The first season introduced viewers to James Little, a student fresh out of college desperate for a job.
![More bishops call for Notre Dame to drop appointment of pro-abortion professor #Catholic Nearly half a dozen more bishops have joined the growing backlash against the University of Notre Dame over its controversial appointment of an outspoken abortion advocate to lead a university department.Fort Wayne-South Bend, Indiana, Bishop Kevin Rhoades on Feb. 11 issued a statement criticizing the university for appointing global affairs Professor Susan Ostermann as director of the school’s Liu Institute for Asia and Asian Studies.Three of Rhoades’ fellow bishops quickly backed the prelate’s remarks, voicing support on social media and calling on the university to drop Ostermann’s nomination. On Feb. 12, five more bishops commended Rhoades for his statement and expressed hope that the historic Catholic university would rescind the appointment. Gallup, New Mexico, Bishop James Wall praised Rhoades for his stance, with the western U.S. prelate offering a quote attributed to Pope Leo XIV: “We cannot build a just society if we discard the weakest, whether the child in the womb or the old man in his fragility, for both are gifts from God.”TweetSan Francisco Archbishop Salvatore Cordileone also thanked Rhoades for “speaking up.” “Holy Mary, Mother of God and Our Lady, pray for the university that bears your name,” Cordileone said. TweetGreen Bay, Wisconsin, Bishop David Ricken, meanwhile, wrote: “I fully affirm and stand in solidarity with my brother bishop [Rhoades].” He said Rhoades spoke “with clarity, courage, and fidelity to the Church’s mission.”“[L]et us turn with confidence to our Blessed Mother. Our Lady, pray for us! You are our loving Mother — we love you and entrust this to your Immaculate Heart,” Ricken wrote.TweetMadison, Wisconsin, Bishop Donald Hying described Rhoades’ statement as “a profound reflection on human dignity and the culture of life.”Tweet“We pray that all of our educational institutions support Catholic teaching, especially regarding human life,” he said. Lincoln, Nebraska, Bishop James Conley said he “stand[s] in support of Bishop Rhoades” while sharing his concern over the appointment. “Catholic institutions must faithfully reflect the truth of the dignity of every human life in both their mission and their leadership,” he said. TweetThe University of Notre Dame has continued to stand by its appointment of Ostermann, whose post is scheduled to take effect July 1. Rhoades on Feb. 11 said there is “still time [for the university] to make things right.”Ostermann, meanwhile, told the National Catholic Register in January that her role at the school “is to support the diverse research of our scholars and students, not to advance a personal political agenda.”The professor said she “respect[s] Notre Dame’s institutional position on the sanctity of life at every stage” and described herself as “inspired by the university’s focus on integral human development, which calls us to promote the dignity and flourishing of every person.”](https://unitedyam.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/02/more-bishops-call-for-notre-dame-to-drop-appointment-of-pro-abortion-professor-catholic-nearly-half-a-dozen-more-bishops-have-joined-the-growing-backlash-against-the-university-of-notre-dame-over-its.jpg "More bishops call for Notre Dame to drop appointment of pro-abortion professor #Catholic Nearly half a dozen more bishops have joined the growing backlash against the University of Notre Dame over its controversial appointment of an outspoken abortion advocate to lead a university department.Fort Wayne-South Bend, Indiana, Bishop Kevin Rhoades on Feb. 11 issued a statement criticizing the university for appointing global affairs Professor Susan Ostermann as director of the school’s Liu Institute for Asia and Asian Studies.Three of Rhoades’ fellow bishops quickly backed the prelate’s remarks, voicing support on social media and calling on the university to drop Ostermann’s nomination. On Feb. 12, five more bishops commended Rhoades for his statement and expressed hope that the historic Catholic university would rescind the appointment. Gallup, New Mexico, Bishop James Wall praised Rhoades for his stance, with the western U.S. prelate offering a quote attributed to Pope Leo XIV: “We cannot build a just society if we discard the weakest, whether the child in the womb or the old man in his fragility, for both are gifts from God.”TweetSan Francisco Archbishop Salvatore Cordileone also thanked Rhoades for “speaking up.” “Holy Mary, Mother of God and Our Lady, pray for the university that bears your name,” Cordileone said. TweetGreen Bay, Wisconsin, Bishop David Ricken, meanwhile, wrote: “I fully affirm and stand in solidarity with my brother bishop [Rhoades].” He said Rhoades spoke “with clarity, courage, and fidelity to the Church’s mission.”