Skip to content
The Catholic Leader
  • Home
  • News
    • QLD
    • Australia
    • Regional
    • Education
    • World
    • Vatican
  • Features
  • Opinion
  • Life
    • Family
    • Relationships
    • Faith
  • Culture
  • People
  • Subscribe
  • Jobs
  • Contribute
No Result
View All Result
  • Home
  • News
    • QLD
    • Australia
    • Regional
    • Education
    • World
    • Vatican
  • Features
  • Opinion
  • Life
    • Family
    • Relationships
    • Faith
  • Culture
  • People
  • Subscribe
  • Jobs
  • Contribute
No Result
View All Result
The Catholic Leader
No Result
View All Result
Home Youth

Learning to ask the questions

byGuest Contributor
16 December 2014
Reading Time: 3 mins read
AA

Yet the call had been strong and I knew that God was leading me to create a new path as part of His plan for me.

Share on FacebookShare on Twitter

By Veronica Hayes

WHAT am I here for? What is my purpose? Where is God calling me?

Turning 25 had me in a state of confusion – these questions racing around my mind like the Australian Grand Prix.

I wasn’t prepared for this. I was meant to be happy and content.

I loved my life. I had a great, full life – supportive family, great friends and a job that I loved and was passionate about.

I was young, single and free. What more could a girl want?  Why was I not satisfied?

Having committed myself to the Lord as a teenager, I brought these questions straight to God.

I was doing my best to follow Him and walk in His ways. But I felt lost and without purpose.

Was I really living the full life God had planned for me?

Was I doing what he wanted me to do?

Related Stories

‘For the moment, no,’ – Pope Francis dismisses resignation rumours in wide-ranging interview

Plans for indigenous elements, memorials to trauma, to complement Catholic liturgy

Called to share the message of Jesus at mission school

Surely there was more,

These questions led me on a journey of “self-discovery” but not in the worldly sense.

God was calling me deeper – to discover who I was and why He created me.

I needed to discover the cause that I was willing to live and fight for – the cause that I was willing to give my whole life to.

Ultimately, I knew, my cause was God.

I yearned with all my heart to give all my life to Him – fully and without reservation.

So, for a young woman working in politics, whose “me time” was spending hours in retail therapy and who couldn’t wait for the next opportunity to go out for a girls’ night, what did this mean?

How did this fit into the life that I was living?

Catholic, single and a desire to live for God equals religious life.

My initial reaction?

No way! That meant leaving everything I knew – everything I was comfortable with, and I was not ready for that.

After months of searching, asking questions, praying, moving away from and coming back to Brisbane, the desire to live for God fully still burned.

So, I decided to use my skills and abilities in an area where my heart was leading me.

In October 2013, I left my job and started working for the Church – in Brisbane archdiocese’s Vocations office. Go figure.

Now, let me tell you, when you step out in faith and give God the opportunity to work within you, it’s not easy.

He takes that little bit you give Him and dives straight on in.

After an encounter with five different religious orders at a youth conference late last year, my openness to religious and consecrated life slowly began to change.

I confidently stroll up to the women’s religious section in the Vocations Expo, just casually wanting to have a chat and check out what they did.

As I began to speak with them, an overwhelming emotion came over me and I broke down in tears – intense, mascara-running, ugly tears.

I had no idea where that came from.

Shocked and confused, I went straight to Adoration.

Where is this coming from? Do you seriously want me to be a nun?

I have let this experience and the burning questions continue to stir within me throughout this year.

Discernment weekends, spiritual direction and conversations with inspiring priests and religious brothers and sisters have allowed me to slowly sift through all my emotions, fears and desires.

My discernment journey has allowed me to be open to the beauty and joy of religious life but most importantly it has allowed me to discover my primary calling – the universal call to sanctity.

We are called to be set apart, set apart to become saints.

This applies to everyone, not just the professionally religious.

How I choose to live that out is ultimately my choice.

God’s will isn’t always clear but the needs of our world and community are.

Discernment is about seeing God’s will in these needs and how we choose to respond.

I may not have figured out my vocation but I’ve learnt to ask the question: How can my God-given desires and passions meet the needs of the world around me?

Veronica Hayes is the outgoing administrative officer for the Vocation Brisbane team. She finishes up at the end of 2014 and we wish her all the best for the future.

