How does a person choose the Congregation to join?
When a young woman feels a call to give her life to God, she starts to explore different religious Congregations. She usually begins with a Congregation that she already has some connection with through education, health care or pastoral ministry. She might feel drawn to it because of the joy, compassion, or service that she witnessed by its members. She now feels called to respond with her life as they have done. If the woman does not have connections with a religious Congregation, she will “shop around” as it were — in search of where her heart finds deep resonance. She will visit various Congregations, talk to some of the members and try to identify their charism, the spirit that moves them to consecrate their life to God. She knows that she has found the Congregation that she can connect with when she says: “Aha! This is where I feel called by God.” Together with the Congregation, the young woman enters into a discernment process. During this time, with the help of a spiritual guid
