SISTER
MERCEDES, OP
Dominican Sister
How/when did you know you were called to be a sister?
I didn’t realize that religious life was “an option” until just after college. I became active in young adult Catholic ministry in New York City (where I am from), which led me to work with several religious in NYC. They were young, habited and joyful in a way that I hadn’t experienced. What really struck me was that their joy corresponded with a joy in my own heart that I didn’t know was there. The joy that came from their consecration, resonated with me in a way that I hadn’t encountered or known until then.
How/when did you know you were called to be a Dominican Sister, specifically?
The religious I worked most with the Franciscan Friars of the Renewal, though I knew the Sisters of Life through various events. These communities made the question of vocation emerge in my heart, but they just weren’t “right”. I just knew that I am not a Franciscan, and I’m not a Sister of Life. I figured that my discernment was “done,” and I could just move on with my life. But the feeling didn’t go away. I eventually made it to the March for Life in Washington D.C., where I met our community, the Dominican Sisters of Mary, Mother of the Eucharist. The Holy Spirit got me on their discernment retreat a couple weeks later. Seeing the Sisters with the retreatants, with each other and in prayer made me realize that this is where I was called. The Sisters had a tremendous zeal for souls that was evident in each of these interactions, and it is a zeal and love that, in some ways, I already had.
What’s your current ministry?
I currently serve as the Vocations Director for our community, which is such a great joy. I have the privilege of walking with young women as they discern God’s will in their life and how He is moving in their own heart in prayer. Our Sisters teach in schools all over the country, following in the Dominican tradition of teaching and preaching the truth for the salvation of souls. While I have previously taught, I am not currently teaching while serving as Vocation Director.
What does it mean to be a consecrated person?
St. Catherine of Siena said, “All the way to heaven is heaven.” And as a consecrated religious, we get to live that in a deep and radical way. As a consecrated person, we are “set aside for Christ,” striving to live with an undivided heart that makes present to everyone the realities that we are each destined for in heaven. This a tall order, and not always easy, but we are given the grace in our very consecration and the sacraments, which is a mystery that we pray to be able to live in a deeper way every day.
What’s your greatest joy as a Dominican Sister?
The greatest joy of being a Dominican Sister is seeing the Lord reveal the Dominican charism implanted in my heart more and more over time. After meeting our community, I knew this was my vocation, but the Lord has continued to show me why I am a Dominican. I have learned this in so many ways: within my times of both personal prayer, and my community’s daily Eucharistic Holy Hour; in the great joy of receiving so much love and a greater understanding of the Lord and the Dominican life through my Sisters, and in living the fruits of these moments for all those I encounter, bringing them to Christ in ways I may never know. This is all so freeing (and a lot of fun!).