National Vocation Awareness Week is January 9-14, 2012. We've recently seen two interesting vocation stories from Little Sisters. You can check them out here...

A daughter's vocation

originally published in the newsletter of St Joseph's Home, Palatine, Illinois

Fifteen years ago our daughter, Christy, walked around the grounds of St. Joseph’s Home with Sr. Mary Timothy praying the rosary for vocations. On August 28, 2011 in La Tour, France, those prayers were answered as Sr. Mary Christine of the Cross professed perpetual vows as a Little Sister of the Poor.

Christy was thirteen when she reluctantly joined a friend to volunteer at St. Joseph’s Home. This was part of the fulfillment of required service hours for school. She instantly fell in love with the Little Sisters and their mission to serve the elderly poor (continue reading).

Finding my way in the Back Bay

originally published in the Boston Pilot, December 9, 2011

In a few weeks I’ll celebrate twenty-five years of consecrated life. A jubilee is a time for remembering, giving thanks and rekindling the inner flame of love. Memories bring me back to Boston, where I spent my college years and where my vocation took shape. To be honest, when I arrived on campus as a freshman I already knew the Little Sisters of the Poor and felt a strong—but reluctant—attraction to their way of life; but the next four years were decisive in my vocation journey.

As soon as we pulled up in front of my dorm on moving-in day, I noticed the bright red door of the brownstone across the street. A sign read, “The Catholic Center at Boston University.” I was psyched—interiorly, at least. I didn’t know if it would be cool to be perceived as religious by my peers, so in the beginning I was fairly discreet about practicing my faith. The first semester I attended the 10:00 p.m. candlelight Mass every Sunday because I felt more or less anonymous in the quiet darkness of Marsh Chapel. But before long I was attending the packed 6:00 p.m. folk Mass, and then daily Mass. Eventually I became a Eucharistic minister. From these experiences I came to love the Church. I also grew more comfortable publicly witnessing to my faith (continue reading).