“By myself I can do nothing,” I remember my ears perking up the first time I heard my sisters pray
this prayer together in chapel. I was just a postulant and still learning the ropes of morning prayer together in our community. Immediately, I started fumbling through our Pauline Prayer book to find the page to this prayer to no avail. My sisters knew it by heart. This short, holy prayer was over before I could find the page. But its impression lasted. The prayer continues “but with God I can do all things, for the love of God I want to do all things to Him honor and glory to me the eternal reward.” In that moment, one of the essentials of our religious life began to sink in. That my vocation included not only my personal call but a response together to Christ that I was embarking on with my sisters.
With only a few more years that have past, now being a newly professed member of the community I have learned that living in community and working together toward a common goal is both the biggest challenge and greatest strength. This intense rubbing elbows living along side my sisters often looks more like a three legged race. Awkward to get in stride at times, but with a strong pull of love toward the finish line. A race for glory together with our eyes fixed on a common goal: To bring souls to Christ with our hearts resounding as one, “with God I can do all things for the love of God I want to do all things to Him honor to me the eternal reward.”
Sr. Carly Paula Arcella, FSP