Dear God, Not Me!
Sr. Paula, M.S.

As I reflect back to my calling to become a religious I feel my parents deep faith had a great deal of influence. I witnessed daily how their faith was so much part of their life. Also, growing up in the Irish Settlement helped me to see God in all the simple ways He comes to us each day. I had opportunities for quiet reflection on my family’s farm when I walked in the timer near the North River or went to go milk the cows.

I attended a public grade school, was not very studious and had greater interest in being outside to help with the chores. My parents sacrificed a great deal to send my brothers and sisters and I to a Catholic high school names St. Joseph Academy. They drove back and forth each weekend to the school so we could board in town.

I was very familiar with priests and religious since I had two cousins who were priests and two more cousins who were religious. I’m sure seeing them and talking about them with my family affected me more than I realized. One of my cousins said his first Mass at my home parish, St. Patrick’s Irish Settlement, a few years before I entered the convent. This was quite an honor for the small parish of 45 families.

My call to the religious life began near the end of my junior year of high school. It seemed like the Lord was haunting me. I would think of religious life at the strangest times…when I went on a date or was having a good time with my friends. I tried to block it our of my mind but it would keep coming back. I said “Lord, there is no way I can lead their secluded life. I’d go crazy!” Eventually I gave into His beckoning. I thought I’d try it and see what happened because I had lost my peace of mind trying to avoid it.

I learned about the Marian Sisters through a Blessed Virgin Mary Sister, Sr. Mary Wilma Rita at St. Joseph Academy. She was my homeroom teacher at the time. She and some of the other sisters from her order hoped I would join their community. However, I wasn’t comfortable joining a community of a couple thousand sisters. Sr. Mary Wilma Rita mentioned a new community that had been founded in Lincoln, called the Marian Sisters of the Diocese of Lincoln. She had heard of the community from her blood sister who was a religious teaching in Lincoln. I made a visit to my pastor and soon after that I entered.

 

"I want to be just like her"
Sr. Janelle, M.S.

Many things happened on bright sunny days at recess on the St. Mary’s playground, but none quite like the day we had a postulant observing our class. The happiness that penetrated her soul seemed to grab my attention at first glance. I was probably playing jump rope or kick ball when I caught a glance of her. I smiled. When she smiled back, I had my first thought of becoming a sisters. “One day I want to be just like her; I want to be a nun.” Many years came and went and that thought would recur over and over in my heart.

I was not a St. Therese by any means, and I soon decided that I wanted to make lots of money and have lots of children when I grew up.

High school ideals steered me toward a future in Psychology until I made a TEC in my junior year. I was so impressed with the sisters who were on the TEC, that my experience as a first grader was repeated and reinforced. “I want to be just like her; I want to be a nun.”

Again, my ardor cooled and I went to UNL to study psychology, but nothing seemed to satisfy me. I spent time in prayer and the Lord rewarded me by showing me that His plan was better than mine, and that I could be happy serving Him as a sister.

 

 

 

Memories of Christmas
Sr. Patricia, M.S.

If I would choose a time that could illustrate the ideal of life in a religious community, it would have to be Christmas.

The days leading up to Christmas seem to be charged with excitement, expectation, and joy. Everyone is working together in preparation for the coming of the Christ Child, Who will once again be born in our hearts. It’s especially at moments like these that I really feel the meaning of community. Everyone is trying to help out in any way they can with the baking, cleaning, or decorating.

Christmas Eve is the most special and emotional time for me. As we gather together in the dining room for shared prayer, I feel a tremendous unity with my religious sisters and also with the Universal church. By giving thanks and praise to God, and asking His blessings on our families, friends, benefactors, and the leaders of the Church and our world, we are sharing our hearts with each other. That is what life in community is about!