Growing up, were you taught about different vocations? Did that help you be open to your own calling?

I was not very familiar with any vocations outside of marriage and the priesthood. It wasn’t until college that I attended a FOCUS (Fellowship of Catholic University Students) conference in San Antonio, Texas, and met a religious sister for the first time. The following month, some Sisters of Life happened to be coming to visit my college campus, and this was what started to prepare my heart to be open to the idea of a vocation other than that of marriage.

What did you do for work prior to entering religious life?

I spent two years working in Nashville, Tennessee, at a residential treatment center for those suffering from different forms of drug and alcohol abuse.

What are your hobbies?

Most of my childhood was spent playing different sports, so I love any time that I get to be outside and playing a game. Getting a group of Sisters together for a game of Spikeball or frisbee is my go-to.

When did you first hear the call to be a sister?

In my junior year of college, I flew up to New York for a weekend Come and See retreat with the Sisters of Life, and that began my more serious discernment when I began to perceive the Lord’s invitation to enter religious life.

Can you describe that moment of hearing the call?

The call to religious life did not come for me as some huge moment where God broke into my life and told me the next day that I should become a nun. For me, after college, I began to see that my desire to love the Lord slowly continued to grow and deepen in ways I hadn’t expected, and I noticed that I wanted to keep giving Him more of my life.  

I loved my two years of working after graduation at this treatment center. I found that getting to simply be with people and accompany them in this moment of great vulnerability in the midst of an addiction, and to hold out to them the hope of a life of freedom, made my own heart come alive. While I was working at this treatment center, I was aware that if I could create my own dream job, it would look a lot like this, and yet there was still something missing in my heart.  

Little by little, I came to understand that I felt this desire in my heart to be able to give the Lord everything, to give Him the whole of my life. After visiting the Sisters of Life, I knew that this is where I perceived the Lord calling me, with the charism to protect and enhance the sacredness of human life.

What drew you to the Sisters of Life?

When visiting the Sisters of Life, it was so easy to see that the Sisters were women of deep joy who had the simple desire of wanting to communicate to every human person that they are good and that their life is a gift. When I first met the Sisters, I was surprised by how normal they were. They studied all different things in college, they liked to play sports, they loved to laugh, and it was obvious that they were living not for this world.  

John Cardinal O’Connor, the late Cardinal Archbishop of New York, founded our community and was once asked, “What will the Sisters of Life do?” To this he responded, “They will love, they will love, they will love.” It was so beautiful for me to experience that love is the way of life of the Sisters – that in all things they simply seek to love.

Is there an element of the pro-life movement that really speaks to you?

One thing I love about the pro-life movement is that it is for every person. Everything changes when a person comes to know themself as a gift, and a desire at the heart of every Sister of Life is to communicate to every person that we believe that their life is a gift.

How did your parents and family members respond when you told them you were called to religious life?

Given that we did not grow up with many religious sisters in close proximity to our family, it came as a surprise when I began formally discerning a vocation to religious life, but it has been beautiful being able to invite them into this yes with me.

Was it hard to leave your friends and family to enter? How do you navigate that?  

I have had the great gift of being surrounded by a very close family and many wonderful friends throughout my life. Entering religious life was a huge sacrifice in the reality that my relationships with the people that I love look different compared to when I had a phone and could travel more often. I have been amazed to see how faithful the Lord has been in caring for the people that I love. I have come to know that in His invitation for me to follow Him in this vocation, He would never desire for me to forget the people whose love has shaped me into the person I am today.

Did you have any doubts about entering?

There were many unknowns for me with regards to religious life simply because I did not grow up around any Religious, so the idea of anything other than a vocation to marriage for me was very foreign. Many of the fears that I had were dissolved, especially over the course of my discernment, as I came to understand this vocation more and saw it lived out by the other Sisters.

What do you love the most about religious life?

One of the things I love most about religious life is our community life. It is a gift to live this life alongside other Sisters – from serving together in mission, to playing games together, to ultimately strengthening each other in our desire for holiness and to give ourselves entirely to the Lord of Life.

What do you most look forward to about the future as you continue through the stages of entering?

Something I am looking forward to is who the Lord will continue to cross my paths with in this way of life – people that I never would have had the chance to meet had I not entered.

How long is the whole process to final vows?

In our community, our initial formation consists of about three years: one year of postulancy, and two years of novitiate. After initial formation, we profess our first vows, and typically five years after this a Sister would profess her perpetual (final) vows.

Can you describe what professing your first vows was like?

The day of my First Vows was undoubtedly a day I will never forget. During almost the entirety of the Mass of Profession, I was simply marveling at God’s goodness and His faithfulness to me leading up to that moment. It was a gift to have my family at the Mass, and calling to mind how their love, and the love of many faithful people the Lord has given me, was what allowed me to process down the aisle to the altar to profess these vows. For me, it was a day of great joy, especially to share it with my four other classmates as we have journeyed closely together over these last three years.

Can you describe how you get to contribute to a culture of life through being a sister with the Sisters of Life?

This year I will be living at our Visitation Mission in Manhattan, NY. In this mission, we have the privilege of directly serving women in crisis pregnancies. As Sisters of Life, we believe that every life is sacred, and so we live to try to communicate this to expectant mothers and seek to help them choose life for themselves and for their children. Living in the city, we also get to encounter the people who walk the streets of Manhattan (both pregnant women and others) and simply get to love them. It is amazing to see the people the Lord brings before us each day and the gift it is to have the opportunity to love them.

What would you say to someone who thinks they may be called to religious life but is afraid or unsure?

I would say that I have experienced the truth that God is never outdone in generosity. Yes, there are many sacrifices and many unknowns that come with entering religious life, but when we believe that God is faithful and that He knows our deepest desires and longs to fulfill them, we can trust that He will give us the grace, little by little, to be able to say yes to Him. One thing  I found most helpful was taking the big step of actually visiting the community and then looking for a priest I trusted who could accompany me in spiritual direction, especially in the context of vocational discernment.

For more information about vocations to priesthood or religious life, click here.

For more information about Respect Life Month, click here.

For more information about the Sisters of Life, click here.