5 Reasons You Should NOT Discern Religious Life | Discerning Vocation 

"No vocation is easy" All vocations, God will continue to love you.

After watching this video, I am even more convicted to go deep in discerning religious life. Thanks for making me know that I am having the correct mentality. Thanks. God bless.

When I first read the title, I legit thought this video was trying to lead people astray and was a total waste of time. WELL SURPRISE praise God for working above my expectations

I think another good reason of not to discern religious life, is that you want to avoid facing the secular world, thinking that a convent is a good place of hiding from suffering, heartbreak and disappointment. If you are a religious, you are going to see sufferings of life even fuller, you will be in the front line of fighting sins and brokenness, you are going to see even more ugly wounds but of course, you are going to be witnessing the healing of God in other's life too.

I am a Sister, I love and really enjoyed your talk. Mostly, I admire your honesty, vulnerability and how you speak your truth from a sacred space. Many blessings upon your continued life's journey.

Hi I'm a Catholic missionary. I'm so glad that I came across your channel!! This is awesome content to share with the teenagers of my ministry. Good job :)

I am a religious sister, and I appreciate your comments, thank you for being genuine. God bless you

I actually had to pause the video because number four resonated with me so much. I have definitely struggled with the fear of not being holy enough and feeling like I have to "prove myself" to God.

I just found out these are the reasons why I want to become a nun 😭

Thanks for that info. I kept telling my friends and family I wanted religious life. God never called me to that. I was surrounded by nuns most of my life. I got loads of interviews in different places. In the end I became a mother with a son. I was attached to the legion of mary a long time before that. 😇❤️👍

Remember being married is also a vocation

I am definitely to stay unmarried and want a religious life. I just have to save enough for my parents as I a single child and would want them to live comfortably when I'm gone. That's all that is my duty n then I'm free to do as I want.

I am regretful that I didn't get to discern religious life when I was young enough to. I am grateful that I have brought up two beautiful children/young adults now. I think that both vocations are ways of the cross - marriage and religious life are both opportunities to die to self every day. I think the reason I got married (from God's perspective) is so that I could learn that.

Oh no! I had all of the reasons you mentioned🤦🏽 Thank you so much ! ! I wanna cry. I'm Francisca from Nigeria .

A very real, transparent and honest and truthful perspective on this topic. Loved it. I'm not Catholic but love God and wanted to be a missionary. God shut that door, and told me I was running from many things but mostly my family and thought being a missionary was the holiest life I could live. Now i understand how serving and obeying God works, and it doesn't have any one form or look, and all true vocations as the Catholics call them will have the 1st and 2nd commandment...in common. Love God first with all you are, then love people. Upon which all holiness and devotion to God hangs. Really appreciated this video. God bless and I still really admire much of who and what true holy nuns are to God and the world.

This was so helpful. Thanks for sharing your wisdom (and joy)!

The joy is contagious! Thank you, very helpful.

I gained more while in the seminary but I had to leave. They warned me the studies are hard but accepted me on a trial basis. All hell broke loose when I returned home after one semester. But then when I transferred to the public high school I was amongst my level of brains and I liked the student body with girls and boys and teachers. At the seminary I got out of my shyness and was in a class of comparables IQ. Many are called; few are chosen. This was in1965 I am a retired ASSOCIATE OF THE THESACRED HEARTS,SS.CC. God bless!😘 Acturally I enjoy fellowshiping in the Episcopal church who h to me is more in line with Pope Francis ecumenical persuasion and the bible. God blessings to all!

I started watching this video thinking it would be a negative Catholic video but you did a wonderful job helping young woman discern if it is truly their calling! I know you followed your calling and you are bless as is your husband to have each other! Many blessings and may you have a wonder, happy and beautiful life! 🙏🏻

It's an eye opening for me. I only regret for not watching it before.

No vocation is easy. So true, God bless!

Great video! I wished I would had seen it when I was discerning back in 2000! I entered in 2001 and left in 2014. I will be starting a ministry to help women who are leaving the orders or who were asked to leave, like I did, for asking questions. It took a former Catholic nun to help me understand that it's not about religion! It is about our relationship Jesus...Jesus gave us our assignment on this earth.... "Heal the sick, raise the dead and cast out demons in Jesus name!' Jesus didn't say Pray for the sick ...Jesus says 'Heal the sick!" I go to Brazil every year for mission and even in my city there is a big need for folks to meet Jesus and be healed- physically, mentally, spiritually and emotionally...I see much healing and miracles! God is up to something BIG!

