communities. This was the first contemplative community, I discerned with. I spoke to the sister today, and she told me, that I should think of this as a to-do list. The prioress has a concern that their rythmn might be a bit fast paced for me, so she wants me to see if I can find, a rythmn that would fit me. She said, she isn't saying No, she just wants me to try, and do the things on my list, which would be useful if I were to join any community. IMO it has nothing to do with the community, but this is just my pace. I found a right balance with this community, because I can't live in a cloister, I need more interaction and an outlet. So, you could say, my personality is somewhere in the middle, between a complete A and a passive B. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
petitpèlerin Posted December 27, 2012 Share Posted December 27, 2012 (edited) The Contemplative Sisters of St John are another community that is fully contemplative (no apostolic work) but has some contact with the outside world, especially with their apostolic brothers and sisters. I partied hard with them all day today, the feast of St John. :) On the other hand, their apostolic sisters are semi-active/semi-contemplative. I had always thought of them as being "active" but I've been noticing lately that the "contemplative" part takes priority. Edited December 27, 2012 by petitpèlerin Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
savvy Posted December 27, 2012 Author Share Posted December 27, 2012 (edited) The Contemplative Sisters of St John are another community that is fully contemplative (no apostolic work) but has some contact with the outside world, especially with their apostolic brothers and sisters. I partied hard with them all day today, the feast of St John. :) On the other hand, their apostolic sisters are semi-active/semi-contemplative. I had always thought of them as being "active" but I've been noticing lately that the "contemplative" part takes priority. They come across a lot like the Jerusalem community. I could give them a try. Do they have an e-mail i.d. Happy Feast of St. John ! Edited December 27, 2012 by savvy Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
savvy Posted December 27, 2012 Author Share Posted December 27, 2012 On second thoughts, I will just stick to Jerusalem. If it works out it does, if not it's in God's hands. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
petitpèlerin Posted December 27, 2012 Share Posted December 27, 2012 Thank you! Happy feast to you, too! I would also recommend the Community of Bethlehem, they're similar to Jerusalem in many ways, but they are truly cloistered so probably not what you're looking for. I can see the wisdom in what they're asking you to do: to visit other communities and just see what you learn from those experiences. It is possible to be focused on one community because it's the most attractive to you, but not necessarily the right one for you. I've been in that situation, but had to be patient and open, and in time I realized why that community is not the life I'm called to live, as profoundly attracted as I am to it. It has many of the elements of my vocation, and in beautiful splendor, but not all of them. Sometimes visiting different communities, imagining yourself in them, and considering what would be right and wrong for you there is the only way to discern. I don't know if that's exactly why you were asked to look around a bit, but maybe it's sort of close. Prayers for your discernment. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AnneLine Posted December 27, 2012 Share Posted December 27, 2012 And sometimes... you are suposed to meet someone -- or they to meet you -- during your discernment. You never know what God has in mind, but if they have asked you to do it, I'd trust the process.... especially if it is something that is a bit of a sacrifice for you. Gives you something to give God.... and it is all about obeying what God asks from you. Praying for you... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
savvy Posted December 27, 2012 Author Share Posted December 27, 2012 Petitpe`lerin and and AnneLinne, Thanks for the recommendations and advice. Yes, I agree that it's a possibility that God is testing my patience. I am interviewing for a new job these days too. When I spoke to the Jerusalem Sister, she told me that she had found a place close to them, with someone they know that I could stay with, when learning French. So, I am either looking into moving in March or July as my work schedule permits. And I still have to visit the Carmel again before that. This is the longest I have discerned with a community so far, and I just do not like the whole thought of uncertainity. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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