Prioress shares ‘immense peace and joy’ of vocation
By Wendy Shaw
Don’t be afraid!
That was just one of the heartfelt messages from Carmelite Prioress Mother Teresa Benedicta OCD to women of the Archdiocese who are looking deeper into the vocation of religious life.
“If you are sensing a call to follow Christ more closely in religious life, trust in His love and in His choice of you, and step out in faith,” Mother Teresa Benedicta urged, following the latest installment of the Archdiocese of Hobart’s vocations series, Perspicere, at the Carmelite Monastery in Launceston on 16 May.
Six women, some from Hobart and others from the Launceston area, attended the day.
The Prioress said she hoped the women came to a deeper understanding that a religious vocation is essentially a positive choice, not simply a series of renunciations.
She went on: “People often think of our vows in negative terms—not getting married and having one’s own children, not having one’s own material possessions, not being able to determine for oneself one’s work or other choices etc—but each of the vows is essentially positive, whereby a religious loves God with an undivided heart, giving her entire capacity for love to God alone, reserving the mystery of her most intimate self for God rather than for another person; living radically on divine providence and so witnessing to the fact that God is the human person’s only real treasure; and finally, allowing the Lord to choose for us in a life of filial dependence on God that creates tremendous freedom to do God’s will not our own in all things.
“I also hope the young women sensed the beauty of being called to follow Christ in a community of Sisters in the Lord, which is one of the distinctive marks of religious life but which may differ to some other forms of consecrated life, such as hermits.
“It is a wonderful blessing to share one’s life with like-minded Sisters who share one’s own love for the Lord and the Church, who can support each other in our quest for holiness and who are here to help us flourish humanly as well as spiritually in our struggles as well as our joys.
“It is a great source of encouragement to know we don’t make the journey alone.”
Attendees gained a fascinating insight into Carmelite spirituality via ‘a day in the life’ testimonies.
Mother Teresa Benedicta said that if a call to religious life is rooted in Jesus’ loving gaze on the person called, then a day in the life of a Carmelite may be described as continually ‘living under Jesus’ gaze’.
“This picks up a wonderful theme in Carmelite spirituality,” she said.
“Our foundress, St Teresa of Avila, says that ‘though we are always in the presence of God … the manner is different with those who practice prayer, for they are aware that He is looking at them’.
“So, our daily life is like a finely balanced harmony of different elements which form a supporting structure that help us to remain aware that God is looking at us with love at every moment of the day – and to return that look of love.”
The Prioress said other steps those discerning a vocation can take include finding a priest or religious who is joyful and strong in their vocation and “speaking with them about what you are sensing the Lord may be inviting you to, and most of all, spend time in silent prayer, listening to the Lord in the depths of your heart and asking Him to make His will clear to you. He won’t fail you.”
Mother Teresa Benedicta said one of the most common objections people make when a young person follows a religious vocation is that such a choice is a waste of one’s talents, and indeed of one’s life.
However, she argued persuasively that “nothing is wasted when someone gives their entire life to God. And the whole Church is enriched and beautified by such an extravagant outpouring of love given to Jesus”.
“This is the essence of our vocation and like every fulfilled and joyful religious, I am delighted to say I am ‘wasting’ my life out of love for the Lord and that such a life is the source of immense peace and joy for each of us who walk this path, and for the whole Church,” she added.
Director of Youth Evangelisation Darcy Rogers said the Perspicere (meaning ‘to look through’ or ‘to look further’) event at Carmel was “fantastic”.
The women who attended “came from varying perspectives and stages of life”.
As well as formation talks, there was time for recreation, adoration and benediction “with Holy Hour dedicated to praying for current and future vocations of religious life and the participants and where the Lord might be calling them”, he said.
“These young women are examples of hope for the whole Archdiocese,” Darcy added.
Two more Perspicere events are scheduled for later this year—one focusing on marriage on 15 August and another on single life on 3 October. Further details will be released closer to the events.