“[L]et us turn with confidence to our Blessed Mother. Our Lady, pray for us! You are our loving Mother — we love you and entrust this to your Immaculate Heart,” Ricken wrote.TweetMadison, Wisconsin, Bishop Donald Hying described Rhoades’ statement as “a profound reflection on human dignity and the culture of life.”Tweet“We pray that all of our educational institutions support Catholic teaching, especially regarding human life,” he said. Lincoln, Nebraska, Bishop James Conley said he “stand[s] in support of Bishop Rhoades” while sharing his concern over the appointment. “Catholic institutions must faithfully reflect the truth of the dignity of every human life in both their mission and their leadership,” he said. TweetThe University of Notre Dame has continued to stand by its appointment of Ostermann, whose post is scheduled to take effect July 1. Rhoades on Feb. 11 said there is “still time [for the university] to make things right.”Ostermann, meanwhile, told the National Catholic Register in January that her role at the school “is to support the diverse research of our scholars and students, not to advance a personal political agenda.”The professor said she “respect[s] Notre Dame’s institutional position on the sanctity of life at every stage” and described herself as “inspired by the university’s focus on integral human development, which calls us to promote the dignity and flourishing of every person.”")
The university has endured sustained backlash for nominating the outspoken abortion advocate to lead an academic department.
![Catholic convert Eva Vlaardingerbroek on censorship and immigration in Europe #Catholic Catholic Dutch political commentator and activist Eva Vlaardingerbroek said “the rule of law is dead” in Europe and detailed the issues of censorship and immigration on the continent.Vlaardingerbroek is an attorney and Catholic convert who has been outspoken about European immigration, national sovereignty, and free speech. Recently, the U.K. government banned her from entering the country due to her outspoken views.“Out of the blue, I saw that I had received an email from the U.K. government,” she told Raymond Arroyo on EWTN’s “The World Over with Raymond Arroyo.” It was “just a couple of sentences saying that my ETA, which is the travel authorization that Europeans need to travel to the U.K., had been revoked.”The reason they stated “was that I am ‘not conducive to the public good,’” she said. Vlaardingerbroek said she believes the ban occurred because she criticized the prime minister of the United Kingdom, Keir Starmer, on social media three days before receiving the email.The situation shows that “the rule of law is dead in Europe,” Vlaardingerbroek said. “Because if you get a notification like that out of the blue, you have no ability, no means to defend yourself … I don’t have a criminal record. I didn’t commit a crime.”“I got converted to Catholicism in the United Kingdom, so I have a couple of really dear friends there. Now, I’m no longer able to go because I say the wrong things, apparently. That is the state of Europe right now … They either throw you in jail or they make sure that you can’t enter the country. That’s what happens in the United Kingdom if you go against the grain,” she said.European immigrationVlaardingerbroek has also been outspoken about illegal immigration in Europe and said that mass immigration has destabilized Europe and led to spikes in violent crimes.“Anyone with two eyes can see that it’s true,” she said. Everyone who lives here, apart from maybe people living in ivory towers or in areas where there are no immigrants, everyone who lives in the real world knows that it’s true.”“I will continue speaking the truth about what I see happening to this beautiful continent of ours because it’s being destroyed,” she said. “We see churches burning down every week here in Europe, and that’s not a coincidence. That didn’t happen for hundreds of years, and suddenly now … they’re burning down faster than I can count.”“You can break the law coming here. It’s not being punished. In fact, it’s rewarded because people get to stay, people get free housing, people get free health care, and they’re able to just roam around even awaiting whether they are going to get their asylum approved or not.”“The governments and the legal system seem to be working hand in hand” and the “judges are complicit,” Vlaardingerbroek said. In Europe, the migrants that commit crimes are not held accountable because judges believe “they are traumatized because they come from a war zone” or due to their “their mental state.”“Then what ends up happening is these immigrants who rape, kill, and assault the native population, they just don’t get any real prison time, and they definitely do not get deported,” she said.“I think that this is a holdover from World War II,” she continued. Institutions including the European Union have “given evil one face and one face only” and “they refuse to see the difference between a Nazi and a conservative Christian.”