Well done, young lady!! Blessings for your marriage and warm hearted greetings from an apostolic hermit sister/ Germany

I’ll admit that I tuned in to your video out of curiosity because of the title. I wondered what horrible and insane reasons you were going to claim. So glad I did. God bless you on your upcoming wedding. I wish you all the best. 🙏🏻❤️✝️💐💐💐

I needed this right now, God is so timely!👌

This is so relatable! Thank you so much for making this video!

I have very medieval inclinations in my discernment. Concern for my soul, repentance of sin, wanting a community that understands that, and salvation of all souls. It was very interesting to hear this video and helpful. May God keep you and your future spouse, blessing you both bountifully through the grace of the sacrament. Marriage as a vocation is a modern church initiative to accommodate the dwindling arranged marriages/family oriented courting standards amongst the faithful which was the main decider. As in most things, labor and property have a major part in discerning as well throughout history.

I don't have a lot to do with nuns or the like, but I found this video so interesting, I can imagine that a lot of people think being a nun will be easy... from what I have read and watched it's harder. Much like Jesus faced hardships every single day. I have enormous respect for nuns, because I know it took a lot of sacrifice. Also love your little "ding" moment with the ring haha! congrats! God has a perfect plan for us all.

You are so right with this. The reasons given are indeed true. It’s so hard to discern.

After watching this video, am made to understand that I really need to think as I am descerning. It's more of a calling to serve God than running away from something

Very good advice. Br. Herman Johnson, O.P.

Thank you so much, we're making a program on vocations, and it was nice to hear your poit of view. The only thing I would add, and this is because I think my husband and I are few of the marriage couples that married because we were more in love with God than with each other (people constantly confuse us for a Priest and a Nun even though we're holding hands), is that my trust is in God not my husband. My husband and I are very limited. My husband is only a small expression of my Eternal Husband. Only He knows all my weaknesses, all my thoughts, all my worries, not my earthly husband. Because he can't Love me and understand me as only God does. And fortunately it's the same the other way around. We both are the people we trust the most in the world, but we depend much more on God than each other. This is why we just enjoy our marriage, because we are a gift, a way to access God, but it's not the only way or the only gift. Thank you so much for sharing, it helped me a lot.

Thank you so much for this❤❤❤ God bless you and your family always🙏❤

I love your honesty. May God Bless you with whatever you choose to do.

You are welcome.. I responded back to you as soon as I saw your message was on post 📫... I just subscribed for your channel ❤

Thank you for promoting negatives. I fear many will be judging, I’ll run toward religious life xx thank you for being vulnerable

This girl is amazing. Thanks for not being bitter from being “rejected” and for sharing your journey. You are awesome.

This is why the Church says to discern and pray on your vocation. It's not like a job in 'the world', it will be a matter of heart and soul, love and divinity. The 'should not' .. that is for each person to decide, if the way of religious life is right for them. I myself broken as I am, have begun to wonder if this path is right for me. Pray for me. The world is becoming less and less enjoyable, while the longing to grow closer to Christ is increasing (& I'm in my early 60s).

I think I should pass on this message God gave me to any who are watching, who think that only marriage can make you happy, is this: "Don't make a man your God."

I have the same fears. I have been afraid that no one will ever love me because of being rejected before. I have considered becoming a priest, so I don't have to worry about marriage or failed relationships, but you are right running away from something is not the solution to the problem. If there is no sincere love for God to have a religious life then it is not a good option to do so.

