Meeting
with Cardinal stirs young women to consider religious life
By Christie L. Chicoine
CS&T Staff Writer
HUNTINGDON VALLEY — “I know God has a call for me —
I just don’t know what it is yet.”
That’s what prompted 16-year-old Michele Graham of Archbishop Wood
High School in Warminster to attend Cardinal Justin Rigali’s recent
Town Hall meeting for young women who are high school juniors.
The Cardinal began the Feb. 28 meeting at the motherhouse of the Sisters
of the Holy Redeemer by telling the young women that in one regard they
all have the same vocation — to be disciples of Jesus Christ. The
Cardinal spoke about married, single and religious life, and encouraged
the students to pray for guidance as they ask in reflection, “Can
I do something beautiful for God?”
Illustrating the role of women religious in the Church, the Cardinal recalled
the care and compassion of a nurse he observed cleaning a leper’s
sores with a “tremendous spirit” of joy and love 40 years
ago, when he was stationed in Madagascar, Africa.
“Cardinal Rigali was a great speaker,” Graham said. “From
this I took that I need to pray to God and find out what exactly it is
He wants me to do.”
And if God is calling her to religious life? “I would most definitely
take it — without a doubt,” Graham said. “If God wants
you to follow in His path into religious life, you can do it — with
His help. Even if there might be struggles along the way, God will always
be there to help you to get through it.”
Graham, of St. David Parish in Willow Grove, is currently interested in
community and missionary-related work. “I have a very strong religious
background,” she said. “My family’s very religious.
I enjoy going to church. I enjoy praying.”
Approximately 80 young women from Catholic high schools in the Archdiocese
attended the 13th annual Town Hall, said St. Joseph Sister Kathleen Leary,
archdiocesan coordinator for vocations to consecrated life.
“I’m very glad to know that there are other girls who are
considering religious life,” said 17-year-old Bianca Marrero of
West Philadelphia Catholic High School.
The sponsors of the Town Hall — Sister Kathleen and vocation
directors representing congregations of women religious in the Philadelphia
Archdiocese — also addressed the young women.
“It’s good to know that we have religious … who also
struggled with [their call] when they were younger and … found their
calling, and they’re happy with where they are,” said Marrero,
a member of Blessed Virgin Mary Parish in Darby.
“No matter what you do, you always have a calling — even if
it’s not to the religious life,” she added.
But the presence of so many of her peers at the meeting also proved to
Marrero that being called to religious life, or considering such a vocation,
is “not abnormal.”
For more information, contact Sister Kathleen Leary, S.S.J., archdiocesan
coordinator for vocations to consecrated life, at (215) 587-3795 or e-mail
her at: srkleary@adphila.org.
CS&T Staff Writer Christie L. Chicoine can be reached at (215)
587-2468 or cchicoin@adphila.org.