Study And Discernment.

[Spem in alium]

I am in a similar situation, as I have roughly 2.5 years before I could see myself entering a community at the earliest, because I'm currently working and need to finish out university after that.  When all is said and done I shouldn't have any debt.  The place I dearly wish to join requires young men to finish some kind of course of studies before entering their community.  I need those years for discernment anyways - it hasn't been long since I have felt the call.  Unfortunately it is probably going to be the summer of 2015 before I could visit due to it being overseas, but I do hope to spent a solid month there.

 

I don't anticipate study interfering with my discernment, because I find that the more I pray the more productive I become.  Well, at least I hope that's how it will continue to work out.

I'm glad you won't be left with debt. It's a pesky thing. And the time sounds like it will work well for you, though it must be hard not being able to visit often. 

I'm similar - prayer and productivity seem to go hand-in-hand for me.
 

[Spem in alium]

See if your community has a ministry in which you could be an employee - live-in if possible - until you've managed to pay off the debt.  A number of our young sisters have been able to do that, and it was an advantage in every way.  The loan was cleared, and they were able to stay in contact and consideration of the life in a way that would not have been possible in an outside and probably secular position.

 

For those in the U.S., the Laboure Society has a program for discerners who are hampered by loans, which has become a common problem today.  There may be something similar where you are.

 

Blessings and best wishes to all.  The road to religious life can seem endless at times, but looking back it will have been worth it.

Oh wow, this is a great idea - thank you! One of their ministries is the running of an aged care facility. I'm doing some pastoral care training at the moment, and when I mentioned this to the vocations director she said it would be really useful for them if I ever wanted to help there (though I think she was meaning a volunteer capacity). I will hopefully be going for a week-long stay sometime in the next few months, and was planning to ask the Superior if she has any suggestions as to how I could pay off my debt. 

I'm not really sure if there's an equivalent to the Laboure Society, but can have a look. Here there's not really a generous attitude towards religious vocations, unfortunately.

 

 

[chrysostom]

I should add that my time off now will help me pay for college, but if for some reason I still have outstanding debt when I graduate (and by then I'm assuming I'll be making plans to join my community for postulancy), I will simply work my butt off as soon as I graduate until it's paid off, which would hopefully take no more than an extra year - for my May 2016 graduation that means roughly 3 years from now.  The community I hope to join simply can't take on any debt.  The ideal spirit to do this is in would emulate Jacob labouring joyfully for Rachel.  Hopefully I won't have to wait, though, but that's what's on the table should financial circumstances worsen.

[EmilyAnn]

Thanks Mater. I can relate to your friend's feelings - it has been hard for me at times to focus as I just want to be free to enter. I know I could enter while I still have some study left - if I didn't have a loan, I could even begin Affliancy now with three years of study to go. The way things are going I feel as though this particular order is where I am being called, but at this stage, the only thing really holding me back is my loan. Thankfully, my scholarship should help pay off part of it.

 

I've given the Superior some information about my loan. The way it works is that I don't need to begin paying it back until I earn over a certain amount, but it's unlikely I'd be exceeding the threshold with the stipend I would receive as a religious. It's not been easy discussing my loan with them as I'm not really sure they know how to approach it themselves, and sometimes I worry that they actually don't want me to enter with them. I'll try talking to her again and I'll check out the Knights of Columbus (here I think they are the Knights of the Southern Cross). Do you know how exactly they help with loans?

 

It sounds like the system of loans for you is similar (or possibly the same) as in the UK. When I was discerning religious life, I was in a very similar situation - I was still at university, and had some student loans as a result.  When I talked to the community I was planning to enter, I was told that my student loans would not be an obstacle because I would never earn over the threshold for repayment - I was going to enter right after I finished university. If the Australian system is as you describe, loans may not even be an issue for you. Talk to them, and maybe other religious you know and see. :)

[Spem in alium]

I should add that my time off now will help me pay for college, but if for some reason I still have outstanding debt when I graduate (and by then I'm assuming I'll be making plans to join my community for postulancy), I will simply work my butt off as soon as I graduate until it's paid off, which would hopefully take no more than an extra year - for my May 2016 graduation that means roughly 3 years from now.  The community I hope to join simply can't take on any debt.  The ideal spirit to do this is in would emulate Jacob labouring joyfully for Rachel.  Hopefully I won't have to wait, though, but that's what's on the table should financial circumstances worsen.

