I can’t identify one single moment in which I knew that I had a vocation to religious life. Instead, God has whispered to me throughout every season of my life. Having spent my high school years in ministry, I picked a Catholic college with the intention of keeping the faith I had developed. Instead, as my college years progressed, I found myself lost, alone, and fallen away from the Church.

Yet God wasn’t finished with me. I found friends who encouraged me to go to Confession, and by God’s grace (and to my surprise!), I ended up in the confessional of my childhood parish priest who had long since retired. I met another young woman discerning religious life, and the prospect of a religious vocation began to feel real for the first time.

I’ve felt the pursuit of God every step of the way, even when I had turned away from Him during my undergraduate years. I have been loved endlessly and unconditionally, and I know now that I must show that same love to others.

During a vocations retreat, I met the Daughters of Mary, Help of Christians. After a few meetings and interactions, I eventually decided to discern with them, because with them I have felt seen, known, and loved.

God has shown me that I am made to work with young people, to walk with them and to create a space for them. I can help them grow into happy, healthy, and productive members of society, all while ensuring that they know they are loved deeply and unquestionably by our Heavenly Father.

When I think about my vocation, I remember Psalm 27:4: “This I seek: to dwell in the Lord’s house all the days of my life. To gaze on the Lord’s beauty, to visit His temple.” My greatest desire is to belong to God fully and to do everything I can in service of Him and His people. This is truly my vocation: to dwell in the house of the Lord all the days of my life, and to gaze upon God’s beauty in the young people He created.