Growing up in Birmingham during the Civil Rights Movement, Sister Madeline Contorno felt that God's call for justice was a big part of her vocation to religious life.
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Sister Rejane
This Random Nun Clip is brought to you by A Nun's Life Ministry.
Sister Maxine
I'm Sister Maxine of A Nun's Life Ministry. And we're on a Motherhouse Road Trip here in Cullman, Alabama. And we are delighted to be joined by Sister Madeline Contorno. Good to have you here.
Sister Madeline
Good to be here with you. Thank you. I grew up in Birmingham, which is only about an hour from here. And I am the oldest of three children. I have two younger brothers, and grew up in a very devout Catholic, Italian family. I had the benefit of Catholic education, all through elementary school at St. Paul's. And through high school at John Carroll. It was the Benedictines who staffed both the elementary school and the high school. So I came to know the sisters, love the sisters. And I think maybe started thinking about that possibility when I was in seventh grade. It was a couple of things that happened when I was an adolescent that began this quest for God. And I think the first was I was in religion class, and Sister Mary Rayman was talking about the Trinity. And something was so beautiful about what she was saying. It wasn't the words; it was the reality of God's love. And I remember sitting there, just totally amazed at the beauty of God. And something inside of me said, "I want to be with you." And then the other thing, and I think vocation has a very personal aspect. But it also has an external aspect in that what was going on in Birmingham, when I was in seventh grade through high school, was the Civil Rights Movement. And I was very much affected by that. I remember that when I was 13, the church was bombed in Birmingham. And there were three little girls in the choir about my age that were killed. And something went all through me when that happened, because I identified with those children singing in the choir in church, and couldn't understand the hatred and the evil of killing people just because of their race. And I think the God of justice touched me at that point. So there was this yearning inside of me for God's beauty and God's justice. And I think that kind of carried me. That was the beginning of my vocation, I think.
Sister Rejane
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