It was only as a junior in high school when my mother enrolled me in RCIT, the Rite of Christian Initiation for Teens, to receive the Sacrament of Confirmation, that I found my relationship with God again. I received a warm and loving welcome from my teachers and our incredible pastor, despite not knowing much about the faith, which broke through the first layers of my hardened heart.

 

An ever-deepening desire to know Jesus grew in my heart as I began going to youth group, retreats, and events at the parish to learn as much as I could about the faith. The more I learned about God, the more I grew to love Him in a personal way. I came to understand that only with God could I experience the most profound joy and steadfast peace in my heart. Thus, my relationship with Christ became the center of my life as I graduated from high school and entered college. As I was finishing up my Bachelor’s degree in Psychology, with the intention of entering a Master’s Program for Occupational Therapy, a sudden and mysterious attraction to religious life arose in my heart. Questions began to arise: “Can I really pursue this career for the rest of my life?” and “Do I actually want to pursue this?” I had been going on “autopilot” for most of my college career and when I finally slowed down and brought these questions to prayer, the idea of religious life rose up in my heart. The idea that the Lord might actually ask me to pursue a vocation to religious life terrified me. The Lord was, however, patient and persistent with me as I struggled to understand the new stirrings in my heart.

 

At first, I ignored the Lord’s initial promptings to discern religious life out of fear of the unknown, and I continued forward with my original plan of pursuing graduate school. By God’s Providence, during my final year of undergrad, the Lord surprised me by putting a religious sister in full habit in one of my classes. I felt drawn immediately to befriend this sister and take this opportunity to learn more about religious life. Despite this clear sign from the Lord, and the beautiful new friendship with this religious sister, I continued persuading myself that I was on the right path in pursuing my graduate studies and labored away at my applications. It took many restless nights for me to realize, however, that I had lost all of my peace and joy in the direction I was going.

 

Through much encouragement from various mentors and priests that God might really be calling me to religious life and because of my lack of peace, I took a leap of faith- I withdrew all of my graduate school applications and finally gave Jesus my “yes” to begin discerning religious life. I knew I had made the right decision when, after canceling an interview with my top choice for OT school, I felt the most profound peace and joy immediately flood my heart. I realized that it was only when I admitted and accepted within myself that I had a real and profound attraction to religious life that I was able to regain my peace. Soon after giving my yes to God, I providentially met the Franciscan Sisters of the Renewal and fell in love with the community’s hands-on work with the poor, Eucharistic prayer life, and community life. Several years later and by the grace of God, I joyfully entered the community on September 12, 2025 as a Postulant!

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