Vocation  Q&A

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We’re Father Shane Johnson and Christiane Esser.

Father Shane is a Catholic priest with the Legionaries of Christ at St. Peter’s Parish in Yonkers, NY. Christiane, a consecrated woman in Regnum Christi, lives in Rhode Island and works at Mater Ecclesiae College.

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Anonymous
(18/F, cont). But I was jw... if God is indeed calling me to religious life, and if my parents still aren't supportive... is it wrong to enter anyway? I explained it to my mom saying that if God calls me somewhere, I have no right to not do as He says. But my mom just gets upset because she thinks I won't be there for her if I'm in a convent. Would entering against their will be considered breaking the 4th commandment and wrong? I'm hoping I won't have to face that dilema, but I was jw

Sometimes in today’s world we can forget the importance of actually sitting down face-to-face with someone to have a deep conversation.  Before you take any further steps in discerning, I encourage you to make sure you have some good quality time with your mom.  Your mom is always your mom…and, at least for me, that means I want to love, respect, and listen to her no matter how old I am.  After God, our moms are usually the people who know us best. 

To answer your question - no, it is not wrong to enter a religious order even if your parents are not supportive (check out Acts 5:29), but it is definitely important to understand their position and give it a lot of consideration.  Some parents who are not supportive of their son or daughter following a religious vocation, over time do have a change of heart.  Often, if the young man or woman is patient and waits out of respect for his parents, God does the work and changes the hearts.

So you might want to ask yourself a few questions:  What is God asking me to do?  Is He calling me to enter a religious order right now?  Or does He want me to complete college before entering a convent?  (A few orders don’t accept young women until after college…)  

It could very well be that there is no rush in making any decision.  Especially if you and your mom think it would be good to finish college, that gives you at least 3 years before you make any big decisions, and a lot can happen in 3 years.

Prayer, patience, and more prayer.   ~Christiane

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