Be Who God Meant You to Be

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I recently attended the wake of a friend’s father, where I ran into several other friends whom I had not seen for a while.  Laughing while swapping stories, one who knew I was newly professed said to another, ‘See, I told you she wouldn’t have changed”, to which I replied, “I might be a Sister but I’m still the same person!”

As I drove away from the funeral home, my response echoed rather hollowly in my heart, a sure sign that it wasn’t exactly the truth.  Our essence is of God.  That doesn’t change, yet there is no denying that how I am in the world now does look and feel different…much like a rose bud in the early morning differs from one in full bloom in the late afternoon sun.  While each is still a rose, one is opened more fully to what it was meant to become.

Religious life is one of the many ways God might call a person to be in the world.  Prayerful discernment of and responding to that call has opened my heart more fully and led to so many unexpected graces.  I am still Kathy.  But I am Kathy more fully opened.

How is God calling you?  How will you respond?

Kathy Flynn, OP

Whitefish Bay, WI

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