7 Quick Takes Friday: Postulant Be-Attitudes

7 Quick Takes Friday: Postulant BE-Attitudes

Being a Postulant in the community of Franciscan Sisters of Christian Charity in Manitowoc, WI has much to teach a young woman.  We postulants have joined the community in discernment of Religious life.  It is the first step to becoming a Sister.  Is this the path the Lord is calling us to?  Is this the community we’re called to be a part of?  Here are 7 Quick Takes from a Postulants’ point of view, some BE-Attitudes that perhaps can benefit all of us in our daily lives. J

1.    Be Prayerful

·       Daily prayer both in common (Liturgy of the Hours and Mass) and in private are essential to keep the lines of communication open with the Lord. Prayer (however much you can fit into your day) helps our hearts, minds and spirits be one with God and His Will.  He loves us so much and will never be exhausted by all we have to say or ask for…but don’t forget to let him give his 2cents too!  It’s also good to note that silence before the Lord is fruitful prayer too!

2.  Be Prepared/Punctual

·      Be ready, be on time!  There’s lots of places to be and places to meet people – the chapel, cafeteria, road trips, class at the college etc.  We all have so much to juggle in our lives and it makes things run much smoother for everyone if we’re on time and ready to go. J

3.  Be Pliable

·      God is the potter, we are the clay.  If we let ourselves be molded by Him, then we will reflect His beautiful design for our lives.  Sometimes we need to let go of things or change our habits so that we’re more open to how Jesus wants it…and remember all of this change is for the good of not only ourselves, but for all J  We all have room to grow, to be molded into the holy children of God we were made to be.

4.  Be Persevering/Patient

·      Change is not easy, engaging in activities we normally wouldn’t (like singing, sewing or card playing) and letting go of things (like our old ways of doing things) is not always easy.  It’s important to be patient with ourselves as we walk this road of faith. Sometimes we’re called to let go of habits, addictions, negative attitudes etc and we need to give ourselves time to adjust and not give up.  He is always with us, we have excellent help. J

5.  Be a Protagonist

·      One Easter Sunday my pastor at the time said: “Jesus Christ Is Risen, PASS IT ON!”  As Baptised Christians, we are ALL called to spread the Good News, to be Protagonists for the Faith so that all may come to know our Lord Jesus Christ.  The best way to do this is through EXAMPLE, how we lead our lives and how we treat those around us.  We need to be credible witnesses to the Glory of God, we need to show that we are LOVING, GIVING and JOYFUL people.

6. Be Positive

·      Look on the bright side!  Being positive and optimistic is important and on an even deeper level we need to remember that we are people of HOPE, not despair.  We are people of JOY. We also have the gifts of Faith and of course Charity to hold us up, no matter what life may bring us. 

7.  Be Playful

·      Jesus said we have to be like little children – child-LIKE not child-ISH. ;) Sometimes we take ourselves too seriously but we postulants can tell you the value of being playful.  Laughter is the best medicine and even builds community.  We enjoy a good “punny” joke here and there and we love to laugh during dinner, during recreation time, walking to class, while at Walmart…you get the picture.  If you don’t have someone to share a joke with, look for something funny online – pets are a great source of playfulness and induce laughter.