Seeking your call? Contact Vocation Brisbane for more information or discernment opportunities by phoning 1300 133 544 or emailing vocation@bne.catholic.net.au

ShareTweet
Previous Post

Little dog making a big difference at Villa La Salle

Next Post

Darkness of siege cannot overcome Christ’s light, Archbishop Fisher says

Guest Contributor

Related Posts

‘For the moment, no,’ – Pope Francis dismisses resignation rumours in wide-ranging interview
Vatican

‘For the moment, no,’ – Pope Francis dismisses resignation rumours in wide-ranging interview

5 July 2022
Plans for indigenous elements, memorials to trauma, to complement Catholic liturgy
News

Plans for indigenous elements, memorials to trauma, to complement Catholic liturgy

5 July 2022
Spirit of Mission: A group of young people including university students, seminarians and ministry workers present at the Xavier School of Mission held June 20 to 24. The mission school hosted guest speakers and workshops to encourage people to go out and proclaim the Word. Photo: Joe Higgins
QLD

Called to share the message of Jesus at mission school

4 July 2022
Next Post
Woman in Martin Place

Darkness of siege cannot overcome Christ's light, Archbishop Fisher says

Religious report

Vatican report calls United States women religious to continued dialogue

Pope Francis greets children

Count down to Christmas by counting your blessings, Pope says

Popular News

  • Plans for indigenous elements, memorials to trauma, to complement Catholic liturgy

    Plans for indigenous elements, memorials to trauma, to complement Catholic liturgy

    0 shares
    Share 0 Tweet 0
  • Mass with signs of indigenous respect launch historic Plenary Council assembly

    0 shares
    Share 0 Tweet 0
  • ‘For the moment, no,’ – Pope Francis dismisses resignation rumours in wide-ranging interview

    0 shares
    Share 0 Tweet 0
  • Called to share the message of Jesus at mission school

    0 shares
    Share 0 Tweet 0
  • Future First Nations teachers honoured with Rome scholarship

    0 shares
    Share 0 Tweet 0
Search our job finder
No Result
View All Result

Latest News

‘For the moment, no,’ – Pope Francis dismisses resignation rumours in wide-ranging interview
Vatican

‘For the moment, no,’ – Pope Francis dismisses resignation rumours in wide-ranging interview

by Catholic News Agency
5 July 2022
0

POPE Francis has said he has no plans to resign soon and that his knee injury is...

Plans for indigenous elements, memorials to trauma, to complement Catholic liturgy

Plans for indigenous elements, memorials to trauma, to complement Catholic liturgy

5 July 2022
Spirit of Mission: A group of young people including university students, seminarians and ministry workers present at the Xavier School of Mission held June 20 to 24. The mission school hosted guest speakers and workshops to encourage people to go out and proclaim the Word. Photo: Joe Higgins

Called to share the message of Jesus at mission school

4 July 2022
Cathedral green packed with families for festival day

Cathedral green packed with families for festival day

4 July 2022
Fr Mike Schmitz’s next podcast Catechism in a Year starts New Year’s Day

Fr Mike Schmitz’s next podcast Catechism in a Year starts New Year’s Day

4 July 2022

Never miss a story. Sign up to the Weekly Round-Up
eNewsletter now to receive headlines directly in your email.

Sign up to eNews
  • About
  • Advertise
  • Contact
  • Contribute
  • Jobs
  • Subscribe

The Catholic Leader is an Australian award-winning Catholic newspaper that has been published by the Archdiocese of Brisbane since 1929. Our journalism seeks to provide a full, accurate and balanced Catholic perspective of local, national and international news while upholding the dignity of the human person.

Copyright © All Rights Reserved The Catholic Leader
Accessibility Information | Privacy Policy | Archdiocese of Brisbane

The Catholic Leader acknowledges Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people as the First Peoples of this country and especially acknowledge the traditional owners on whose lands we live and work throughout the Catholic Archdiocese of Brisbane.

No Result
View All Result
  • Home
  • News
    • QLD
    • Australia
    • Regional
    • Education
    • World
    • Vatican
  • Features
  • Opinion
  • Life
    • Family
    • Relationships
    • Faith
  • Culture
  • People
  • Subscribe
  • Jobs
  • Contribute

Copyright © All Rights Reserved The Catholic Leader

0
    0
    Your Cart
    Your cart is emptyChoose another Subscription
    Continue Shopping