Nearly 250 girls in the Diocese of Columbus took a step in discerning God’s plan for their lives on Oct. 3 at the Serra Club vocations luncheon for young women.

Middle and high school students in the diocese had the opportunity to meet and interact with religious sisters during a luncheon at the Pontifical College Josephinum.

There were 21 sisters present from eight religious orders: Franciscan Sisters of Christian Charity, Salesian Sisters of St. John Bosco, Daughters of Holy Mary of the Heart of Jesus, Children of Mary, Little Servant Sisters of the Immaculate Conception, Apostolic Sisters of St. John, Dominican Sisters of the Immaculate Conception Province and Dominican Sisters of Mary Mother of the Eucharist.

The luncheon was sponsored by the Serra Club of North Columbus. Serra clubs consist of lay Catholic men and women around the world known as Serrans who, as Pope St. John Paul II said, accept as their responsibility the promotion of vocations to the priesthood and religious life.

Serra was formed in 1935 and named after St. Junipero Serra, a Spanish priest and missionary who is the patron of the organization. Serra is present in more than 30 countries. There are approximately 12,000 members in more than 500 active Serra clubs today.

“Our mission for the Serra Club is to encourage the priests and the sisters and the religious that we have now,” said Tom Rhatican, president of the Serra Club of North Columbus. “We encourage and support them, and we also encourage and support you – so many young people who are discerning their life’s vocation.

“We’re hoping to create an opportunity for you here this afternoon to maybe be able to hear a little more clearly – the Holy Spirit is always trying to reach us – but maybe more clearly hear the Holy Spirit speaking to us, speaking to you about your discernment and your vocation.”

Religious sisters at the luncheon shared their order’s charism, which is the distinct spirit of a religious order that makes it unique. Each religious order had information or photos at a booth where young women could speak with them and learn more.

Sister Francesca McGovern, H.SMCJ, a member of the Daughters of Holy Mary of the Heart of Jesus religious order, speaks with Columbus Bishop Hartley High School seniors (from left) Grace Mashensic, Allie Gunsorek and Emerson Summers. CT photos by Ken Snow

“They’re all so different because they have a bunch of different focuses for each order and that makes each one unique, so everybody can kind of find their place and their role that fills God’s path for them (with) their own internal desires,” said Grace Mashensic, a senior at Columbus Bishop Hartley High School who attended the luncheon.

“It’s really interesting, visiting all the stations for the different (religious) orders, because you wouldn’t realize how many … there are around Columbus. 

“Last year was the first year I came to this. I didn’t even realize the Josephinum was here, and there’s so many places that you can explore your faith and opportunities to enhance it just in Columbus.”

Father Jeff Rimelspach, the pastor of Columbus St. Margaret of Cortona Church who serves as the chaplain of the Serra Club of North Columbus, offered a blessing.

Other clergy present included Father Paul Noble, chaplain at Columbus Bishop Watterson High School; Father Anthony Essien, chaplain at Bishop Hartley; and Father Kyle Tennant, parochial vicar at Columbus St. Cecilia Church and chaplain at Columbus Bishop Ready High School.

Emerson Summers, a senior at Bishop Hartley, said the Serra Club luncheon came at a fitting time for her as she discerns her next step after graduation.

“The whole reason I wanted to come – with discernment in mind, specifically – is because, being a senior in high school and thinking about that next part of your life, the biggest goal is to do the will of God for you and to follow the path that He set out for you.

“So, coming here and seeing all these wonderful women who decided to follow God’s call to religious life and in that vocation for them, it’s really empowering to really want to step into my own relationship with God and really contemplate what it is that He wants for me and then to be able to have the fiat of Mary and be able to say ‘Yes’ to whatever it is that He is calling me to do.

“Seeing all these different orders and convents and seeing how each of them respond to God’s call to rebuild His Church, like St. Francis (of Assisi) was called to do, in a very unique way, it really makes you want to step back and think about your own call and then how you’re going to fulfill that.”

Discerning the next step can be challenging. Having multiple options and trying to know “the right one” can make discernment difficult, Mashensic said.

“It can be so hard since we are younger and since we have our next step coming up with being seniors and graduating,” she said. “It's hard to find where God is leading you when there's so many opportunities. You’re like, ‘Which one is right for me?’ 

“And so, getting in touch in-person, being able to talk with the religious life and these sisters who really know about the different organizations and paths you can go down – I was just talking to a sister, … and she gave me her business card so I can email her and we can talk back and forth.

“Everybody’s very interested and wants to help you and wants to show you the different opportunities that are out there.”

Young women at the Serra Club luncheon came from five high schools and 10 middle schools in the diocese. Students from homeschooling groups were also present.

