Testimony of a vocation
Searching for one’s vocation is, without doubt, an adventure. In this journey of discoveries we encounter many obstacles. One need that exists in the area of vocational search is the need to have a Spiritual Director or Guide. Finding someone who can give you direction isn’t among the easiest of tasks. But St. Francis de Sales comforts us by saying:
"As it is so important, Philothea, to have a guide as you set forth on the journey of devotion, ask God with fervor that He may send you a guide after His own Heart, and do not doubt even for an instant that He will send a wise and faithful director, even if He should send an Angel, as He did with the young Tobias” (FRANCIS DE SALES, Philothea, Ch. IV).
As I was in the midst of uncertainties and afraid to take firm steps toward the will of God, an “angel” appeared to me!
I met Sr. Clara through a Facebook profile: out of curiosity, I wanted to know who she was. At the beginning I asked her some basic questions, we exchanged some messages, and contact was established. Gradually I spoke of the journey I’d been on and the difficulties that I was confronting. She, for her part, advised me to seek out someone to help me in this process of discernment. I already had someone in mind for this task, but it didn’t work out. Sr. Clara, who daily responded to my messages, explained that the Spiritual Guide is not necessarily someone that we have an emotional connection with; I am not the one who chooses, but God Himself brings about and establishes this “bond” between the Guide and the soul that seeks direction. This takes place through prayer!
At that time, I realized that the person whom God had chosen to help me was already exercising her task every time she gave me direction, advised me, listened to me, and confronted my ideas. Every time we shared with each other was another confirmation. The explanations I received were always based on the word of God, so that she guided me to meditate and reflect on the way He speaks to us through the sacred Scriptures. And so I started to do so…
At one point, I had a very interesting dream, in which Sr. Clara simply asked me if the “remedy” which she indicated to me was having its effect in the “treatment.”
And once more St. Francis de Sales explains:
"[The spiritual guide] will give us comfort to soothe us in our falls and will give us the most necessary remedy for the perfect cure of our spiritual infirmities.”
And as it is written:
“Neither herb nor application cured them, but your all-healing word, O Lord!”
(Wis 16:12).
This dream, seen in light of the words of the Bible and the writings of St. Francis, helped reconfirm for me that this nun was really the guide that the Lord wanted me to have on my vocational journey.
So, thanks to God and the help of the Spiritual Director/Guide, it is possible to move forward in a secure and confident way, to grow in the knowledge of oneself, to discern with greater clarity the road that we have travelled, and, above all, to take concrete steps in that which God indicates as His Will for us.