Vocation to Religious Life
You might be thinking that only priests, Brothers and Sisters have a “real” vocation. However, every baptized person has a specific calling, that is, a vocation to a committed relationship that centers your life. This can be through the vocation of marriage, through the vocation of a single person living a life of service, or through the vocation of a woman religious, a religious brother or a priest. Are you seeing yourself somewhere in this picture?
What God desires for us first and foremost is our happiness, the fulfillment of who we truly and uniquely are as God created us. The path of prayer and discernment leads us to the particular way of life to which the Holy Spirit is calling us. Some of us respond to this early in life and others find their authentic calling later in life. By living this call as fully as possible each of us experiences the true joy of coming home to his or herself.
The vocation you pursue and embrace is your primary commitment, your primary relationship and your primary pathway to God. In particular, the vocation to religious life is a God-quest out of which all resulting commitments flow.
One form of religious life is the ministerial life of the Poor Handmaids of Jesus Christ. Our lives, centered in God, are rooted in prayer and are informed by our vowed commitment and the bonds of community. As we embrace the adventure of religious life we express our love in service by partnering with others in responding to the needs of the whole community of life.
We offer an integrated life of prayer, ministry and community expressed through our charism, our vision and the sharing of our gifts to contribute to the reality of the reign of God in our time.
If you are interested in contacting the Poor Handmaids or pursuing a process of discernment with us, please connect with Sr. Connie Bach, PHJC.
