Of all of the highlights from SEEK25, which aired and livestreamed via EWTN, one talk piqued my particular interest: Kelsey Wicks Reinhardt’s “The Vocation of a Woman.” Reinhardt is a former University of Notre Dame basketball player who entered the Dominican Sisters of St. Cecilia, though she eventually discerned out of religious life. In her career, she has worked in Catholic ministry, including full-time campus ministry, and for EWTN News, most recently as executive director of the ACI Group. She married her husband Matt in 2023.

(She also happens to share an affection for Jeremiah 29:11, my favorite verse.)

In her practical Jan. 4 talk to the thousands gathered in Salt Lake City, Reinhardt reminded her female listeners of God’s providence.

She then turned to a beloved example of feminine confidence in God, St. Joan of Arc (Joan was her confirmation name and former religious name).

Reinhardt explained that Joan’s heavenly voices addressed her as: “Daughter of God,” “Daughter of the Church” and “Noble-Hearted Daughter.”

And history, she told her listeners, speaks of God’s providence in Joan’s life.

“I bring Joan of Arc up, I bring God’s providence up, I bring history up, because Providence is revealed in history, and it’s going to be revealed in the history of your life. Was she a consecrated religious? No. Was she married? No. Joan of Arc was a baptized Christian. What was she? She was a daughter of God.”

“Ladies, this is your first and most fundamental vocation: to be a daughter. ... As soon as we understand our role as daughters, we can then go on to consider the big ‘V’ vocations,” she continued.

“Your first vocation as a baptized Christian, as a daughter of God, as a noble-hearted daughter, as a daughter of the Church, as a daughter of God is to holiness."

The life of St. Joan of Arc shows that “God’s providence is real and you can trust it,” she stressed.

Next came a discussion of how she personally felt the call to religious life, explaining: “You are made for a vocation that will bring you happiness and fulfillment.” 

She went on to say, “All vocations are calls to love” and highlighted the various charisms of several religious orders, noting that:

• “a charism that exhausts itself helping souls in their final years to get to heaven ... serving, tending, prepping and praying at the bedside” is the call of the Little Sisters of the Poor; 
• “a charism that stretches itself in a fourth vow of poverty to care for Christ in the distressing disguise of the poor, storing up treasure in heaven and satisfying Jesus’ own thirst upon the cross” is “the mission of the Missionaries of Charity”; 
• “a charism that sees the sanctity of life as supreme and offers the consecrated lives of their members as an oblation to end the greatest evil of our time and to help women embrace their vocation as mothers” is “a day in the life of the Sisters of Life”; and
•  “a charism enthralled with truth, born and purified in friendship with Christ and neighbor so wholly on fire that they spend their lives contemplating to pass on the fruits of their contemplation” is that of “the Dominicans … that, and to praise, to bless and to preach. And that’s what I was for nine years: a St. Cecilia Dominican.” 

She then paid tribute to the witness of Sister Rose Marie of the Queen of the Angels, a former MVP of the Final Four basketball tournament who played for Villanova and played professionally in Japan before entering the Poor Clares. 

“I saw her story in Sports Illustrated when I was in high school and in desperate need of courage. When I made my first vows in the convent, I wrote her. Her response was as humble as it was beautiful, promising that we tall women religious needed to stick together in our ‘elevated view of things,’ and she promised her prayers.”

And a beautiful pro-life story involving her own witness to her past students followed (watch for full effect in video embedded below), underscoring the power of the Holy Spirit, preceeded reflections on the joy of religious community life.

“The joy of living for heaven is the thing that I will remember the most,” Reinhardt explained of her time in religious life.

After speaking beautifully of that vocation, Reinhardt explained where God led her. “After nine years in religious life, I obeyed when I was called out of the convent. And that brings me to the last vocation, the sacrament of matrimony, and to the last fundamental truth: God wants you to find your vocation.” 

Her honesty is moving — and relatable — throughout.

When she left the convent, she focused on living her baptismal vocation fully.

“I found a great opportunity to work in evangelization through media — and I offered my sufferings to Christ as best I could, and I hoped one day at 70 to reenter a convent,” she said good-naturedly. 

“My belief in Providence is real, and it’s not for nothing,” she went on. “At the moment that I least expected it, I met my husband” — thanks to her willingness to give a parish talk.

“When I met Matt, I realized how to re-create the convent outside of the convent: the family,” she explained. “The family is the domestic church, or, if you prefer, the domestic monastery. ... The joy of shared mission, the support of shared accountability, the zeal for baptizing new souls into the faith ... and the ability to love and serve Christ are the same as they are in religious life, just manifested in a different way."

Then she turned to motherhood, both physical and spiritual, explaining:

“And this brings me to an important point about the vocation of women as mother: It has societal implications; it is no small or singular thing. Mothers, whether biological or spiritual, build and beautify civilization.”

And, in closing, she pointed to the epitome of womanhood:

“No one cares more for your vocation than the Blessed Mother.”

 

WATCH

 This blog was updated after posting.