Thank you that was beautiful. And thank you for being your beautiful self ❤

Awesome and inspiring. Yes Vocation is a gift of God

Hey! I just discovered your channel today and wanted to say that I love these videos! I'm wondering if you can consider doing more videos like this one for the vocations of being married and staying single? The reason I ask is because watching this video in particular really helped me a lot. Especially by giving me things to consider while discerning my vocation. Thanks for sharing your story and keep up the great work! :)

This video has so much wisdom!

so much faithfulness and so much truthfulness ma'am.. ty so much

Being afraid you will not be loved by a man isn't a bad thing and isn't a reason to NOT discern. Remember that this world is imperfect and filled with imperfect people--our real home is in heaven. It's possible there ARE no men who will ever love you. The point isn't to "believe in yourself--someday your prince will come!" The point is that as you mature spiritually, you realize that it doesn't MATTER if the entire WORLD won't love you--it doesn't matter if the entire world positively HATES you--the ONLY thing that matter is that GOD loves you. That's it. Consider what it would look like if you used that reason for the other evangelical counsels: "I was afraid I'd never be able to be monetarily successful in a career, so I embraced voluntary poverty." That's a GOOD thing, not a bad thing. The problem is that you cared at ALL about worldly success--not whether or not it was true that you COULDN'T make it. Just so, "I was afraid I'd never be able to acquire power in the world, so I renounced my will completely by taking a vow of perfect obedience." Again, this is a GOOD thing, not a BAD thing. There's not reason to SEEK power in the first place. Just so, if you think, "I'll never be loved by a man, so I'm going to embrace perpetual chastity," that is a GOOD thing, not a BAD thing. The problem isn't thinking "no man will ever love me"--that very well might be true. The problem is CARING about anyone's love EXCEPT GOD'S. Preferring God's love to ANY man's because it is more certain and more perfect is a WONDERFUL reason to choose the religious life. It is a recognition of God's greatness and a manifestation of detachment from worldly success.

Look this video the wrong way from the thumbnail. Your advice is great. From a wife and mother who also discerned religious life, I can say I shared all these feeling. God bless you and your family.

Glad you made your choice, hope it works out for you. This path too has many challenges. God Bless

Thank you for this video. After watching this video, now I know I'm not ready to discern any convent just yet.

About 1980, I had a school counselor who left to enter a monastery in Vermont. My teacher told me why Mr. Ceruti (sp?) was no longer around, and I thought that a monastic life was pretty intriguing. Perhaps I waited too long, but I always thought of entering the monastic life. As an EMT, a self professed tartan designer, and a novice weaver, I have at least a few skills I can contribute to a community. Just don't test me on my cooking skills. Yes, marriage does put a damper on pursuing the monastic life. What are your thoughts on turning a room in your home into a domestic church?

Thank God i landed myself here today. Have been in total dilemma .God richly bless you

I love how you phrased each reason to rethink discernment... I'm telling you each vocation is just as hard!

Great...thank God for coming across ur channel being my first day,congratulations for ur openness to many,u have fed us with ur wisdom.kindky wish to have more of ur videos for the ministry...thank u ad God bless u ad ur spous. Consolata. Spain.

Thank you! This helps me a lot ❤️

If one's vocation is to be called to live as a life of a nun of sister, then God has a plan for you. But it must be God calling you. If God's vocation for you is to be married, then keep yourself for that special person God has planned for you. If you have a vocation to be single, then be single. All callings require faith and trust in God's Grace and to live in a state of Grace.

God bless you sister in God.Pray also for me in God to succeed in my own vocation.

very eye-opening, thank u so much. -jordan

Thank you for your honesty

Thank you ❤️

Thanks so much! Great points you made.

Thanks for sharing this video. It has important message to consider before making a decision to be a religious. One has to have a right intention of becoming a religious.

Woah, this video spoke so much to me. It made me realize to slow down and to not rush things since I realized that one of the reasons you mentioned here could be true in my life. P.S. I didn't talk to a vocational director yet.

I was thinking of becoming a Priest,but it was not to be.Many are called,but a few are chosen.I am now happily married.If you are called to the Vocation of Priesthood or Religious Life,I am sure Our Lord Jesus would decide the final outcome.He loves us all.He is the Way,the Truth and the Life.We must have Faith,Hope,Love and Trust in Our Lord Jesus.❤️❤️❤️.