“To them, it’s all the same, and that’s the way that they treat us,” she said. “I don’t think they’re afraid to acknowledge it. I think they honestly don’t care. I mean, the churches that are being burned down in France that we see, that’s a physical thing unfolding in front of our eyes.”The burning of churches “is powerful imagery that should wake people up to something else, something invisible, which is the agenda that is being carried out here to erode Christianity,” Vlaardingerbroek said.When the European Union discusses European culture, identity, and history, “they never mention Christianity,” Vlaardingerbroek said.“They actively removed it from their documents. They talk about the Enlightenment, but Christianity is never mentioned. They are actively eroding and erasing Christianity here in Europe because it threatens their agenda, because these people see [themselves] as God,” she said.U.S. immigrationAs debates over Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) and law enforcement continue in the U.S, Vlaardingerbroek also discussed the status of immigration on this side of the pond.“As a Catholic, of course, we can be charitable. Nobody’s saying that we cannot allow some immigration or that we cannot help those in need. That is, of course, a Catholic ideal. That is a Catholic value … That’s what our legal system reflects,” she said.“That doesn’t mean, however, that when you come here illegally, which is what happens the majority of the time, and you break [the] laws, that we have to sit by and watch that happen.”ICE agents “are doing their job,” Vlaardingerbroek said. “They are enforcing the law. I think it’s a disgrace the way that they are being treated.”“I wish actually that here in Europe, we would have our version of ICE and that they would … send back home the people who come here illegally and who do not belong in these countries and who actively fight everything that we stand for, both in America and here in Europe,” Vlaardingerbroek said.](https://unitedyam.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/02/catholic-convert-eva-vlaardingerbroek-on-censorship-and-immigration-in-europe-catholic-catholic-dutch-political-commentator-and-activist-eva-vlaardingerbroek-said-the-rule-of-law-is-dead.png "Catholic convert Eva Vlaardingerbroek on censorship and immigration in Europe #Catholic Catholic Dutch political commentator and activist Eva Vlaardingerbroek said “the rule of law is dead” in Europe and detailed the issues of censorship and immigration on the continent.Vlaardingerbroek is an attorney and Catholic convert who has been outspoken about European immigration, national sovereignty, and free speech. Recently, the U.K. government banned her from entering the country due to her outspoken views.“Out of the blue, I saw that I had received an email from the U.K. government,” she told Raymond Arroyo on EWTN’s “The World Over with Raymond Arroyo.” It was “just a couple of sentences saying that my ETA, which is the travel authorization that Europeans need to travel to the U.K., had been revoked.”The reason they stated “was that I am ‘not conducive to the public good,’” she said. Vlaardingerbroek said she believes the ban occurred because she criticized the prime minister of the United Kingdom, Keir Starmer, on social media three days before receiving the email.The situation shows that “the rule of law is dead in Europe,” Vlaardingerbroek said. “Because if you get a notification like that out of the blue, you have no ability, no means to defend yourself … I don’t have a criminal record. I didn’t commit a crime.”“I got converted to Catholicism in the United Kingdom, so I have a couple of really dear friends there. Now, I’m no longer able to go because I say the wrong things, apparently. That is the state of Europe right now … They either throw you in jail or they make sure that you can’t enter the country. That’s what happens in the United Kingdom if you go against the grain,” she said.European immigrationVlaardingerbroek has also been outspoken about illegal immigration in Europe and said that mass immigration has destabilized Europe and led to spikes in violent crimes.“Anyone with two eyes can see that it’s true,” she said. Everyone who lives here, apart from maybe people living in ivory towers or in areas where there are no immigrants, everyone who lives in the real world knows that it’s true.”“I will continue speaking the truth about what I see happening to this beautiful continent of ours because it’s being destroyed,” she said. “We see churches burning down every week here in Europe, and that’s not a coincidence. That didn’t happen for hundreds of years, and suddenly now … they’re burning down faster than I can count.”“You can break the law coming here. It’s not being punished. In fact, it’s rewarded because people get to stay, people get free housing, people get free health care, and they’re able to just roam around even awaiting whether they are going to get their asylum approved or not.”