Sister Regina Marie Connor, RSM, and Sister Mary Hanah Doak, RSM

Two Vocations from Denver Return to Lead Young Women's Discernment Retreat

Both Sister Mary Hanah Doak, RSM and Sister Regina Marie Connor, RSM are young women from the Archdiocese of Denver who have discovered their vocations in religious life.  In particular, ENDOW was instrumental in leading Sister Mary Hanah closer to God's will for her happiness:  "I was in an ENDOW women's group on the Regis campus the year before I entered our Community, and the support I had from that group did a great deal to facilitate my response to my vocation," said Sister Mary Hanah.  Her vocation is just one of the many beautiful fruits that have been borne of ENDOW. 

Currently living in Rome and serving within the apostolic mission of the Religious Sisters of Mercy, these two Sisters will be returning to their home Archdiocese to lead a discernment retreat for young women in the fall.  In order to provide a time and place for discernment, they will be leading a silent retreat for women between the ages of 18-35 who are considering a vocation to religious life.  This retreat, held in silence, will include:  community morning and evening prayers, presentations on the Liturgy of the Hours, Lectio Divinia, religious life, and discernment, daily Mass, adoration, opportunities for confession, and opportunities for individual meetings with the Sisters.  (The retreat will be based on the model the Religious Sister of Mercy use for students attending the University of Dallas Rome campus.) 

Silent Discernment Retreat:
Who:  Young women between the ages of 18-35 
When:  Friday, September 5 through Sunday, September 7, 2008
Where:  Mother Cabrini Shrine (20189 Cabrini Blvd., Golden, CO 80401)
Retreat Directors:  Sister Regina Marie Connor, RSM and Sister Mary Hanah Doak, RSM
More information or to register:  Please contact Sister Esther Mary Nickel, RSM by phone at 303-765-4592 (convent); 303-715-3144 (office), or by email at sister.nickel@archden.org.   (The registration deadline is August 29, 2008.)
*Space is limited.

Sister Mary Hanah and Sister Regina Marie shared the following regarding the vocation to religious life:  

If she sets her mind and heart to it, a woman in our society can do almost anything she wants with her life.  There are cascades of possibilities and numerous doors open to her.  A woman discerning her vocation in the Church finds herself in this unique historical situation, one that was perhaps not accessible to her mother or grandmother in the same way.  The woman who is called to religious life, knowing all the options open to her, is faced with an intensely personal experience of choice.  As a Catholic woman, her "choice" of a vocation is in reality a process of discovery.  Her vocation has already been given through the initiative of the Father at the moment of her baptism.

The question becomes, what is God's plan for me?  The response to this question can only be found in prayer.  The answer, whatever it may be, will give her a new way of seeing her life as a pure gift of God.  God not only fulfills our desires by giving us what we most deeply long for, but He makes us grow to see that He truly loves us and has a plan for our lives.  We are completely free to accept or reject that plan. 

Sometimes feeling the call to religious life and responding to it can seem like an experience of death, death to your own plans or to certain dreams.  Whatever your initial reaction to the idea of a religious vocation, it is not wrong.  The important thing is to be open to hear the quiet voice of the Holy Spirit telling you that the Father is calling.  It is not necessary to first change how you feel. Simply rise and go to the Lord as you are, and let Him show you the rest.  The call to religious life is a great gift, but it is one that has to be responded to in the obedience of faith.             

The Gospel of Saint John gives us a poignant example of a woman who was overwhelmed by the person of our Lord, and was extravagant in her response of love:

"Mary took a pound of costly ointment of pure nard and anointed the feet of Jesus and wiped his feet with her hair; and the house was filled with the fragrance of the ointment." (John 12: 3)

If you are discerning a vocation to consecrated life, take the opportunity in your discernment to emulate Mary in her extravagance of love.  Pour out over the feet of Jesus all of your hopes and dreams and let the Church be "filled with the fragrance of the ointment."  To the extent that a woman increasingly embraces the Lord's will in her life, she finds great joy and freedom of heart. 

Prayer, especially prayer before the Blessed Sacrament, is absolutely essential to hearing the call to religious life and being enabled to embrace God's will.  Frequent attendance at Mass, Eucharistic adoration, the Liturgy of the Hours, recitation of the rosary, and intentional times of silence can help a woman be open to the voice of God in her life.