A prayer for vocations, a prayer for friendship

By Sr. Diana Rawlings, ASC
Catholic Online

Sr. Kathleen was a petite Irishwoman who walked slowly and delivered one-liners quickly.

"Be good or else," she'd tell me. "I'll be else."

She listened closely, prayed often and always won Bingo.

A retired English teacher, the literature Sr. Kathleen had shared with generations of children kept pulsing in her mind. She'd recite Robert Frost's poem "The Road Not Taken" over soup lunch with a faraway look in her eyes.

When Sr. Kathleen entered the convent, the road she took wasn't solitary. In 1965 there were 179,954 religious sisters in the U.S, according to the Center for Applied Research in the Apostolate. By 2005 that number had fallen 62 percent to 68,634 sisters.

Meanwhile, the number of U.S. priests fell 27 percent from 58,632 to 42,528.

Religious life has become a bona fide less-traveled road.

As the statistics have changed, so too has our attitude. When Sr. Kathleen was a girl, her mother told her she could become a nun if she kept her room clean. Religious life was a reward for good behavior, the way a PlayStation or an extended curfew currently functions. Now I talk to parents who worry when their children contemplate religious life, fearing it'll be a lonely one.

This is the reality we ponder on April 29, the World Day of Prayer for Vocations. As we unite in this important prayer, I humbly suggest a supplement: forge friendships with the religious. Take that priest or nun at arm's length and draw them into a handshake and a conversation.

Get to know them.

Many more Catholics would consider religious life if we demystified it. It's difficult for a young woman to relate to nuns if she thinks they lead perfect lives, with straight postures and no fun. It's hard for a young man to see himself as a priest when he has no idea how Father Wilson spends his week outside Sunday Mass.

So I'll get the conversation started. I root for the Cornhuskers, have a weakness for Snickers, love to travel and am sorely behind on my cross stitch projects.

There are days when I think it'd be nice to be a wife or a mother. But most days, I feel totally fulfilled by the large, loving family I've acquired as a member of the Adorers of the Blood of Christ. They have stretched me, supported me and sustained me.

I don't lead an archaic life. I couldn't get by without e-mail and I can create a spiffy Power Point presentation. I keep up on current events and debate their ramifications in lively dinner conversations with my sister Adorers.

At the same time, I'm guided by the church's ancient wisdom. As an Adorer, I've discovered a peace the world cannot give. It is, quite certainly, the life for me.

So I lift up my voice with Sr. Kathleen in her soft chorus:
"Two roads diverged in a wood, and I -
I took the one less traveled by,
And that has made all the difference."

___________________

Sister Diana Rawlings, ASC, is the Vocations Director for the U.S. Region of the Adorers of the Blood of Christ. For information about LifeChoices®, contact Sr. Diana Rawlings at rawlingsd@adorers.org or 877-236-7377(ADORERS ).

The Adorers of the Blood of Christ is an international congregation founded in Italy by St. Maria De Mattias.

Some 1,850 Sisters now minister in 27 nations on all the continents in the areas of education, health care, spiritual development and social justice. Nearly 400 ASC sisters minister in 17 of the United States and in Korea, Bolivia, Guatemala and Rome, making it the largest of the international congregation's nine provinces. U.S. Region headquarters are in St. Louis, Mo.

Contact

Adorers of the Blood of Christ
http://www.adorers.org MN, US
Sr. Diana Rawlings - Vocation Director, 651 365-1334

Email

krystaniznick@comcast.net

Keywords

vocations

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