“The governments and the legal system seem to be working hand in hand” and the “judges are complicit,” Vlaardingerbroek said. In Europe, the migrants that commit crimes are not held accountable because judges believe “they are traumatized because they come from a war zone” or due to their “their mental state.”“Then what ends up happening is these immigrants who rape, kill, and assault the native population, they just don’t get any real prison time, and they definitely do not get deported,” she said.“I think that this is a holdover from World War II,” she continued. Institutions including the European Union have “given evil one face and one face only” and “they refuse to see the difference between a Nazi and a conservative Christian.”“To them, it’s all the same, and that’s the way that they treat us,” she said. “I don’t think they’re afraid to acknowledge it. I think they honestly don’t care. I mean, the churches that are being burned down in France that we see, that’s a physical thing unfolding in front of our eyes.”The burning of churches “is powerful imagery that should wake people up to something else, something invisible, which is the agenda that is being carried out here to erode Christianity,” Vlaardingerbroek said.When the European Union discusses European culture, identity, and history, “they never mention Christianity,” Vlaardingerbroek said.“They actively removed it from their documents. They talk about the Enlightenment, but Christianity is never mentioned. They are actively eroding and erasing Christianity here in Europe because it threatens their agenda, because these people see [themselves] as God,” she said.U.S. immigrationAs debates over Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) and law enforcement continue in the U.S, Vlaardingerbroek also discussed the status of immigration on this side of the pond.“As a Catholic, of course, we can be charitable. Nobody’s saying that we cannot allow some immigration or that we cannot help those in need. That is, of course, a Catholic ideal. That is a Catholic value … That’s what our legal system reflects,” she said.“That doesn’t mean, however, that when you come here illegally, which is what happens the majority of the time, and you break [the] laws, that we have to sit by and watch that happen.”ICE agents “are doing their job,” Vlaardingerbroek said. “They are enforcing the law. I think it’s a disgrace the way that they are being treated.”“I wish actually that here in Europe, we would have our version of ICE and that they would … send back home the people who come here illegally and who do not belong in these countries and who actively fight everything that we stand for, both in America and here in Europe,” Vlaardingerbroek said.")
Catholic convert Eva Vlaardingerbroek discussed immigration and the state of free speech in Europe on EWTN’s “The World Over with Raymond Arroyo.”
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Keynote speakers at “The Beauty of Truth: Navigating Society Today as a Catholic Woman” conference, held Jan. 9-10, 2026, in Houston (left to right): Erika Bachiochi, Mary Eberstadt, Angela Franks, Pia de Solenni, and Leah Sargeant. | Credit: Photo courtesy of the University of St. Thomas
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Keynote speakers at “The Beauty of Truth: Navigating Society Today as a Catholic Woman” conference, held Jan. 9-10, 2026, in Houston (left to right): Erika Bachiochi, Mary Eberstadt, Angela Franks, Pia de Solenni, and Leah Sargeant. | Credit: Photo courtesy of the University of St. Thomas
Jan 18, 2026 / 10:26 am (CNA).
This past week, nearly a quarter of U.S. states sued the federal government for defining biological sex as binary, the U.S. Supreme Court heard arguments for and against legally allowing males to compete against females in sports, and a Vatican official called surrogacy a “new form of colonialism” that commodifies women and their children.
These are just the latest legal and cultural effects of a “mass cultural confusion” surrounding the meaning and purpose of the human body, and particularly women’s bodies, according to Leah Jacobson, program coordinator of the Catholic Women’s and Gender Studies Program at the University of St. Thomas in Houston.
On Jan. 9–10, the program sponsored a symposium titled “The Beauty of Truth: Navigating Society Today as a Catholic Woman,” which brought together a group of Catholic women who have used their gifts of intellect and faith to serve as what Jacobson calls an “antidote” to the “chaos and confusion” of the cultural moment.
The speakers presented on a wide range of topics concerned with the beauty, truth, and necessity of the Church’s teachings on human sexuality, while also acknowledging how difficult living according to those teachings can sometimes be.
