A Catholic mother can only pray, with sincere hope and trust, that each child will follow God's calling for their lives. I have raised eight children and three of them have seriously considered religious life as their vocation. How does that happen?
I am sincerely convinced that homeschooling my children has allowed my children the foundation and the freedom to explore what God wants them to do with their life, rather than embracing society's expectation of deciding what "they" want to be when they grow up - or in other words considering their future in discernment of vocation, rather than in terms of simply choosing a career.
The word vocation comes from the Latin vocare - "to call." One's vocation is a prayerful response to discerning what it is that God is calling you to do. The Catholic Church recognizes vocations in the states of single, married or religious life. The book Hundredfold is an excellent resource to help parishes encourage vocations as a ministry in the Church.
My children grew up with Catholic prayer at home and regular attendance to weekly Mass. However, their greatest and most meaningful experiences for their discernment were at our Diocesan summer vocations camps called Totus Tuus, and by way of seminary and convent visits. It was there that they got to know sisters and priests as real-live, fascinating, devoted, and fun people!
The first to be called, and my second son, decided to enter the seminary for his first year of college, after a "Come and See" weekend visit to the seminary when he was in high school. Several in our parish had asked him if he had considered becoming a priest, and I had encouraged him to visit the seminary. As he left our home to depart on that trip he was firmly insisting that he would never, not ever, enter the seminary and he came home convicted that he was indeed called to enter the seminary. He stayed for seven months before he discerned out.
What many do not realize about religious life is that there is a period of several years during which the young man in the seminary, or the young woman in the convent, is in a period of continued discernment as to whether or not this is to be their lifelong calling. Sometimes, for whatever reason, individuals are called to live in the environment of religious life as a means of formation for their future, even if their permanent calling is not living their life as consecrated or religious. Final vows are most often 5-6 years after entering an order of religious.
My oldest daughter and third child, named Rachel at birth, and now known as Sister Regina Familiae (Queen of the Family), had an inclination to religious devotion and wisdom from a very young age. When she was only three years old, while her father and I were fighting, she picked up a rosary from which a crucifix had broken off and she spoke firmly and directly to both of us saying: "When you forget about Jesus, you forget about relationship." She participated in the Totus Tuus summer camps for ten years, as participant, leader, and as an adult volunteer. She went on "Nun Runs," organized by our diocesan Vocations Office, visiting several different religious orders - but she was always drawn back to the Servidoras (Servants of the Lord and the Virgin of Matara) which led her to make several visits to the formation house in Washington D.C. She entered the convent on the Feast of the Annunciation, March 25, 2015.
When my daughter entered, everyone was assuming and asking if I missed her, and I honestly had to say no. Yes, she had been my right-hand woman and she had helped me remodel our house, painting and installing flooring, and she had used her natural gifts of precision and expertise to help with landscaping many outdoor projects, and she loved helping with the babies in my 24/7 daycare. But when she announced that she had finally decided to enter the convent at age 23, I knew that she had spent at least six hours a week in Adoration and went to daily Mass for many, many months - all in discernment and prayer as to what God was calling her to do. So I knew she was right where God wanted her to be, so how could I miss her? Now her religious sisters and the Catholic families they serve, are enjoying the skills she learned at home - the sisters call her the baby whisperer (she holds babies and calms them at every chance she gets), and she continues to love gardening and painting the convent, along with her many other apostolates which have included teaching youth religious formation, visiting the elderly at nursing homes, and missionary work in the US and Guyana. Her religious family of sisters are the most joyful group of women I have ever known!
The youngest of my eight children participated in Totus Tuus a few months ago and he felt a strong calling to the priesthood while he was in prayer at Adoration during the summer camp. He is at this moment (as I write this post) on the "Come and See" seminary weekend visit. Funny thing is that when we visited the seminary, sixteen years ago when his older brother was there, the rector was already trying to recruit this one, my youngest boy, who was only a couple months old and yet a baby in my arms...Time will tell if I will one day be writing a post to say, "When your son becomes your FATHER..."
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