On May 18, 2019, in Nyeri, Kenya, Sr. Jackie Jean-Marie made her perpetual profession of vows as a Daughter of St. Paul! Sr. Jackie is originally from Kenya, but entered the Daughters of St. Paul in the United States. At her perpetual profession, she received her mandate from Sr Donna, our provincial superior, to serve in our community in New Orleans, Louisiana!Perpetual profession is the commitment to live the vows of chastity, poverty, and obedience as a Daughter of St. Paul forever. It is the...

(Blog post adapted from my discernment blog, CoAuthorYourLifewithGod.com.) “No one else can tell me what to do: I value my freedom too much.” Obedience is not popular today, although everyone is called to practice this virtue in some form. In terms of religious life, it's probably the hardest vow to understand in our individualistic culture when resistance to or rebellion against authority is so often seen as a virtue. Mistrust of institutions and of authority, due...

(Blogpost is adapted from my blog on discernment, CoAuthorYourLifewithGod.com) “Celibacy is too hard.”I think this is one of the comments I hear the most when someone is considering religious life. And celibacy is hard. I don’t deny it. Every human being is created for the intimacy of spousal love, and celibacy is giving up that physical expression of spousal love. Renouncing all that is entailed in a spousal relationship for the sake of Christ and his kingdom is a re...

(This blog post is adapted from my blog on discernment, CoAuthorYourLifewithGod.com.)  “I couldn't do without my...car, own place, movie collection, ____________.” In a recent poll I ran asking people the main reason they don’t consider religious life, this statement was checked off by a large percentage of those polled. I guess it’s not surprising in our materialistic culture.  When I entered the convent, I didn’t yet own a car, and I w...