‘Each of these acts is an act of human subtraction’
In one of the first talks, writer Mary Eberstadt argued that the question “Who am I?” became harder to answer due to the widespread use of the birth control pill, which has led to huge increases in abortion, divorce, fatherlessness, single parenthood, and childlessness.
“Each of these acts is an act of human subtraction,” Eberstadt said. “I’m not trying to make a point about morality, but arithmetic.”
“The number of people we can call our own” became smaller, she said.
While she acknowledged that not everyone has been affected equally, “members of our species share a collective environment. Just as toxic waste affects everyone," she said, the reduction in the number of human connections “amounts to a massive disturbance to the human ecosystem,” leading to a crisis of human identity.
This reduction in the number of people in an individual's life, she argued, resulted in widespread confusion over gender identity and the meaning and purpose of the body.
Eberstadt also attributed the decline in religiosity to the smaller number of human connections modern people have.
“The sexual revolution subtracted the number of role models,” she said. “Many children have no siblings, no cousins, no aunts or uncles, no father; yet that is how humans conduct social learning.”
“Without children, adults are less likely to go to church,” she said. “Without birth, we lose knowledge of the transcendent. Without an earthly father, it is hard to grasp the paradigm of a heavenly father.”
‘A love deficit’
“Living without God is not liberating people,” she continued. “It’s tearing some individuals apart, making people miserable and lonely.”
When the sexual revolution made sex "recreational and not procreative, what it produced above all is a love deficit,” Eberstadt said.
At the same time, secularization produced “troubled, disconnected souls drifting through society without gravity, shattering the ability to answer ‘Who am I?’”
“The Church is the answer to the love deficit because Church teachings about who we are and what we’re here for are true,” she said.
She concluded with a final note on hope, saying “it is easy to feel embattled, but we must never lose sight of the faces of the sexual revolution’s victims,” she said, “who are sending up primal screams for a world more ordered than many of today’s people now know; more ordered to mercy, to community and redemption.”
The Church’s teachings were ’truly beautiful’ but 'very, very hard to live'
Erika Bachiochi, a legal scholar and fellow at the Ethics and Public Policy Center who has taught a class for the graduate program, shared her experience as a mother of seven who tried to live according to the Church’s “difficult” teachings.
As her children began to arrive at “a breakneck pace” and each pregnancy was “a bit of a crucible,” Bachiochi said being a mother was “very hard” for her, partly due to wounds from her youth (among other troubles, her own mother had been married and divorced three times), and partly because of a lack of community.
Echoing Eberstadt’s “arithmetic” problem, Bachiochi described having very few examples of Catholic family life and a very small support system.
Bachiochi said she believes God heals us from our wounds through our “particular vocations,” however.
Of motherhood, she said: “I think God really healed me through being faithful to teachings that I found quite hard, but truly beautiful. I was intellectually convinced by them and found them spiritually beautiful, but found them to be very, very hard to live.”
“Motherhood has served to heal me profoundly," she said, encouraging young mothers to have faith that though it might be difficult now, there is an “amazing future” awaiting them.
“It’s really an incredible gift that Church has given me … the gift of obedience,” she said.
She also said by God’s grace, she was given an “excellent husband” and has found that “just as the Church promises, that leaning into motherhood, into the little things, the daily needs, the constant requests for my attention, has truly been a school of virtue.”
The Catholic Women’s and Gender Studies Program is a new part of the Nesti Center for Faith and Culture at the University of St. Thomas, a recognized Catholic cultural center of the Vatican’s Dicastery for Culture and Education.
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Bishop Michael Burbidge of Arlington and Bishop Barry Knestout of Richmond. | Credit: Katie Yoder/EWTN News; photo courtesy of the Archdiocese of Washington
Jan 18, 2026 / 08:00 am (CNA).
The Virginia Catholic bishops on Friday spoke out against an abortion amendment that would remove state protections for unborn children, calling the measure “extreme.”
The Virginia General Assembly passed a proposed amendment that would add a fundamental right to abortion to Virginia’s constitution, if voters approve it this November.
