Sunday, February 12, 2012

February 12 – What Nuns Believe



There is a vast difference in life between “meant to be” and “ought to be.”

Those who firmly and actually believe they are meant to be successful, nearly always are. Those who believe they ought to be successful rarely make it to the top.

The same is true with those who believe they are meant to be good friends or good doctors or teachers. Those who believe they ought to be good at what they do are always either failing or failing to enjoy the successes that do come their way.

Nuns who stay in cloister believe they are meant to be there. Nearly always, those who think they “ought to be” nuns do not last very long. The community finds them out and although it may still want them to stay, much more than “ought to” is necessary to survive the grueling parts of cloistered devotion.

“It’s a calling.” This is what a professed nun will tell you. Not that she chose the cloister, but it chose her . . . that the Lord chose her to dwell with Him there.

For us in Cor Unum, we know that every true calling must come through faith, and faith comes by hearing, and hearing the Word of God. Our abbatial practice for the next weeks is upon us: let us read Jesus’ words in John 15, verses 1-17, at least once each day, for the next forty days. Let’s discover, as the true monastics we are, what power the Word has to call us and keep us. Let’s discover our “calling,” listening to Jesus’ Voice.





by permission

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