Sr. Jeanette Marie of the Mercedarian Sisters in Cleveland explains how you can foster a vocation in your children and help them to hear the voice of the Holy Spirit in their lives. Sr. Jeanette Marie is the vocation director of the Mercedarian Sisters of the Blessed Sacrament, a teaching order founded in Mexico which was aggregated in 1925 to the Order of the Blessed Virgin Mary of Mercy.

Sister tells parents: “I hope you realize what a great blessing God has bestowed upon you, whether your children are yours by birth or if they are adopted. But blessings come with duties and responsibilities, and the main responsibility of parents is to guide their children to heaven and therefore be happy with and in Him forever.”

Sister Jeanette’s mother prayed that Jeanette would find a good husband. “And God answered her prayers far beyond her wildest expectations! She was not thrilled at the beginning, especially because she thought I was too young to make such a transcendental decision (I was only 16 years old when I entered the convent); but as the years passed, and she saw how happy I was and what a ‘good spouse’ Jesus was, she thanked God for my religious vocation.”

Her order, the Mercedarian Sisters, have as their pillars of spirituality the presence of Jesus in the Holy Eucharist and the maternal presence of Our Lady of Mercy. In the United States, they teach catechism from grammar schools to the adult level in Cleveland, OH; San Diego, CA; and San Antonio, TX. In Baton Rouge, LA, they operate a prayer center for the sick.

Learn more about the Mercedarian Sisters at www.MercedarianSisters.org, or on their Facebook page. If you feel you may have a calling to the religious life as a Sister, the Order invites you to “Test Your Call.” You will receive a personal reply from Sr. Jeanette.