How can I keep up with everyone else on the faith journey?

Sister Rejane  
This Random Nun Clip is brought to you by A Nun's Life Ministry.

Sister Maxine  
Are you ready for our next question, Shannon?

Sister Shannon  
I am ready.

Sister Maxine  
It comes in from Christina in Illinois. And Christina writes, "I have always had a fondness for the religious sisters that I've met. And I felt drawn to them. But I wasn't sure that religious life was for me, because they always seemed so much further along on their faith journey than me." So now, Christina's comments lead to some great questions about faith -- somewhat related to what Susan asked. How do you know where you are on the faith journey? How do you know? How do you know you're on the journey? What are some signs that you're doing okay, or that maybe you need to adjust the route? And do you ever know when you've arrived? When your faith is at its best, or you feel like "I've reached the faith destination"?

Sister Shannon  
I think they call that heaven.

Sister Maxine  
[laughter] Well, yes, but maybe we know a little bit before -- well, maybe not that destination, but like when our faith is at its, so to say, best, which I think is an interesting notion.

Sister Shannon  
But I want to talk first of all about how she's comparing herself to women religious or consecrated religious, and that they're further along, so that means she can't join up, or, you know, walk along with us. Don't limit yourself, Christina. Because among my sisters -- there 107 in my congregation -- we're at all different paths in that journey. And we are delighted to have people join us in this walk. And so it doesn't really matter where you are in the journey and the opportunity for sharing in the wisdom that individuals have to offer you is a gift. So walk alongside and ask questions. Where are you going? What are you thinking about? How is this working? And I think that's valuable. And I would be very surprised that any of my sisters would expect you to be at a certain level in order to share with us or be one with us or to walk with us. We all recognize that there are limitations in where we are in our own journey.

Sister Maxine  
And that you also, in your journey, already have something to share. You know, you don't have to have lived 800 years to have something valuable to share. Our life experiencing, seen through the lens of our faith, always has something valuable to share.

Sister Shannon  
You know, if you read the scriptures, you recognize in the Old Testament, for example, that the whole story, beginning with Genesis, primarily in Exodus and moving forward, is all about a journey. The Israelite people are walking with God, and they have their ups and downs and their good times and bad times, literally. But if you just take the time to reflect on what their journey is like, and how that happens, and why they keep going. People come along, prophets are set by God to remind them of his fidelity to them, they enter into a covenant relationship, there are all kinds of ways that they can see God active in their lives. I would say the same is true if you look at Jesus and the apostles, and how the apostles were pretty clueless in the beginning, and what they come to realize, even only after the Resurrection of Jesus -- that they start to put the pieces together and make some sense of where they're called to go next, and they continue the journey. Or Paul, who goes on several missionary journeys to bring the good news and what that's like. How did any of them know that they were going in the right direction? I think part of it is the piece that's in their hearts, part of it is the joy. Part of it is the recognition that God walks with us all.

Sister Maxine  
As you were saying, too, there's plenty of examples of like, if you go on down the road, is there a change of direction needed? There's plenty of examples of prophets who did not hesitate to say, "You got to change your ways." And I think in our own life, we may not need a prophecy so profound -- like "You got to make a major change" -- as some of them in the in the Old Testament. But to look around at our life, and look for those prophets, be open for those prophets who say, "You know what, there might be another way for you, in your faith journey and your journey of life. Think about this, there might be a different path."

Sister Shannon  
And it's important not to compare yourself in terms of where you are in your journey to others in a way that would limit you. But to recognize each of us has our own path to follow in our relationship with God. So we jump on the train, and we go. And I think that's part of the joy. The Scripture talks about the peace that passes understanding, that sense of peace, that even when things are troublesome in your life, or challenging in your life, that knowledge that God is there, that God loves you, that God is with you, doesn't go away. You don't lose that sense. You may feel in the dark for a while, but you know it's there. I mean, that, for me is one way of judging how you're doing on the journey: that each time a challenge comes, or a joy comes, you recognize God walked with you in all of it.

