Growing up in Charleston, South Carolina, I was a pretty blessed little kid.
I had a good family: two big brothers and a mom and dad there
who took care of me and provided for my needs.
And we were a Catholic family but not a particularly religious family.
We would go to Mass on Sundays and on certain special occasions but not much beyond that.
We wouldn't pray together as a family except for grace before meals.
And so, I can remember being about six years old, really surprised one morning
when I woke up early and tiptoed downstairs to where my mom was.
She was getting ready for the day.
And I opened her door and she was sitting there
silently
praying a Rosary.
And I felt like I had discovered something secret that I shouldn't be seeing.
And I said, "Oh, sorry," and I started to back out of the room.
And she laughed and she said, "It's OK. You can come in,"
but I was too shocked
that I didn't. I (laughs) just left.
And I can remember thinking about that many times later,
just kind of baffled that my mom had this whole secret life of prayer going on that I never knew about.
And that memory stayed with me.
So we'll fast-forward now to when I was in high school,
I was in a crowd of friends who, on the surface level, I thought they were great.
I thought we were the most popular, having the most fun.
But at the end of each weekend when I would get back home,
and be alone by myself, I just knew that
this group of friends was getting me nowhere fast, if you know what I mean.
I was very blessed to have a religion teacher that year
who was a young man preparing to head off to the seminary the next year to become a priest.
And he challenged all of us—the juniors in high school—what are you living for?
Are you living for yourself?
Are you living for something greater? For someONE greater?
Are you living for Christ?
Are you living for the one who made you?
And so the memory of my mom when I was six years old came back to me and I thought,
"Maybe there's something to this little secret silent prayer
before the day gets going and things are busy."
I started to get up about ten minutes early before school.
It wasn't much but the Lord works with baby steps.
And so I got up and I started reading Scripture.
I had to dust off the Bible. I had never even cracked it open
since I got it for my First Communion, I think, when I was in second grade.
And as I began to go through the Gospels, what I realized was
that they weren't just words on a page.
What I was encountering was a person.
That Jesus Christ had made that appointment with me each morning before school.
And what God did at this time was he used that seminarian who I told you about
to offer me what would turn out to be the greatest adventure of my life.
This young man handed me a newsletter
for the Saint Cecilia Dominicans who are based in Nashville, Tennessee.
And as I looked at this brochure, I thought, "What in the world?!?"
I had never seen sisters really.
I grew up in an area where there weren't many religious present.
And so, as I saw these radiating-ly joyful women in these pictures, I thought, "Is this for real?"
And it was something that I thought I probably have to experience this to believe it.
And so, it's actually after I graduated from high school, I headed off to Nashville just for a weekend visit
and what I found there with these sisters, over 200 women, is that their joy is real,
that it wasn't something they were just faking to get new recruits,
that it actually was something very deep
stemming from a real relationship with Jesus Christ.
And so, I headed off to college at Franciscan University in Steubenville, Ohio
and I made a little deal with God—
now I would caution you against making deals with God because he always wins because he's God.
But the deal went like this:
Lord, let me graduate from school.
Don't let me fall in love in the process because that would just complicate things
and then I'll enter religious life after college.
Well, God always knows better.
And so really, by that first year of college,
I had met a wonderful young man, pretty much head over heels for this guy
and the more I spent time with him, dates we went on, things like that,
I started to push the thought of religious life to the back-burner, for sure.
And the more I did that though, really the more restless I became.
And so, I didn't understand this at first and as I tried to run from it,
my heart became more and more restless to the point where I knew I needed to go back to Nashville,
just to rule it out, you know.
I was starting to say, "Lord, I know I don't have a vocation to religious life
so could you stop bugging me about it?" (laughing)
You know? I went back to Nashville and what happened to me there really surprised me.
I walked in the door and this overwhelming sense of peace and of being home.
It was like, "Oh! This is home."
And that was very strange because I'd only been there once for a weekend before this
but that sense of being home never left me during those few days that I was there.
And as I left that convent, I knew the answer.
I knew I still had to make a very difficult move when I got back to college
because the young man I was dating was waiting to hear about this time in Nashville.
And when I had to tell him, "You know I love you.
You know I could see a future with you.
I don't understand it completely but I believe God is calling me to religious life.
At least now, I don't know if it's forever. I have to follow him."
And this young man was incredibly supportive.
Sure, I broke his heart and that broke my heart
but in that, God was right there
and he was saying, "You know what? My heart broke first when I was on Calvary
and my heart was literally pierced for you and blood and water flowed out
and that soldier and the Blessed Mother and everyone there witnessed it.
That was for you. I loved you personally as my heart broke for you.
Will you let your heart break so that it can grow?"
And in that break and in the difficulties over the months ahead,
God was there every step of the way.
And so for those of you listening who are thinking,
"Oh gosh, (laughs) I think this might be me. I think I might have the same stirring,"
be not afraid
because while this life is not always easy, it is always blessed.
Those of you who were made to give your heart entirely to God in priesthood or religious life,
yes, it will be a life of sacrifice, but every vocation is.
Jesus Christ said, "Take up your cross and follow me."
But if you do that with courage, you can be assured you will meet Christ under that cross
and God is never outdone in generosity.
Be not afraid to entrust yourself to the Lord through his Blessed Mother and to all of the angels and saints.
And what you will find as you respond generously to his call,
is that you have embarked upon a great adventure full of joy and freedom.