Mia Savage, a senior at Bishop Ready, said she wanted to attend the luncheon to learn more about the Catholic faith. She is not Catholic, so learning about the vocation to religious life was new to her.

“I’ve gone to Ready for four years now, but I didn’t grow up being in a certain religion,” she said. “So, I’m pretty interested in learning what goes on within the Catholic Church.

“I’ve had theology all four years, so it’s pretty interesting, and I’d like to see if that could be where I fit in. I’m hoping to hear more about how it really is to live as a Catholic and what values that comes with.”

Newark Catholic freshman Ava Upton (left) and senior Natalie Jungers were among 250 young women attending the Serra Club vocations luncheon on Oct. 3 at the Pontifical College Josephinum. CT photo by Ken Snow.

For Ava Upton, a freshman at Newark Catholic High School, the Serra Club luncheon was an opportunity to spend time discerning God’s will for her. She said she hopes to get more “clarity.”

“I feel like religious life is not as advocated for as married (life) in our culture today,” she said. “So, I feel like this will be a nice experience to get more information and to learn how to discern more.”

Allie Gunsorek, a senior at Bishop Hartley, agreed that discerning a vocation can be challenging. Spending time with religious sisters and learning about various orders can help young women discover where God is calling them.

“I’ve kind of been struggling with discernment and what I want to do,” she said. “So, I thought, coming here would be a good opportunity because I’ve been considering the religious life, and I can kind of see that in my future.

“So, just being able to decipher if that is for me, and then, also seeing the various religious orders, how different they are and how you can be part of (religious life) in so many different ways, … I think it helps me see that it can be fun, and they all have this light in their eyes, and how it’s a good thing.”

“I think it’s a really beautiful vocation,” said Natalie Jungers, a senior at Newark Catholic. “I just see them so full of joy, and I think it’s definitely like a marriage between the woman and God.”

Sister Elfie Del Rosario, FMA (Filiae Mariae Auxilium Christianorum or Daughters of Mary Help of Christians) served as the guest speaker. She is the vocation director for the Salesian Sisters of St. John Bosco, known as the Daughters of Mary Help of Christians, in the eastern province of the U.S. The order is dedicated to evangelizing and educating young people.

Sister Elfie spoke of the importance of listening to God’s voice. She suggested several ways young women can hear God speak to them.

She told young women that they need friends who “call you out” for listening to, watching or doing something that is not holy. 

Sister Elfie Del Rosario, FMA, vocations director for the Salesian Sisters of St. John Bosco, speaks to young women at the Serra Club vocations luncheon on Oct. 3 at the Pontifical College Josephinum’s Jessing Center. CT photo by Ken Snow

Sister Elfie, who is from the Philippines, said that when she was growing up it was difficult to find friends who wanted to accompany her to Adoration or pray the Rosary. She stressed that young women need to choose friends who help them grow in holiness.

If friends are “actually helping you make good choices, encouraging you in your faith, stay with those people,” Sister Elfie said. “If you have a chaplain in your school, praise Jesus, and you’re really lucky. If you have sisters in your school, you’re so blessed. 

“If you have lay people in your school who strive each and every day to live their faith, hang out with them, ask them, allow them to challenge you because God will use them to speak words of encouragement.”

Sister Elfie recalled the parable of the Good Shepherd in the Gospel of John. She referred to John 10, when Jesus spoke of the hired hand who sees the wolf coming, leaves the sheep and flees. Jesus said that “he flees because he is a hired hand and does not care about the sheep.” (John 10:13)

Sister Elfie told the girls to be wary of people who, like the hired laborers in the parable, appear to care for the them but do not have their best interests in mind. She said these are people who say, “‘Oh, you want to do that? Sure, whatever, it’s OK.’” They distract from God, the Good Shepherd. 

“Be careful what you listen to because you don’t want hired workers coming in the sheepfold and trying to distract you,” she said.

Regularly receiving the sacraments of confession and the Eucharist are other ways young women can hear God’s voice. Sister Elfie said God speaks through a priest in the confessional and in receiving the Eucharist. 

She also encouraged girls to download the New American Bible app on their phone or a Bible app that is “true to its translation.”

In prayer, after offering a litany of gratitude, Sister Elfie said, it is important to give God an opportunity to speak. Communication with God cannot be one-sided. She asked the girls to take a moment of silence in prayer so God can speak to them. 

She said God is “so gentle.” That is how they can recognize His voice.

She reminded young women that God also gave them an interior voice, their conscience, to help them make good choices. They can discern right from wrong by listening to their conscience.

Sister Elfie encouraged young women to give of themselves by serving those around them. Serving others is a way young women can hear God speaking to them and discern His will.

“In giving of yourself in service, God will use that, too,” she said. “He will make you realize the more you give of yourself the more He can work through you and the more you can discover the gifts that you have.”