I know for a fact that one of the biggest obstacles to vocations to the priesthood 
and religious life is parents.
“If she had listened to her parents, Sister Jenn Graus might never have professed vows last month to join the Congregation of St. Joseph.”
FYI: the picture is not of Sr. Graus. Read the rest of the story here.
A Deacon's Wife 
This is so very true. I used to have a friend who was a priest and had a mother who wanted grandchildren from her only son. He’d known he wanted to be a priest since his days in elementary school, so he had no interest in dating by the time he entered high school. He once laughed while telling me that every Friday night during his teen years his mother would invite a different young lady to dinner. She apparently had the whole small town where he lived lining up eligible young women for him to meet every Friday evening. However, he said something else to me that puts all of this into perspective. He said, “It never really phased me, other than my mother wasting her and the young women’s time. Why? Because I had been called to the priesthood – God knew it and I knew it. My mother’s desires just didn’t affect me. I was going to be a priest – no matter what.” I feel that when a young person has truly been called by God, as my friend was, it’s not going to matter what the parents do or want.
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Thanks for noting that this isn’t a picture of me! I wish from the other articles on the Internet that people would note that all sisters aren’t in habit still. Seems the only way people are willing portray us is in habit though. I pray for a broader vision and portrayal of religious life that calls people from all walks of life and styles.
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I think that the reason people welcome the return of the religious habit, is because so many older sisters and their orders dissent from the Church. The last forty years have been chaotic ones for the Church. But I realize that there are faithful religious who do not wear habits.
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I’m wondering where you got this photo? Is it a religious profession, investiture ceremony? What religious order? It’s a beautiful habit!
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I can’t recall. But I believe that this is a picture of a Dominican Order Sister taking final vows.
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