Vocation Stories
I grew up in Rockford, IL, a place rocked by violence, poverty, and high unemployment. I lived on the “good” side of town but went to school on the “bad” side of town because of the purposeful placement of my mostly white, academically accelerated program. The resulting social-cultural milieu shaped my view on everything from American History to the zoning of housing projects- everything really but religion. Simultaneously, I was also on my way to becoming an elite long distance runner.
I chose to attend the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign because of their high ranking cross-country team and excellent academics. I was the 6th fastest freshman in the nation at the 2006 NCAA Cross-Country championship, with a fully picked academic scheme by the end of my first semester- major in economics and geography, minor in environmental studies. The plan was to get a degree, get a job with the government, reform the system from within by the age of 25 . . . Oh yeah, and qualify for the 2016 Olympic marathon trials in the meantime. God was certainly smiling at my plans.
My life shattered when my foot spontaneously fractured during a training run in 2008. My body decided it was done with running 65 miles a week. However, I mentally was not done. My life had been completely dominated by running and academics. Interestingly, shortly before my foot broke I had begun to spend some time at the Catholic Newman center on campus. I took my injury as an opportunity to go on a retreat all my friends from Newman told me to go on.
This retreat changed my life. I realized that Jesus is truly present in the Eucharist. The Eucharist is Jesus! And I was supposed to follow him as a religious sister. From my depressed, injured state, I realized Jesus wanted ME, not my achievements. These epiphanies happened within one hour during the retreat. Totally overwhelming.
I went back home and slowly over time these epiphanies began to become a little more real. I began to actively discern religious life. I only discerned with Franciscan communities because I didn’t feel called anywhere else. St. Francis pretty much captured my desire to address serious societal issues and reoriented me to see that the problem wasn’t necessarily with structures and systems, but within myself. Eventually I visited the Franciscans of the Eucharist of Chicago, where I was drawn to the life of poverty, prayer, and service. I felt very at home after my visits, and entered in August 2010. Our life has given me much joy and deep peace. I could not imagine myself anywhere else. I confirmed these graces on September 4, 2016 when I took Final Vows as a member of our community.
When I was growing up, I had many ideas of what I could do to save the world. For a time I wanted to be a teacher, to relay wisdom to the youth. For a time I wanted to pioneer journalism, to make the workings of the government more transparent. For a time I wanted to be a civil engineer, designing water systems in impoverished countries.
Although genuine and well-intentioned, I hit a breakthrough in college when I began to rephrase the question: rather than asking what do I want to do, I started asking WHO AM I and WHO DOES GOD WANT ME TO BE? This growth in maturity from a doing mindset to a being mindset paralleled my growth in faith during my college years, where I went from a me-centered attitude to a God-centered attitude.
When I met the Franciscans of the Eucharist my fourth year of college, I immediately loved their charism—I loved who they were, and how the men and women Franciscans lived out their faith through their work. As I grew in self-knowledge and the desire to work with God’s will (instead of independently of Him!), my vocation as a Franciscan unfolded. After volunteering, a discernment visit, and lots of time in prayer, I discerned with the community that I had a vocation, and I entered the community in the fall of 2013. It was a great joy to profess my First Vows at the same time as Sr. Stephanie professed her Final Vows, since we had attended the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign together and had so many mutual friends! On September 8, 2019, I professed Final Vows as a Franciscan of the Eucharist of Chicago. Life has been full of grace. It’s amazing how fast the time goes while yet being present to myself, God, my community, and the larger community one day at a time.
I would like to just end my reflection with a word of gratitude to God: God is so good, folks. He is with us at all times, and in a particularly beautiful way in the Eucharist. Not only that, He gives us every grace we need to become saints, and His own Blessed Mother as our mother to help us in all things! All is gift, all is grace.”
It was not until I was at Maggie’s Place that I truly understood Divine Providence. I had the privilege to be a MissionCorps member at The Magdalene House in 2009, right after the house fire occurred, living in a convent that we affectionately called the “Magvent.” Each day, after Morning and Evening Prayer, we would recite, “Divine Providence can provide, Divine Providence did provide, Divine Providence will provide.” He surely did provide, as donations would come to us from all over, at all hours of the day from the generosity of benefactors and friends. I was amazed to see how God constantly provided for all of our needs. While I was beginning to really trust in God’s providence for us as a community, I was still struggling to trust that He would also provide for me personally as His daughter.
During this time, a scripture passage from the Gospel of Matthew (6:26-27) would often come up in prayer and soon enough, it was written on my heart. In this particular passage, we find Jesus teaching His disciples about worrying. He says, “Look at the birds in the sky; they do not sow or reap, they gather nothing into barns, yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are not you more important than they? Can any of you by worrying add a single moment to your life-span?” Slowly, I began to trust in God’s Providence for me. While there were times of weakness and frustration, God used those times to teach me how to authentically love and be present in that moment. Looking back, as my trust grew in the Lord and His plan for my life, I realize now that He was using this time to lead and prepare me for Religious Life.
Today, I am a Religious Sister… with the Franciscans of the Eucharist of Chicago. I live on the west side of Chicago in a poor, impoverished neighborhood that makes the news every week due to the crime and violence that plague our community. Thanks to my experience at Maggie’s Place, I am able to see the beauty that rises from the ashes in our neighborhood. The resilience of our neighbors amidst their struggles and suffering brings hope and love to our messy world. God’s hand in His plan for my life has always been with me, and I am edified by His love and the patience He has shown me, especially during my time of service at Maggie’s Place, which prepared me for the gift of Religious Life.
Originally published under the title “National Vocation Awareness Week – Sr. Jaime Mitchell” on the Maggie’s Place blog at https://www.maggiesplace.org/national-vocation-awareness-week-sister-jaime/ 11/4/2016
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