GAITHERSBURG, Md. — Elegant cups filled with tea and delicate scones, with a side of good conversation.

But this was not a typical “high tea.”

This tea featured the presence of various religious orders.

Last weekend, St. John Neumann Catholic Church hosted a “Tea with Sisters” event for young women in grades eight to 12 who are interested in learning about religious life.

Among the religious present were those from the Dominican Sisters of Our Lady of Fatima from Puerto Rico, the Religious Sisters of Mercy from Alma, Michigan, and the Sisters of Life based in Washington, D.C. In total, the event hosted 30 young women, six religious sisters and two aspirants.

At the tea, the young women had the opportunity to listen to the sisters’ vocation stories, hearing them explain how they answered the call to religious life. 

“The Lord was asking something different of me, and he wanted me to be his own,” Mercy Sister Mary Luke Feldpausch said, detailing how she was in her third year of medical school when she answered the call to religious life. God touched her heart, she said, with “the Lord’s personal invitation to me to come into his love.” 

“God always proves in ways that we can never imagine,” Sister Mary Luke said of discernment, adding, “If we have an open heart, the Lord will provide.” Sister Mary Luke is currently completing her residency in internal medicine at Georgetown. 

Another sister, Sister of Life Hosanna, explained that being a nun means being a spouse of Jesus. When she was younger, she recalled, she believed she was called to marriage and to be a mother of 10 children. 

However, after going on a retreat, she met some religious sisters who were “the most free and happy people.” Sister Hosanna said being around the sisters “felt like coming home.” 

“God calls you as you are,” she said, emphasizing, “He wants you to trust him.” 

The sisters also shared some practical ways to keep Christ in the center of one’s life by prioritizing daily prayer and meditation. 

 

Encouraging Vocations

St. John Neumann parish partners with the St. John Paul the Great Vocations Society to encourage and support those who are discerning religious life. The parish-based society wanted to make young women aware of this opportunity to meet and converse with real sisters. Some of their past projects have included gathering women to pray for vocations after Mass and sending birthday cards to seminarians in the Archdiocese of Washington. 

Msgr. Robert Panke, the parish’s pastor, does his part to support vocational discernment. He offered a prayer at the start of the tea and reminded the young women to “open their hearts to Jesus” while talking to the sisters and to let Christ guide them. He also led the Hail Mary before blessing the food. 

After the sharing of vocation stories, the afternoon proceeded with Benediction with exposition of the Holy Eucharist and time for adoration and prayer. Msgr. Panke then read the Gospel for the day and gave a short homily, saying, “[God] is the master of your heart. Give your heart to Jesus, and let him do the rest, and you will be happy.” 

This is the eighth time that the Vocations Society has hosted the “Tea with Sisters” event, and plans are underway to hold one tea each year in order to boost women’s religious vocations for the parish. 

The outreach has been fruitful.

Just last year, in June, one parishioner professed her final vows: Sister Teresa Rose belongs to the Handmaids of the Heart of Jesus, located in Minnesota. 

“We want these girls to see a sister up close in person and realize that they are very much like them. It is very important to them to have that experience and talk to a sister,” Mary Beth de Ribeaux, who has headed the Vocations Society since 2004, told the Register. 

“It’s a beautiful thing,” she added, “to see the beauty and joy that these sisters have in their vocation because they are doing what God called them to do.”

 

Discerning Young Women

Home-schooled sisters Erin O’Donnell, 18, and Audrey O’Donnell, 15, attended the tea. 

Both young women enjoyed being able to connect with the sisters, getting a chance to see them as real people and learning how they live their lives, and ask many questions. 

Audrey, who is actively discerning religious life, said that being a part of these women’s retreats really “nurtures” that desire. 

Erin also said that an open heart is important. She said that she “could be happy as a sister, but she would need to keep her heart open to what the Lord wants from her.” 

The Register also spoke with two Sisters of Life about their vocational journeys. 

Sister of Life Charity commented that the “seeds were planted” in high school when she saw this immense joy in the sisters she met and discovered that Jesus wanted to be her spouse. She took the name of Charity to keep her focused on what really matters. 

Sister Hosanna said time talking and praying with the young women at the Maryland parish was a great gift, to share their “inspiring and edifying desire to do something beautiful with their lives.” 

This story was updated after posting.