Happy National Vocation Awareness Week!

January 9-15, 2011 is a time that is being set aside in our country this year to pray for those who are being called by God to the priesthood or consecrated life. If you know a person who you think might be a good priest and/or religious, please don't be afraid to share this with him/her. They might resist it, but they will remember it. A number of people said this to me through the years, and here I am.

I have some links on the right side of my page under the heading "Related Websites." Click on "Register Online for Young Women's Discernment Retreats!" if you are thinking God may be calling you to be Sister. If you are a young man or woman who is considering the priesthood, religious life, or lay ecclesial ministry, click on "Catholics on Call- FREE In Person and Online Retreats for Catholic Young Men and Women ---worth doing! (I'm an alumna)." If you are a woman of any age considering a vocation to be a Sister, click on " A Nun's Life".

You can print out a holy card with a prayer for vocations by clicking here.

If you are a parent, you can click here for a helpful webpage.

Please know that countless people hold you in daily prayer.

In other news, I had a wonderful week for my mission experience in the U.P. (Upper Penninsula of Michigan)! I stayed in Marquette, and was amazed by all the welcoming, genuine people I met. I got to learn about and experience what it is like to minister in a parish. My week included visits with people in nursing homes and in their own homes, doing sacristy for masses, counting collection money for parish needs, visiting the preschool, spending time with our sisters in Republic, Champion, and Ishpeming, joining Northern Michigan University students for part of their retreat to start out the new semester in prayer, helping with communion services at nursing homes, helping with the Fish Bake, and so forth.... It was a really nice experience!

I have also been reading Three Cups of Tea, and I currently have two chapters left. As part of our community's special focus on social justice this year (it is always an important part of religious life but this year we are paying special attention to it), Three Cups of Tea was on the list of options for books that we can read. I had heard it was a good book, but it is actually even better than I thought it would be! It is an incredibly important book, too. As I read through the pages, I am reminded of a beautiful quote by Kahil Gibran: "I love you when you bow in your mosque, kneel in your temple, pray in your church. For you and I are sons of one religion, and it is the Spirit."

God bless you and your days ahead.