CNA<\/a>).- Sister Arlene Vasquez, MCDP (Missionary Catechists of Divine Providence) had no intention of becoming a sister.<\/p>\n\t\tIt\u2019s not that the thought of becoming a sister hadn\u2019t occurred to her. It had. And she decided it wasn\u2019t for her. But that doesn\u2019t mean she didn\u2019t have a deep personal faith.<\/p>\n
\t\tAfter attending Catholic school in San Antonio run by the Congregation of Divine Providence, and having been reared by two deeply devout parents, Arlene chose to become a lay associate, which is a bit like being a sister, with one large exception \u2013 you don\u2019t profess vows.<\/p>\n
\t\t\u201cI remember thinking, this I can do,\u201d she said. \u201cA non-vowed member is fine. I was one of those who had a long litany as to why religious life is not pertinent in today\u2019s society. \u201cFortunately,\u201d she said,<\/p>\n
\t\t\u201cGod has a sense of humor.\u201d<\/p>\n
\t\tArlene was living with her sister, also a lay associate, in a home \u201ctoo large for us\u201d when they were asked if they would open their house to sisters living in community. Before long, two MCDP sisters moved into the home.<\/p>\n
\t\tPretty soon, Arlene said, \u201cAll those misconceptions about the Religious life, all those barriers we put up were slowly done away with.<\/p>\n
\t\t\u201cWe were rubbing shoulders with them. I learned that the way I was living and they were living wasn\u2019t much different. As a young adult, if you\u2019re ministering to teens, there are certain life choices; there are things you won\u2019t do. You can\u2019t preach one thing and do another.\u201d<\/p>\n
\t\t\u201cI discovered the gift of community, being able to share life\u2019s joys and some of the sorrows, the jarriness of life.\u201d<\/p>\n
\t\tAs it turned out, she said,<\/p>\n
\t\t\u201cThe two sisters who moved in with us were both former formation and vocation directors. Needless to say, I started some serious discernment. I was 26.\u201d<\/p>\n
\t\tShe took her not-so-final-vows as a Missionary Sister of Divine Providence in May, 2006.<\/p>\n
\t\t\u201cIn our community we don\u2019t take perpetual vows,\u201d she explained, \u201cwe take triennial vows. What it means is that every third year we will profess vows again. I find it very moving. Almost a third of our congregation takes vows every year.\u201d<\/p>\n
\t\tAfter San Antonio, Sister Arlene was assigned to Rio Grande City in the Brownsville Diocese. Just before arriving in Kansas a year and a half ago, she completed a year-long sabbatical. She serves at St. Anthony Parish in Liberal as the Director of Religious Education. It\u2019s the first time she has served in a<\/p>\n
\t\tparish without a school.<\/p>\n
\t\tYet, she still fulfills her greatest joy,<\/p>\n
\t\t\u201csharing the faith with the next generation, and helping parents grow in their faith and be able to share that with their children and empower their children. That\u2019s my greatest joy. Also journeying with young people as they discover more about their faith.\u201d<\/p>\n
\t\tGirls will occasionally ask her about her role as a sister, in particular about her vows.<\/p>\n
\t\t\u201cPoverty, chastity and obedience; sometimes they want to know what that means. Poverty, I tell them, means everything is held in common. Yet, I have what I need to be able to live. Obedience is trying to say that we live by discernment, by the leadership needs or congregational needs. We ask what it is that God is ultimately calling us to do.\u201d<\/p>\n
\t\t\u201cChastity means that I won\u2019t have my own family. But it frees me to love in a different way.\u201d<\/p>\n
\t\tAnd of course there are challenges. When she first joined her congregation, they hadn\u2019t suffered a death in 25 years.<\/p>\n
\t\t\u201cSince committing to the community, we\u2019ve had 10 deaths. A few have left. It\u2019s a challenge. It causes you to reflect on your own story: What brought me to religious life? What sustains me in religious life? I freely chose this life based on a call by God.\u201d<\/p>\n
\t\tTo girls or women who may be discerning a religious vocation she offered this advice:<\/p>\n
\t\t\u201cAsk questions. Get in contact with other women religious. See how they live life. When you make the choice, find that one congregation that fits for you.\u201d<\/p>\n
\t\t\u201cIt doesn\u2019t mean we have all the answers. As you discern, you\u2019ll discover opportunities extended to you. You may think this is not the right place or vocation for you, but you will always walk away enriched by the experience or the opportunity extended to you to better know yourself, your faith, your career \u2013 including a life as a professed woman religious.\u201d<\/p>\n
\t\tPosted with permission from The Southwest Kansas Register, the official newspaper for the Diocese of Dodge City<\/p>\n
\t\u00a0<\/p>\n
\n
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Dodge City, Kan., Jun 24, 2012 \/ 01:00 pm (CNA).- Sister Arlene Vasquez, MCDP (Missionary Catechists of Divine Providence) had no intention of becoming a sister.<\/p>\n
\t\tIt’s not that the thought of becoming a sister hadn’t occurred to her. It…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1031,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-384","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-us"],"yoast_head":"\n
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