The proposed abortion amendment would establish a “fundamental right to reproductive freedom, including the ability to make and carry out decisions relating to one’s own prenatal care, childbirth, postpartum care, contraception, abortion care, miscarriage management, and fertility care.”
Bishops Michael Burbidge of Arlington and Barry Knestout of Richmond called the move “shocking to the conscience,” noting that lawmakers quickly moved the proposed amendment through both chambers in the early days of its 60-day session.
“The extreme abortion amendment, which will proceed to a referendum for voters to decide later this year, would go far beyond even what Roe v. Wade previously allowed,” the bishops said in the Jan. 16 statement. “It would enshrine virtually unlimited abortion at any stage of pregnancy, with no age restriction.”
The bishops cautioned that the amendment would “severely jeopardize Virginia’s parental consent law, health and safety standards for women, conscience protections for health care providers, and restrictions on taxpayer-funded abortions.”
“Most tragically of all, the extreme abortion amendment provides no protections whatsoever for preborn children,” the bishops continued.
“Most importantly, human life is sacred,” the bishops said. “The lives of vulnerable mothers and their preborn children must always be welcomed, cared for, and protected.”
“Parental rights and the health and well-being of minors must be defended,” the bishops said. “So too must religious liberty. No one should ever be forced to pay for or participate in an abortion. Health and safety should be enhanced, not diminished.”
In addition, the bishops urged Virginia voters to oppose a measure that would repeal a 2006 provision defining marriage as between one man and one woman. The bishops also expressed support for a measure that would restore voting rights to those who have completed prison sentences.
“We will be deeply engaged in the work of helping to educate voters on these proposed amendments and will fight the extreme abortion amendment with maximum determination,” the bishops concluded.
The joint statement followed a statement by Burbidge, who on Jan. 15 urged Catholics to “to pray, fast, and advocate for the cause of life” amid the “looming threat” of the abortion amendment.
“Prayer opens our hearts to God’s wisdom and strengthens us to act with courage and charity,” Burbidge wrote. “Fasting makes reparation for sin and reminds us that true freedom is found not in self-indulgence but in self-gift. Advocacy allows us to bring our convictions into the public square with respect, clarity, and perseverance.”
“Our response as Catholics — and as citizens committed to justice — must be rooted in faith, truth, and love,” he continued.
Burbidge also reminded Catholics of the mercy of the Church.
“It is essential to reaffirm a truth that lies at the very center of the Church’s pro-life mission: The Church is a loving mother,” Burbidge continued. “To any man or woman who carries the pain, regret, or sorrow of participation in abortion, know this clearly — you are not alone, and God awaits you with love and mercy. The Church desires to walk with you on a journey of healing and hope.”
“May we together pray fervently, act courageously, and serve generously,” Burbidge said. “May our witness help build a culture in Virginia — and beyond — that recognizes every human life as sacred, every person as beloved, and every moment as an opportunity to choose life.”
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From left to right: Sister Catherine Joy, Sister Virginia Joy, and Sister Israel Rose of the Sisters of Life at SEEK 2026 in Denver. | Credit: Francesca Fenton/EWTN News
Jan 7, 2026 / 06:00 am (CNA).
Hundreds of young women filled a ballroom on Jan. 4 at the 2026 SEEK Conference in Denver to hear Sister Virginia Joy Cotter, SV, discuss how to follow God’s call and determine one’s vocation.
“When we think about vocation, it’s ultimately a call to love and be loved,” Sister Virginia Joy said during her talk, titled “The Adventure of the Yes: Following God’s Call.”
“Growing up, or even now, you’re probably asked, ‘What are you going to do when you grow up? What’s your major? What do you want to do with your life?’” she said. “I would guess no one has probably asked you, ‘What are you going to do with your love? How do you plan to make a gift of yourself?’ But these are the questions that sit behind a vocation.”
“For some, the word vocation might be completely foreign to you. For others, maybe it provokes a stream of emotions from wonder to anticipation to anxiety. Whatever it means to you, it’s good to take stock of where it sits with you right now and open your heart to whatever God wants to give you this morning.”
