Sr. Karol Joseph's Vocation Story

My name is Theresa and I have been accepted to enter into the Dominican Sisters of Mary, Mother of the Eucharist on September 8, 2005. Praise be to God!

My earliest encounter with Religious life came when I was five years of age. I had an aunt that entered at convent in Tennessee. I was a typically shy child: however my first contact with Sisters resulted in my running after everyone I could find! I remember getting lost and ending up in the Mother Superior's office telling her about how I wanted to become exactly what I had encountered. I remember her smiling and telling me when I grew up then I could come and enter.

As time passed I never really lost my desire for religious life. When I graduated from High School, I had gone on a mission trip to San Antonio, Texas where I lived with Salesian Sisters for six months. I was a first grade teacher aide, and worked with many at-risk children. Strangely enough, although I was young and inexperienced, teachers and adults that I worked withe would come and talk to me about God, and ask questions about the faith as they were struggling with their own. It seemed like they were looking for guidance, and that was something I could never ignore. I feel very strongly that I was put on this earth to lead others to Christ. Living with the Sisters gave me a very positive witness to community life, and attracted me further in the pursuit of my vocation.

Upon returning home, I was resolved to enter an order right then and there. However, this was not God's plan for me. I had been turned down from an order that I longed to be a part of since I was a child. My emotions were that of sorrow and peace all at once. I let it go, and told the Lord that His Will be done, not mine.

I let the idea of religious life go for a while, and began attending Franciscan University of Steubenville where the Lord showered me with many gifts of friendship and spiritual growth. Throughout the two years that I attended Franciscan University, the Lord continued to show me things within my own heart that needed to be altered in order for me to more fully discern where he was leading me.

I continued to be patient and my last semester in Steubenville was spent in Europe, at their Campus in Gaming Austria. Europe provided for me a powerful and almost indescribable witness. Being on pilgrimage to some of the holiest shrines in the world filled my heart with immense joy and peace. However, the Lord also allowed me to see the absolute spiritual starvation of the people. This is something that left a significant impact on my heart and that I still carry today. Talking to them and living among them left me with a desire for these souls that I could not ignore. I returned home and began to attend Mount St. Mary's University in Emmitsburg, Maryland.

Last semester, God really turned my life around in a way that I knew that only He was doing it. In January, I was dating a friend of mine from Steubenville, going for a Bachelor's in English and Education, and trying to prepare myself for a life in the world. Then certain things began to happen. My boyfriend and I were sitting in Mass on the Feast of the Baptism of the Lord. The priest got up to read the Gospel and while he was reading it to the congregation, I began to envision it, picturing Our Lord receiving the Holy Spirit. At that point in time I had become very overwhelmed and began to cry. When we were sitting down and listening to the homily, my heart felt a deep desire for religious life that seemed unquenchable. I was ready to run up to the nearest Sisters and beg them to let me enter their community. My heart cried out to God and asked, “Lord, how do I know that this is your Will? How do I know if I am being called by you to enter religious life? How can I be sure?” Right at that point in time, the priest in his homily began on the topic of vocations, and how you know you are being called to a religious vocation. I sat there stunned and knowing Jesus was trying to tell me something.

A few weeks later, I went to a Franciscan priest to ask him to become my spiritual director. On the way up to see him, many things were going through my mind and I was worried that he wouldn't be able to help me because of business in his own life. Walking up to see him, I passed two children that were playing in a nearby yard. I walked on with my mind preoccupied with these worries and concerns, when all of a sudden, one of the children who couldn't have been older than three years, looked me right in the eyes and said, Don't be afraid. Once again I was stunned and taken aback, and continued on to speak with the friar, who did end up taking me on as a spiritual child offering direction and advice. He instructed me to break up with my boyfriend, do a Holy Hour, rosary, and Mass every day and begin to look into Religious orders.

A few weeks later, Sister Joseph Andrew from the Dominican Sisters of Mary, Mother of the Eucharist, came to the Mount to speak. She had been a good friend of the family and I was comfortable talking to her about where I thought my life was going. She invited me to come to a retreat with the Sisters of Mary and to see where God was leading my heart. Two months later, a few friends and I went to Michigan to see what Jesus was trying to say to our hearts. Sitting in their chapel, I felt the Lord saying, Come as you are. I was at peace, and I was at home. I met with the Mother Superior, Mother Assumpta, and she gladly gave me papers for entrance.

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