SISTERS How did you meet your religious community? I first learned about them on the Internet. I contacted the vocations director and came for a visit. I very quickly felt at home with the sisters and was deeply drawn to their Eucharistic lifestyle and spirituality.
“Nun” was not the original plan
What’s the best part of living in community?
SISTER GRACIELA COLON, S.C.C.
Sharing joys and sorrows together. We celebrate birthdays, feast days, jubilees, and anything else in between. However, it’s also nice to be part of a supportive community in times of sorrow. I find it moving the way the sisters care for each other in times of illness or death.
Your favorite way to pray? I love it when the chapel is nearly empty and I am able to have “alone time” with the Lord. But I also love when we pray together as a community.
What types of ministry have you experienced so far? Right now I enjoy being able to use my legal skills to help low-income immigrants. I’ve also served as sacristan at our motherhouse chapel and have helped distribute diapers and clothes at a family resource center.
Most fun you’ve had with your community? Sledding and building “snownuns” when there is a snowstorm. We also have a lot of fun when we get together for a game of ultimate Frisbee.
Any advice for people considering religious life? It’s hard for young people to commit to religious life because there are so many opportunities. I’d say if you feel the Lord nudging you to enter religious life, just try it and don’t run from it. Discern, because otherwise you might spend the rest of your life wondering what would have happened if you had truly given the Lord a chance.
Sister Graciela Colon, S.C.C. loves to Rollerblade, especially downhill at high speed. Maybe that’s what it felt like when she first thought of abandoning her careful plans for life. They involved a successful legal career, a husband, and a family in Brooklyn. An active Catholic with a law degree freshly under her belt, she spent three weeks with Mother Teresa’s sisters in Calcutta where “I was inspired by their total self-giving,” she says. Upon her return she looked seriously at religious life. Today Sister Graciela is preparing for full membership with the Sisters of Christian Charity and providing legal help at an immigrant resource center. Leer en español en la página 69.
COURTESY OF THE SISTERS OF CHRISTIAN CHARITY
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