Liam as Boy Spiderman!
I asked my two year old today, on the eve of his third birthday, what he wants to be when he grows up? “Do you want to be a doctor like Poppa Vince?” I asked.
To which he strongly replied, “No mama I want to be a boy!”
As the Visitation Sisters of North Minneapolis descended on Mankato State University this past weekend to share who they are and what they are about at the Vocation Fair, I am reminded of Fr. Michael Himes’ Three Key Questions* talk he first gave at Boston College, my alma mater. Fr. Himes gracefully puts discernment around vocation into sharp focus with the following three simple, yet complex questions: Does this way of life bring you joy? Are you good at it? Do other people need you to do it?
Fr. Himes believes, as do I, that if you can answer, “yes” to these three key questions you are onto your vocation – in so much that it leads you to becoming more human, and more of who you are called to become in God’s eyes. Or, as St. Francis de Sales put it, “Be who you are and be it perfectly well.” Or, as my two year old stated with emphasis, “I just want to be a boy!”
When I think of my vocation, my calling, my life’s work, at its core it seems to be about creating community. I love bringing people and resources together to do great things, endeavors – that without the synergy of one another – could not be created. Now this for me has taken on many different forms: from working at Jesuit Universities, to writing, to teaching, to tutoring, to working with the sisters, to being a wife, to mothering. The last being one of the most demanding answers to my call I have said wholeheartedly, “yes” to — and sometimes struggle to keep in balance with the other ways my vocation is being called into action. Overall, my vocation gives me joy—that deep-seeded feeling of wholeness. Sure, sometimes I am not always happy, and sometimes I have hard days when I am living out my calling, but overall I live it joyfully.
Happy Birthday to Josh!
And, as I watch the sisters live their vocation, I see them overall live it joyfully; they are one of the most joyous religious groups I have had the privilege to befriend. Take for instance, Wednesday: they hosted a birthday party for their neighbor, Josh, who turned ten. This is not to say that their lives are all about celebration—but through their prayerful presence they do look for moments to name and honor ways to bring about joy. Even if on some rare days it is hard to be the only sister at home to respond to the many needs of the community —as was the case last week when many of them were away for a much needed regrouping time. I can empathize with those left behind to care for all that needs caring for; my husband travels often and I am left at home with three kids four years of age and younger—on these days I sometimes have a hard time living my call to motherhood joyously.
When I worked with college students around discerning their call, we would start with a simple exercise: What did you want to be when you were little? The answer to this seemingly simple question, can offer great insights into your own life. For one colleague of mine, he wanted to be a truck driver, and now he runs international service programs. “What is the connection?” you might ask. The idea of going places, delivering goods, and meeting people was all there in that initial impulse of his as a child. For me, I wanted to be a writer from an early age. I love hearing people’s story, and how they got to where they are, and what they love doing. I love writing about it, researching it, and learning about different ways of being in the world. Writing allows me to do this; writing allows me to create community. I still have my first notebook filled with stories and drawings that I wrote at 7 years old.
Sr. Katherine and a young woman in prayer
As I watch the sisters live their vocation in the urban monastery of North Minneapolis, I am in awe of how their presence and talents create an amazing synergy with their neighbors and with those beyond their neighborhood. Perhaps this is part of the reason why I am attracted to them, and honor and respect their way of life, and truly hope and pray that seven more good visionary women come to join them in these coming days. ….Are you one of these women?
Mother Teresa said, “Many people mistake our work for our vocation. Our vocation is the love of Jesus,” and the Visitation Sisters live this vocation powerfully!
*This talk was later shared with many other Jesuit Universities around their vocations grants funded by Eli Lily Foundation. For more resources, you can also go to The Boston College Intersections Project
[...] and to grow individually and with their relationship with one another. Their connection is one of joy! Joy according to Fr. Himes is the sense of the rightness of the way in which one is living one’s [...]