Sister Virginia Joy shared that “ultimately, our vocation is not a problem to be fixed or a riddle to be solved … Vocation is deeply relational, personal, and distinct. It comes from the Latin ‘vocare,’ meaning to call, to name, to summon. There’s one who calls and there’s one who responds. It’s a relationship between each individual and God.”
Here are seven ways a person can discern his or her vocation based on Sister Virginia Joy’s talk:
Pay attention to where and how you are called to love
Sister Virginia Joy shared that the questions behind one’s vocation are fundamentally about “what are you going to do with your love” and how you are called to “make a gift of yourself,” not merely what career or role you will have.
Receive God’s love first
She emphasized that the prerequisite for hearing God’s call is first receiving his love, since vocation flows from a relationship.
“When I think about a vocational call, I think of two things: First, God is the one who calls, and it is always a call of love. Second, we are the ones to respond to that call and to love in return. So first, the prerequisite to hearing God’s call is receiving his love,” Sister Virginia Joy said.
Develop a real prayer life and speak honestly to God
God makes himself known in prayer, especially when a person speaks from the heart — expressing longing, confusion, loneliness, or desire for meaning.
Sister Virginia Joy highlighted that “God is looking for a place to break in and make himself known. I trust you’ve experienced it here at SEEK. It’s real. He’s real. And he is in pursuit of your heart. He knows you and he desires that you come to know him. This happens in prayer.”
“But prayer can be challenging because we’re used to instant gratification. We want to see results. And yet relationships, they’re not about results,” she added. “Relationships take time, patience, and trust. Sometimes I think we settle or we allow ourselves to get distracted because real love means facing our weakness and searching for the Lord in times of loneliness, doubt, and even pain.”
Stay close to the sacraments, especially confession and the Eucharist
Sister Virginia Joy emphasized that living in grace and regularly receiving the sacraments helps ensure that a person does not miss God’s call and gains the strength to respond in his time.
She shared with those gathered that she has always found herself making life decisions after “a good confession — decisions to move across the country, decisions to become a missionary, decisions to accept a particular job or begin or end a dating relationship.”
“I know there can be a lot of fear about somehow missing what God is calling me to,” Sister Virginia Joy said. “And I just want to crush that fear because the truth is if you’re staying close to the sacraments, if you’re living in grace, you will not miss what God is calling you to. And because of the grace of the sacraments, you will have the strength to respond in God’s time.”
Live your call to love daily, even before knowing your definitive vocation
Sister Virginia Joy stressed that holiness and vocation are lived now, through everyday acts of love, even before one enters marriage, religious life, or another permanent state.
She asked those gathered: “Where are we called to love?”
“It’s not a complicated question. All the love happens right where God has you — with family, friends, roommates. We are each given so many opportunities to love every day. You might not be in your definitive vocation right now or five years from now, but your call to love is now. Your call to make a gift of yourself is now,” she said.
Recognize your unique gifts
Especially for women, discerning vocation involves recognizing the “uniquely feminine” capacity for receptivity, generosity, spiritual maternity, and leading others to God, Sister Virginia Joy explained.
“As women, we possess a unique capacity for love … Written into our very makeup by design, we as women have space for another, room for another. And the physical capacity — we’ve heard this over the days — the physical capacity to receive and carry life sheds a much deeper reality within the heart of each woman,” she said. “Our bodies and souls are intimately connected and together they tell us something — that our love is receptive, sensitive, generous, maternal.”
Observe where your heart becomes undivided and free
A key sign of vocation is interior freedom and unity of heart, where fear gives way to peace and clarity about where, as Sister Virginia Joy said, one is called “to make a gift of oneself in a total way.”
She shared that while discerning her own vocation her heart was divided — seeing the beauty in both married life and religious life. It wasn’t until she asked in prayer, “What do you want, Lord?” while on retreat with the Sisters of Life that she heard him say, “You. You. All of you for myself.”
“And in an instant, my heart was undivided,” she recalled. “I knew where I was being called to give my love and my life, and I felt more free than I ever had.”
“Your love story is going to be perfectly unique to you,” Sister Virginia Joy added. “God has been preparing something far beyond your expectations and he desires your freedom to respond with an undivided heart. Whether it be marriage, religious life, lay life, there is no doubt he wants you and your unique love. God loves you.”
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