This past week, Alycia, Nicolette, Kristen and I were able to meet all together for a few days, and it was such a blessed time of fellowship and prayer! We were able to recreate, build community, and work on some more things to prepare for religious life. We were also able to go to Mass and pray together. My favorite was praying Evening Prayer together in the small chapel at the radio station where Nicolette works. There was such a sense of unity as we were gathered there together in front of the Blessed Sacrament. It was a glimpse into the future and we all felt the Holy Spirit at work in us, calling us closer and strengthening the call to our vocation.
This trip left me rejuvenated and strengthened anew for the work ahead, and I realized something that I believe will help me in this process. Sometimes I can feel overwhelmed at what needs to be done and feel like there's no way I could ever actually do this. But then, when all four of us are together, everything seems easier. I realized that that's because God called each of us for a different reason. We all bring something different so that we fulfill a specific purpose in the group. When I feel like I can't do it, I remember that I'm not supposed to do it by myself. God called us to do this together. Not because four is better than one, or because we just need four people in order to do this on our own power, but because we support each other in following the Will of God and abandoning ourselves to the movements of His grace in us.
I am reminded of the words of St. Paul in his first letter to the Corinthians: "The body does not consist of one member but of many. If the foot should say , "Because I am not a hand, I do not belong to the body," that would not make it any less a part of the body. ...If the whole body were an eye, where would be the hearing? ...If all were a single organ, where would the body be? As it is, there are many parts, yet one body. The eye cannot say to the hand, "I have no need of you," nor again the head to the feet, "I have no need of you" (1 Corinthians 12:14, 17, 19-21). We all have a place and purpose in the group.
It is the same way in the Church. We are all members of Christ's mystical body with Christ as the head. Each one of us has unquantifiable value for the Church. We all bring our unique gifts to the Body, contributing to the overall functioning of the Church. When we see times of trial in the Church, we must be even more generous with our prayers and talents for we are all members of the same mystical body. We must be faithful to the place we have in the Church, for we cannot fulfill someone else's role. One vocation is not better than another because God has called us each to our own. The vocation God has given us is where we are needed. Some are called to be Priests, others to be religious Sisters or Brothers; some to the married life, and others to the single life. We are all called to support one another in following God's Will for our lives.
In the case of the religious congregation we are seeking to found, we all mutually benefit and support each other in our vocations to the same spirituality and apostolate. I know I can speak for all of us when I say we are very excited to see who God will send to join us and how they will form an irreplaceable role in our congregation. It is important to pray about what we bring to our particular vocations and why we were called to those gifts and not someone else. Let us always be faithful to where God has called us so that the Body of Christ, the Church, will ever be reflective of Christ, her head.
Written by Catherine