If you're a nun, you don't have to put up with trivialities of life that disturb your trail of thought towards a path to holiness... You don't have to put up with the petty things that you think are stopping you from making progress in your prayer life. You have less attachments to the outside world and therefore, have less things holding you back from choosing God and saying AMEN TO THAT! all the time. That is what I thought. But when things started to come to a huge turn... I realized... God will put people in your life to teach you things and open your eyes to its realities... That will give you pain, lots of pain, lots of anger... lots of distrust and make your whole world turn upside down... Be accused. Be ostracized. Be discriminated against. Be made fun of. Subjected to different kinds of treatment you think you don't deserve... The reality is... Things will be taken away from you. If you made it too carefully before, not to hold anything too dearly, God will put you in a position where you will have attachments. You will have earthly desires. But it will all be taken away to a painful extent. But it is in engaging in life that God gives you the opportunity to experience the pain He did. And in better knowing that pain, you know Him better as well.. In embracing that pain, you get the opportunity to embrace your own cross like He did (eventhough it wasn't even His cross to bear in the first place). And in reacting to that pain in a holy way----that is even more of a road to holiness than when you pray hours and hours a day but not with the kind of heart that is ready and welcoming of all your sacrifices. Amen to that, sister... In pain, there is love. And in love, that's where He is. I've been wallowing in great ponder whether I should enter into a religious life, but I know Mama Mary and Jesus are, right now, leading me in the way that I ought to tread. Openness to His Will... is the key. Eventhough we might not understand where it will lead us, we will be led exactly where we should be if we seek Him with the right heart. God bless you and your family through the intercession of Mary and St. Joseph.

Thank you so much for sharing. 🙂God bless.

Thank you so much for sharing my things Iam thinking nd for clarifying them

Thank you so much! God bless you.

Good for you, you descovered your inscuretes!

Beautiful. Everything you said was beautiful. Thank you! (You showing your beautiful ring repeatedly is hilarious! Love it! Hahah!)❤

Thank you for sharing, your deeper feelings, I give you full support, I like your feelings, of running away from, not running towards

What an important message! ❤❤❤ thank you

Running away even from someone else’s love because you have termed it abuse should also be reckoned as a symptom of why not to discern religious life or a marriage. Our fallen human nature has the tendency to conflate happiness with being 100% satisfied all the time. The only reason to run away is if it would be a sin to pursue the relationship because some impediment has presented itself (I.e. prior engagement/marriage, incest, or a crime like murder). All those examples are legitimate reasons that the Catholic Church gives to forbid marriage between a man and a woman not some arbitrary feeling of mistreatment.

Hello! I just watched your video, and read a lot of the comments. They are so negative, and reflect so poorly the joy that is the religious life. I have a thought: Perhaps most great saints were not married. But let that be an inspiration to us married folk-- let us be great saints who ARE married. God will sanctify us through marriage, through the most arduous of the schools of love. We will allow Him to make us holy though we are not perfect in our own eyes, and His power again shall be made perfect in our weakness. Loving the particular other - as I will do in marriage, by His grace - is exactly what Jesus did on the Cross. Thank you for your video. :)

I have always been curious why women decide to become a nun. Thank you.

Wow so enjoyed !! 🥰😇

Loved the video! Just subscribed.

Thank you so much!!(:

Great video, thank you a lot! God bless+ 🤗

Thank you for your sharing

Thank you so much. I just learned alot.

Now I’m really questioning my motives.

Ecclesiastes 5:5 says it is better not to vow, than to vow and not pay. I am living an ascetic, religious life outside of the convent and I am happy. I like the fact that I can go and do where God leads me. John 17:15 also states that Jesus's prayer is not that we are taken out of the world, but that we are kept from the evil one. These are some of my reasons for not joining a convent.

Hi, one of my cousin who is married is very devoted Catholic, she prays, goes to Church and Church events regularly. She does her best to serve the God while having a family. I think if you find partner who shares your faith then why not to marry and serve the God together.

Very good points of reflections in making decision of one's vocation. #Holiness is attainable in marriage or religious life.

Just found your channel and I love it ❤️🥰

Thank you very much for this. :)

