In this Random Nun Clip, we talk with Sister Annette and Sister Carmen about ways to discern God's call in our life--even when we have our own good ideas of how our life should be! Hear the full podcast at AS154.
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Sister Carmen Hernandez is the director of La Luz Hispana, which offers educational opportunities and aid in navigating social service agencies for Hispanics in the Hampton, Iowa, area. Sister Annette Kestel is a pastoral associate at St. Elizabeth Ann Seton parish in Hiawatha, Iowa. They are Sisters of the Presentation of the Blessed Virgin Mary (PBVM), of Dubuque, Iowa.
SISTER MAXINE: We are on a Motherhouse Road Trip with the Sisters of the Presentation of the Blessed Virgin Mary, in Dubuque, Iowa. We’re delighted to be joined by Sister Carmen Hernandez and Sister Annette Kestel.
SISTER JULIE: We had another question come in from the chat room. Amy says, “I don’t think I’m very good at discernment. Primarily I worry that I tend to overvalue my own desire and longings and hopes. Do you have any advice for me?”
SISTER CARMEN HERNANDEZ: Talk to some other people who know you well and have a sense of who you are-- and also can call you to more. I think that’s really been a great benefit of the recent years of discernment within community--how we get together and help one another discern and sort things out. So, to engage other trusted people in that process is very huge.
SISTER ANNETTE KESTEL: A part of that also is the spiritual guide or spiritual mentor or spiritual direction. Sometimes it’s good to have somebody who knows you real well but it’s also good to have somebody who doesn’t know you, someone able to give you a question or a thought that maybe you don’t want to hear. And I think the other piece—for me I sometimes do really well at it and sometimes I don’t, and that’s okay—is you spend time journaling because you can go back then and look at what you’ve written: “Oh yes, this is really all about what I am wanting.” Where in the prayer reflection do I see what God might want? So, those would be two helps, I think.
Hear the full episode of this podcast at AS154.
To hear full episodes of A Nun’s Life podcasts, visit the podcast page at anunslife.org/podcast.
