The latest issue (6/17/12) of Our Sunday Visitor cites a study whose findings indicate that nearly a quarter of millennial Catholics will leave the Church by age 24. The study also states that a majority of them believe in abortion rights and same-sex “marriage.”

In the midst of these gloomy findings, however, are the stories of 6 young, committed Catholics evangelists, each doing it in his or her own way. I highlight here the story of one of them: Sr. Evangeline Suprenant, OP, from the Dominican Sisters of Mary Mother of the Eucharist, because she is the daughter of one of our Advisory Board members, Leon Suprenant.  Sr. Evangeline (now age 24) entered religious life immediately after high school. Why wait, she said, when the call was so clear?

Here is her beautiful advice to young women discerning a vocation. “I recommend cultivating a spirit of silence. Go to daily Mass as often as possible and sit in the presence of the Eucharist. Get to know Christ. Develop a friendship with him. Also make sure you know your Faith, who you are, and the truth about the world around you. In the end, it comes down to what Blessed John Paul II said: ‘Be not afraid.’ When you’re looking in a perfectly open way, with no fear, to fall in love with God and enter whatever vocation he calls you to, he’ll lead you to it. He’s already placed the call on your heart. You just have to listen for it. It really is that simple.”