Discovering the call of a lifetime
Events
In 2012, then 28-year-old Bernadette Toohey, packed her bags and uprooted her life from the western suburbs of Adelaide to join the Australian-founded group of consecrated women, the Missionaries of God’s Love, in Sydney.
The short plane ride from Adelaide to Sydney was the culmination of seven years of discernment, with key moments including attending an overseas World Youth Day, meeting the MGLs during the World Youth Day events in Australia and gradually getting to know the Sisters through youth events and attending a discernment retreat run by the Sisters in Melbourne.
Inspired by the Sisters’ radical approach to poverty, energy for evangelisation, and enthusiasm for youth ministry, Bernadette plunged into religious life and made lifelong vows within the charismatic, contemplative, missionary, and eucharistic life of the MGLs in 2021.
This April, Adelaide young women will have an opportunity to attend a retreat with the Sisters and have the chance to hear the stories of the Sisters, learn more about the call to consecrated life, and pray about their vocation and calling. Four MGL Sisters, Katherine Stone, Kathryn Kingsley, Therese Mills, and Bernadette Toohey, will be visiting Adelaide for the retreat and are keen to open up the question with young women about what God has in store for their lives.
A participant taking part in a The MGL Sisters Young Women’s Retreat Day.
Through prayer, discussion, inputs, and Q&As, the Sisters will guide young women aged 16-35 through a day of discernment, discovery, and asking the question: “What was I made for?”
While it can be daunting to ask such big questions of God, Bernadette insists that it is an essential part of the discipleship journey: “One thing that has stuck with me from the very first World Youth Day that I attended is that we will never be fully satisfied or happy in life until we discover what God’s will is for us and seek to follow that as best we can. The process of discernment can be so daunting that it’s so important to seek the wisdom of those who’ve travelled this path before us by attending retreats and information days that can give much-needed guidance to those who are seeking to know God’s will.”
Being open to the call to religious life is something that Bernadette recommends that all young women explore at least once in their journey of discipleship: “Our recommendation is always to check out religious life as part of your discernment of God’s will. If it’s not for you, then you can happily go and explore other vocations. However, how will you ever know if there’s a spark within you of a call if you never explore it?”
For Bernadette, this “spark” of a call was ignited through spending time with the Sisters, hearing about their life, and experiencing herself feeling inspired and a sense of a “good fit” with the Sisters: “The MGL Sisters were passionate about all the things that I was: youth ministry, prayer, evangelisation and being devoted to loving and being loved by Jesus. It’s been the biggest blessing of my life to explore God’s call and be led into where I feel most deeply fulfilled and happy.”
The MGL Sisters Young Women’s Retreat Day will be held on Saturday 5th April, 10am–5pm, at St Mary’s College, Adelaide. The day is for single women aged 16-35 and is a chance to draw closer in relationship with Jesus and listen to where He might be calling you. The day will include prayer, input, testimony and fellowship, as we carve out time together to spend soaking in God’s love.
For more info and to register, visit: trybooking.com/CZTVU
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