I wear a bracelet with the phrase, “Be Here Now,” spelled out in small square beads.  It sits on my wrist alongside my “Be Peace,” Rosary bracelet.  Both remind me to be present and to be the peace I hope to embody, build, and preach in my words, actions, and indeed with my very life.  They also speak to me of the “Why” I am here on earth at this time and in this place as I live my life as a vowed religious, a daughter of God, a citizen of the world, and a pilgrim on a journey.  I believe that all of us at one point or another ask God, “Why? Why did you create me?  Why am I here on earth at this time?” Such “why” questions usually take us to a deeper level of contemplative searching for clarity about our purpose and our desire for understanding who God is for us.

I think I first began to question why God made me during my teen years.  Yes, I knew the standard catechism answer, “God made me to know Him, to love Him, and to serve Him in this world, and to be happy with Him forever in the next.” Yet, my 17-year-old self continued to wonder if there was more to understand and know about this question.  So, to find an answer, I looked in God’s reference library, the Bible.  Specifically, I opened the red leatherette Bible my parents had given me for Christmas during my senior year of high school.  I still have it, with its enthusiastically highlighted verses, reminiscent of my Confirmation retreat, complete with sticky notes marking my favorite verses, such as, “I know the plans I have for you. . .” from Jeremiah 29: 11-13.  Also, tucked inside the back cover is an Emily Dickinson poem written in loopy cursive:

“If I can stop one heart from breaking,

I shall not live in vain:

If I can ease one life the aching,

Or cool one pain…  I shall not live in vain. 

My favorite biblical verses and this poem combined with the love and affirmation I received from my younger sister, Amy, answered my “Why” and gave my life meaning.  Then, as a young woman, I heard God call me to religious life and that call and my service to others answered the “Why” once again and at a deeper level. 

Over the years, I have asked, “Why” at various times and junctures on the journey.  This summer, at the historic National Eucharistic Congress in Indianapolis, I once again asked God, “Why am I here at this event along with 60,000 other men & women of faith?” God answered this question by sending me two very different people that week.  One was a young man of 13 or 14 years of age who timidly asked me, as I stood at our vocation booth, “How do I know if God is calling me to be a brother or priest?”  As I answered him and reassured him that God is and would be with him each step of the way, I could see him relax and nod his head.  As he walked away, I thanked God for showing me why I was there at that moment and time.     

I met the second person God sent to answer my “Why” on the last day, as we attended the closing Mass.  A young woman sat down next to us and we began to chat as we waited for Mass to begin.  When she noticed that I was a Sister, her face brightened and she asked me if she could tell me something that was weighing on her heart.  “Yes, certainly,” I replied.  She then proceeded to share her heartache at being abandoned by her husband when he left her for another woman.  I listened and encouraged her as she squeezed my hand and cried as she spoke.  At the end of her story, she thanked me and shared that I was the first person she felt comfortable speaking to about this.  Our conversation ended as Mass began.  After Mass, she hugged me and said that during Mass, she felt her shame lift and received God’s healing touch.  “I know it was because I was finally able to speak about it.  I know God sent you to me in this moment.  Thank you.”  We soon parted and as the other sisters and I made our way to the car, I knew that God had once again answered my “Why?”

What about you?  Who or what has answered your “Why?” 

Perhaps your why is to serve at a soup kitchen, answer a suicide prevention hotline, reassure another that God is with them on the journey, or serve others as a religious or lay minister.

If you think God may be calling you to answer the call as a Dominican Sister of Peace, then we encourage you to contact us or attend one of our upcoming events.  Who knows, this just might be the answer to your “Why?”