I've been discerning for almost a year. My greatest fear is being rejected from the monastery I want to go to. Previously, I had a huge plan to become a hygienist and live the single life. I don't want to get married, not because I'm afraid no man could love me, but mostly because I don't like it when men show me love - I guess romance just disgusts me. Although, if I had to get married, I suppose I could see myself doing it. I have always been attracted to the concept of a mysterious man who loved me, but not romantically, this man was also someone I would never 100% figure out, wrapped in layers and layers of humility, enigma, charity, wisdom, peace, so many virtues. I never likened that idealized man to God, but now I'm really starting to see the overlap. Many months ago, a video popped up in my recommended and it was on Carmelite nuns. I had never given the religious life a single thought, it was a clear "100% no" to the sisterhood. However, I figured I'd give that video a chance since I never formally discerned my calling. It was as I watched the video that I felt a slight tug towards it, but I decided not to tell anyone because I didn't want to rush into anything. As time drew on, I realized the feeling never really left me, so I brought it up casually to my mom. We discussed a bit and after the discussion, I decided that _maybe_ I was called to sisterhood, but definitely not the life of silence and detachment Carmelites live. Life still went on. I had a huge attraction to the type of life that priests lived and felt deeply inspired by them, especially since I knew a few priests who were VERY reverent and were big role models to me. I continued to have discussions with my mom and others who were close to me. Again, I felt discouraged by my "calling" towards religious life because of what two people close to me said, so I decided if the calling was true, I would still feel drawn if I disregarded it entirely, so I did. My mom would bring up discussions on dentistry and part of me felt guilty and I almost started to cry because I really did not feel excited or inspired by my old goal at all. I really kept pushing myself to feel inspired by the goals I used to have, but every time I felt like I was going to cry by faking a desire I no longer had. One summer morning when I was home alone, I picked up where I had left off in my book on the life of St. Teresa of Avila. It was almost immediately that I began to tear up and felt as if God was speaking to me "this is what I want of you." I decided to disregard anything that anyone formerly had said about me not having a calling. Some more time passed and I found myself researching different religious orders. I knew there was a reason for it. I decided upon a certain order and did extensive searching on the internet with my mom on convents and orders. Then one day my mom brought up the Carmelite Monastery which was only a few miles from where I live, and for the second time, I opened my mind back up to the idea of being a Carmelite, the life that I was so afraid I would never be able to live. But this time, something clicked. As I read about the monastery, I began to grow more and more interested and more and more attracted to the lifestyle. That's when I remembered the video I saw was on Carmelites, and that St. Teresa of Avila who I so much admired was also a Carmelite. I figured it might have been a sign from God. I'm still not sure where to go from here. I'm not sure I have a vocation to the sisterhood because of videos like these, and the things I read or hear about discernment, but the idea of sacrificing my entire life for God is something I am very much attracted to. As much as I would like to entirely abandon the world along with myself, I know that God ultimately has the say in what my calling is- and what anyone's calling is. I've fasted and have been studying much at this time so that I can hear God clearly. I feel like I have the opposite problem as described in this video. I'm almost too afraid of being denied the religious life to contact a vocation director. I still take my family, friends, and priest's opinions seriously, so that further plays into my confusion on what I should do with this... :(

excellent video..very realistic

Thank you for sharing your experience🖤it serves as a guide to many... Can someone please tell me if age is a limitation to apply?

Amazing outstanding amazing 👏❤..

In my feed, what a great channel. Thank You, have subscribed. 🙏🇦🇺

I only recently discerned one of the driving reasons why my aunt became a nun. I had always assumed that it the expectation that she, as the only girl amongst 6 older brothers would be given to the church because none of her brothers showed any inkling in this regard. I only recently came to understand that my aunt was being groomed to be the old maid that would be taking care of my widowed Grandmother. The only way out for my aunt was to join a religious order. While Pray Like a Girl has listed 5 reasons not to become a nun, I am going to suggest one or more of these items listed are EXACTLY the reason why girls join a religious order.

Just a really big thank you.❤😊❤

For me, if ever opting for it, one should be Kingdom oriented... Souls oriented and challenging life that is sacrificing and total self giving....it should be a celebration of Love 🙏

I love so many of the communities of nuns, Dominican, Franciscan, etc. I still see so much disparity though in freedom, priests can travel more, seem to be able to set their own schedule more, some get to keep their stipend, get healthcare etc. I feel some communities treat sisters like children but I never see that in the seminary. I do feel attracted to watching communities though that want sisters to advance their education and stay healthy with lots of activity and balance.

Thank you❤

You are an excellent vocation director.

Your honesty is refreshing and it sounds like you ended up on the right path in the end 👍🏾💖

May the Lord bless you

😇 good evening all 😴 have a question for you a friend of my had a stable and I know she went to Catholic school all her married got a divorce always told me want to become a Sister we talk about but never know if she stop texting it funny she wanted me to become Catholic I am Baptized as Episcopalian so involve with my church to this day wonder if she do become a Nun. PEACE