| Sister Elena Morcelli AVI |
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In my life, I’ve always been attracted by what is good and could make me deeply happy. As time went by, I came to realize that happiness was not an abstract or artificial reality, but a Person. My family is the first environment where I have ‘breathed’ God – my parents’ style of life, their mindset, their choices have always mirrored a deep love for God and for the Church. The parish that I was involved in soon became my second family. In the first few years, I was taught many things. Growing up, I became a teacher myself. I was required to give a strong Catholic formation to the many children and teenagers that were entrusted to me. How could I ever be able to help other young people to grow in their relationship with God? There are four significant events that marked my spiritual itinerary. 1. First, when I was 14, I went to a Catholic summer camp. For the first time, I realized that God was like a friend a true and dear one. He loved me and was interested in journeying with me. From that moment on, everyday, I prayed the Liturgy of the Hours and read a passage of the Gospel, spending some time meditating on it. 2. A year following that summer experience, I began to meet with a priest on a regular basis for spiritual direction. I can never be grateful enough to God and to Fr. Gianni for blessing me with such a precious gift. His presence at my side helped me to be perseverant and consistent in my spiritual journey. 3. Subsequently, during my senior year in high school, I had an encounter that became a turning point in my life. During the religion class (in Italy, all the state schools have an hour of religion class per week as part of the syllabus), two Apostles of the Interior Life were invited to talk to us students about their experience and their apostolate. I had already met many consecrated women before that time, but what struck me so much that morning was the happiness and joy I saw in Sr. Susan. It was so real. Believe it or not that same day, as I was trying to study and I couldn’t stop thinking about God, I had the intuition that maybe the Lord was calling me to be an Apostle of the Interior Life. Although that was only the beginning of a more specific discernment process, that very intuition never left and was indeed confirmed. 4. Four months later, over the summer, I started to spend more and more time with a young man who seemed ‘perfect’. We clicked right away. I was a little confused. On one hand, it seemed that God’s Providence was placing this guy on my path; on the other hand, he had put into my heart and mind the desire for consecration. As time went by, through prayer, I came to realize more and more that my deepest desire, what was going to make me truly happy was a life of total self-gift to God – God alone was enough! My spiritual director helped me to listen more carefully to God to find out which decision was the best fit for me. I wanted to spend my life doing spiritual apostolate, helping people to grow in their interior life. On September 16, 1996, sixteen months after my first meeting with Sr. Susan, I left my hometown in Northern Italy to go to Rome to begin my formation to become an Apostle of the Interior Life. Words cannot express my gratefulness to God for having in store for me such a beautiful vocation. I’m experiencing daily the reward that God has promised to all those who will leave everything for Him, and it goes far beyond any human expectation and wish. God is making me more happy then I could have ever imagined. |
