Chapter 9: My Religious Vocation

Chapter 9: My Religious Vocation

Chapter 9: My Religious Vocation

Chapter 9: My Religious Vocation

Back in the fifties, the religious vocation question was asked frequently. It was a special call that each one was asked to discern whether they thought they had received . I had not thought much about religious vocations while in grade school since I had little contact with the sisters. I do recall one summer Bible School day when we were at recess. The boys would not let us play ball with them, so one of the girls went home and returned with a bat and ball. We then started our own game. One of the boys thought it would be smart to walk back and forth between our batter and pitcher. I walked up to him and slugged him with my fist and then ran away. He was livid and one of the sisters sent him home. In class after that I felt quite proud of my accomlishment. Sister admonished me saying," It's bad enough fighting, but gloating over it!" Soon after that she began to talk about religious vocations. She said that bad girls could not be sisters, then looking at me, she said, "That does not mean fighting."I do not know why I remember this incident. Perhaps it was because of the fight and scolding but also perhaps because of the fact she looked at me when she made the comment on religious vocations.

I also recall sitting in my willow tree one day thinking about Jesus. In my imagination, I thought of him returning to earth, this time to stay longer and looking for a life companion. How I would like to be that person! Then that seemed like an imposssible day dream. As I have frequently looked back on that day, I realized it as the seed for my religioous vocation. Each year I became closer and closer to many of the sisters and I had several friends who were also thinking about becoming religious sisters. Probably by the end of my sophomore year, I began to lean in that direction. During summer vacation, I would ride my bicycle to daily Mass. In my junior year, one of the sisters asked me to teach catechism at our parish to the third graders. This was a wonderful experience for me. My mother was a role model for service as she was always helping the migrants with food, house furnishings or first communion clothes. One summer I was asked to teach the migrant children catechism at the church. . I thought of myself as being like St. Julie who went out into the fields to teach catechism to the workers.

Thus it was that in my senior year, I decided that I would enter religious life. My two friends Sheila and Jo Ann and I joined with the one aspirant Anna Mae in the middle of our senior year. The date was to be February 2, the feast of the Presentation, but due to a high school retreat, they moved the date to January 31, feast of St. John Bosco. Thus we could acclimate to postulant life while the rest of our class made the school retreat. My mother really wanted me to wait until after I graduated, but she said it was my decision reminding me that the door was always open for me to return.

Father O'Toole continued to play a prominent role in our family. When I told him of my decision to enter, he told me that he knew of it. I asked if Sister Marjorida had told him and he answered no, but that God had told him. I looked surprised and then he asked if I thought that the community, Sisters of Notre Dame , was the right one for me. I said it was the only one I knew and that I had friends there. He did not continue to elaborate, but once when he visited me in the novitiate, he said that if I ever needed to talk to him , he was available. When I think back, I realize that he knew better than I how difficult it would be for my free spirit to be encased in all their rules and regulations. But that was something that would take me eighteen years to learn. I was full of zeal and wanted my life to make a difference, I wanted to help the poor and bring about justice and peace in our world.

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