‘To live no longer for myself ... ’

Reflection on God’s love and vocation

IAM not here simply for myself or for my own satisfaction; but to welcome the gift of God, to hasten His Kingdom, to quench the thirst in parched hearts, to be a light in a world of darkness, a spring of fresh water in the Church and for all. This is my conviction in life, one to which the Spirit of God led me to: a newness of life in Christ!

I am Sister Nijole Marie Richards, a member of the Franciscan Missionary Sisters of our Lady of Perpetual Help of Jamaica, otherwise known as the ‘Blue Sisters’. I became a Catholic at 11 years of age. As I learnt in religion classes that God loves me and keeps creating me day by day, my conviction that ‘God created me both as a gift and a call’ became solidified. I fell in love with God; as I was confirmed in the faith, I began to deepen my knowledge of Him; I felt an urge, a burning in me, calling me to leave behind my old way of life and to give my life in loving service to God.

There are too many people in the world without hope; there are too many cries that go unheard; there are too many dying in loneliness. This challenged me to give my life fully to God to make His Kingdom a reality in whatever way I can. My desire to live simply, serving others, allowing others to guide my life towards God, and most of all, the desire to grow in union with God through prayer and service of the needy – these are truly the promptings of the Spirit. Ministering to the children at school, attending to the poor and homeless – these became tangible ways of partaking in His body and blood in the brokenness of our brothers and sisters. Is it not also the vocation of everyone, to find Christ daily in the ordinary experiences of human living? SR NIJOLE MARIE RICHARDS Franciscan Missionary Sister