Sister Maxine  
Right. And that's in the ups and the downs, like you were saying earlier. That is that constant. And there might be travelogues, shall I say, along the way. Like I think about Teresa of Avila -- some of her writings talked about somebody who did some descriptive work on the spiritual journey. There's a lot more contemporary people who write about that, too. Because I hear in Christina's question, a searching for where she is.

Sister Shannon  
Some people keep a journal. I'm a sporadic journaler. I'm not a daily journaler as some people are. But it's a value to go back and read the things that were so important at one point, and now have kind of resolved themselves and you see God's hand in it. Because, you know, hindsight is 2020. You can go back and see. But that desire, I think. God grants us the desires of our hearts. That's in Psalm 37. If that's true, then that desire to be on the right path and to know God more deeply, God honors.

Sister Maxine  
And you were saying earlier that it's also -- we take that path ourselves, and I would say it's a great adventure. We don't know what's going to happen, like all good adventure. We don't know what's going to happen exactly. But we are giving it our heart and our soul and our full attention. And we're looking for God all along the way, open to the signs that will say, "Try this path, try this path," and have a certain confidence that it's going to be okay.

Sister Shannon  
You know, Sister Maxine and I entered community life at different points in our lives, and in different decades. And I entered my religious community when I was only 14 back in 1965. And it was just as the Second Vatican Council was coming to conclusion. So the changes that were being made in the church had not reached us as yet. They began to trickle in as, as my formation continued. And I could say to you, Christina, that the congregation I entered, and the congregation that currently exists in 2022, looks very, very, very different. The kinds of promises. But that doesn't cancel out the journey, right? The wonder of the journey is the growth and the change and the walking shoulder to shoulder with one another, moving forward, keeping in relationship with God, that has had a profound effect. I wouldn't change any of it. It made me the person I am.

Sister Maxine  
That and, and in the context of community, there's a certain vitality about that as well, that you're with a whole group, who is doing that, who is believing, supporting one another. And being open to change, like you described. You know, there was an immense amount of change in religious life. If you think about it in your own personal life, some of the big changes that happen, we all know that that is not necessarily an easy or a smooth path. But it takes an open heart and an open mind, and confidence that God is going to, you know, take us in the direction we need to go.

Sister Shannon  
In the 50s to enter religious life was to leave the world, to leave the world behind and to enter into this consecrated way of living. That's not how we approach it at all anymore. We're so deeply a part of all that's happening around us. I'm reminded of the wonderful Synod that the Pope has asked for, that is underway that will conclude itself in October of 2023. And the image for that shows a variety of individuals walking literally shoulder to shoulder: older people, younger people, children, in between, saints and sinners, people that are well known, and people that are just regular folks. And the notion of synodality is to be present with, to walk with another. This whole journey piece I think is a really important thing. So you can get clues from the people that are walking shoulder to shoulder with you about how well you're doing. If it's making you happy, it's a good path.

Sister Maxine  
And I think that's that sign of joy and happiness, not a superficial joy, but a deep and profound joy. It is so important in knowing like, how's that faith journey going. I would say for me, that's a classic indicator, just as gratitude is, you know?

Sister Shannon  
When people have asked me over the years, why I am a religious, I always say because it makes me happy. And I don't mean that in a frivolous way. I mean, seriously, I enjoy the life. I feel called to it, and it's a great journey for me, my path.

Sister Maxine  
And so sometimes when people talk about the faith journey, there's some idea that it's all pious quiet and peaceful. But that's not my experience of the faith journey. My experience of it truly is more like an adventure. And to be able to embrace that is to be fully alive. And to be able to do that in the context of community is like to have lights go on all around. It makes it makes it even better.

Sister Shannon  
Christina, I think you're on the right path. And I would encourage you to keep walking forward in your prayer life, deepening your relationship with God, in the people that you gather around you, in the religious sisters that you admire -- talk with them, share their lives, ask them for their wisdom and take it in.

Sister Maxine  
And if you feel drawn to religious life, take some steps toward it and find out more. I would highly encourage you to do that.

Sister Shannon  
Me too. In fact, I got a community I'd like to introduce you to. [laughter]

Sister Rejane  
To hear full episodes of A Nun's Life podcasts, visit the podcast page at anunslife.org/podcasts.

This transcript has been lightly edited for readability.