That sounds like a good plan. And it's good that you're trying to adopt a joyful spirit, especially one like Jacob's :) I'll be keeping you in prayer.

 

It sounds like the system of loans for you is similar (or possibly the same) as in the UK. When I was discerning religious life, I was in a very similar situation - I was still at university, and had some student loans as a result.  When I talked to the community I was planning to enter, I was told that my student loans would not be an obstacle because I would never earn over the threshold for repayment - I was going to enter right after I finished university. If the Australian system is as you describe, loans may not even be an issue for you. Talk to them, and maybe other religious you know and see. :)

Thanks for that :) Yeah, I only need to repay my loan once I start earning over the threshold amount, and if I never do that then I never need to repay it. The Superior told me the amount the Sisters receive as a stipend, and if I recall correctly it's a little below the threshold. In that situation, I don't think I would need to pay it back, but they seem a little uncertain - I think it's hard for them in my situation as they're relatively new to the idea of having young Australian women with loans wanting to enter :) The other order I'm in contact with doesn't worry about loans, but when I've asked them about loans in general they've not really given me much information. I should be getting enough money from my scholarship to fund repayments, and I'm happy to try and pay it if that's what I need to do...though I would rather not have to pay it back so that I could save my money and use it for something else, like research trips :) 
 

[LaPetiteSoeur]

When I started university, I was sure I was going to enter a teaching community, and was going to enter right after graduation. I started a French education program and was going graduate with no debt (state college yippee)

 

Because the community I was looking into was far away, I called the local sisters and asked if I could volunteer with them in any way. They needed a tutor for three refugees at their high school--it was perfect, since the students' first language was French! I got more involved with these sisters and they helped me in discernment. I still studied and worked, but a few times a month would volunteer with them. 

 

Fast forward a year and a half later and suddenly medication and brain scans and no longer can I enter a teaching community. I immediately lost contact with those sisters, but the sisters I had been with here supported me during that weird period of change.

 

It's a balancing act--as most things in university are.  I'd try to see what you want to do and how it fits into your schedule. Communication with the religious order is key! 

[Spem in alium]

When I started university, I was sure I was going to enter a teaching community, and was going to enter right after graduation. I started a French education program and was going graduate with no debt (state college yippee)

 

Because the community I was looking into was far away, I called the local sisters and asked if I could volunteer with them in any way. They needed a tutor for three refugees at their high school--it was perfect, since the students' first language was French! I got more involved with these sisters and they helped me in discernment. I still studied and worked, but a few times a month would volunteer with them. 

 

Fast forward a year and a half later and suddenly medication and brain scans and no longer can I enter a teaching community. I immediately lost contact with those sisters, but the sisters I had been with here supported me during that weird period of change.

 

It's a balancing act--as most things in university are.  I'd try to see what you want to do and how it fits into your schedule. Communication with the religious order is key! 

Nice to see you :)

It definitely is a balancing act. I'm just desperate to spend more time with them. I love visiting them for retreat days and weekends, but that isn't really enough time for me to get to see them at work and to spend sufficient time in common prayer. I've contacted the Superior about staying a week with them and am just waiting for her to respond. Hopefully it will work out.
 

Communication's definitely another issue - I want to try and stay in touch with them as much as possible especially as I don't see them too regularly, but I don't want to bug them either.

[Carla]

For me it is perfect because  i'm going to Catholic collage so when i want to visit Sisters i can even miss the classes:)