‘Day of Prayer and Discernment’ on Zoom

By Sr Lystra Long OP

The first Zoom online conversation with religious sisters from the Archdiocese of Port of Spain took place on March 22. The original plan was to have an actual day of Prayer and Discernment with single women. However, with COVID-19 other plans had to be made. Hence, the Zoom online call was born.

There were five religious sisters on the call from three religious congregations and two women who were in active discernment. Twenty-three women were present on the call.

We began with welcoming the Holy Spirit and saying together a prayer to know your vocation. The two women who are in active discernment then shared their discernment journey and at what point they were at in their journey.

Then an open forum began where the women were free to ask any questions. Some of the questions asked were on how we discerned religious life as opposed to married life; what was most difficult about being a sister; how did we know that we as religious sisters had made the right choice; what our daily life was like; living the vows; and do we miss being in a dating relationship.

We also addressed the Vows of Chastity, Poverty and Obedience; how freeing the vows are meant to make us and how it flows into our Ministries; giving ourselves completely to God as we open ourselves to serving without counting the cost but serving God’s people unlimitedly.

The Zoom call was felt to be very helpful, insightful and interactive. We have now formed a WhatsApp group where we will share on discernment and religious life.

The next steps will be to have the actual day of Prayer and Discernment after COVID-19 and invite all congregations and women in active discernment to pray together and share on their life. The suggestion of a vlog (video blog) and a vocations fair was also made.

Overall, it was a very fruitful and real discussion and we look forward, to many more activities for women interested in discerning religious life.