A novice receives the veil at the Dominican Sisters of the Immaculate Conception near Chicago.
A new survey that I’ve written aims to help single Catholic women sort out one of the most common questions about religious life: How do I know if I’m called?
The seven-question survey, written in cooperation with the Dominican Sisters of the Immaculate Conception in Justice, IL, plumbs one’s desires and interests to help a woman or young girl discern whether she is called to become a sister.
The survey offers probing, thought-provoking questions about the interests and desires of the heart. It asks questions and then has answers, or affirmations as, “The zeal to live and share God’s love is something that won’t lie dormant within me,” and “When I see a religious sister, I think about what it would be like for me to become a sister.”
Affirmations
There are three such affirmations after each question, and the survey suggests that if a person checks off eleven of them, which is just over half of the 21 affirmations, they may have a calling to religious life.
It’s not supposed to be a scientific way to determine a calling from the Holy Spirit, just a way to prompt one’s thoughts and heart. I got the idea after noting an unusually large number of questions by Catholics on a popular blog site, wondering how they could tell if they had a religious vocation.
Survey Popular Already
The survey has attracted a fair number of respondents already, even though no publicity has yet been done. Many of the survey questions were adapted from the website of the Sisters of St. Joseph of Concordia, KS.
(Update) This survey has been adapted into the now-popular Come & See Vocation Assessment Quiz.
