Vocational testimonies
God guides each of our lives very personally in order to help us to discover his perfect plan for us. The question is: Are we paying attention?
We asked three sisters the question:
“What’s one way in which Divine Providence guided your vocation story?”
Here are their answers:
“We know that all things work for good for those who love God, who are called according to his purpose.” (Romans 8:28)
I also experienced this reality in my life very tangibly. When I was just three years old, my father worked every day in a neighboring city, about a 45-mile drive one way. Then he got glaucoma in one of his eyes and eventually lost this eye, which made driving difficult. In this situation, my parents decided it was necessary to move to another city, closer to his job. Therefore, the family and all seven children moved there. This move, which was at first difficult and accompanied by many challenges, brought the greatest blessing into our life later on. My brother and I were attending kindergarten, and it happened that the mother of one of our classmates invited my mother to a Schoenstatt event. On the other hand, my older siblings were also introduced into Schoenstatt through the parish youth groups they attended. Schoenstatt then became part of our life. I was able to grow with the girls’ branch and eventually heard God’s calling for me to become a Schoenstatt Sister of Mary. The sickness of my father, which was at first devastating, became the open door for us to receive the greatest blessing: Schoenstatt.
“It can’t be the meaning of your life to deal only with numbers forever.”
Each vocation story, be it to marriage, consecrated life, or single life, fascinates me. In his divine providence, God arranges the way for each one in such a unique and original form. In my case, I do not remember the exact hour of God’s call like St. John did. St. John tells us: “It was about four in the afternoon” (John 1:39). But during all my life I have a very vivid memory of where I was and what I was doing when God initiated some special vocation thoughts consciously in me. I was employed at a bank in Germany and rotated around the different departments. One particular day, I was working at the machine that printed out the bank statements. I was sitting in front of this huge, loud machine that took up the entire small room, feeding it with the necessary information, when the thought captured my heart and mind: “It can’t be the meaning of your life to deal only with numbers forever.” From that day on, the search for my true vocation began. After a period of discernment, I decided to become a lay missionary in Africa or Latin America through our diocese.
When I told my mother my decision, she respected and accepted it, but she thought it would be better for me to join a community. Today, I gratefully say that God’s providence spoke through her at that time. I let her advice sink in and mature in me. Since I was acquainted with the Schoenstatt Sisters and knew that they also have sisters working as missionaries, I talked to one of our bank’s clients – a Schoenstatt Sister. This was also surely arranged by Divine Providence!
Later on I participated in a big general youth workshop that was organized by the diocese during Holy Week and that ended with the celebration of the Easter Vigil. This retreat was another gift of God’s providence. It confirmed my decision. On a beautiful autumn day in October I traveled to Schoenstatt, Germany, and filled out the papers to enter our sisters’ community as a missionary. Divine Providence guided my way to America, where a door opened for me to spend many years doing missionary work in Mexico.
“That’s where we all belong!”
When I was chatting with an older person recently, she mentioned that several acquaintances had passed away since we last talked. I tried to delicately console her by saying, “Well, let’s pray that they get to heaven really soon.” To my surprise, she did not respond with sadness. Rather, she replied enthusiastically, “That’s where we all belong!”
This – that we all are made for heaven – was a strong factor in my vocation discernment. As I neared the end of high school and wondered what direction I should take in my future studies, Divine Providence stirred within me a nagging question: What really matters in life anyway? There are many things that are important, but what is the most important? I came to realize that when all is said and done, the only thing that really matters is eternal life with God. That realization, however, did not yet mean that I recognized my vocation in life.
It was only after I encountered the Schoenstatt Sisters of Mary that I seriously considered whether consecrated life was my vocation. Thus, looking back, I can see that Divine Providence used a two-pronged approach for me: From within, the “nagging” question of what is most important in life and from without, encountering the Schoenstatt Sisters of Mary and learning about Schoenstatt’s mission to lead us all homeward to the Father. Through the sisters I gradually discovered how God and the Blessed Mother wanted me to dedicate my life to this grand goal of helping many people reach that place “where we all belong!”