Request

If she gets a PayPal account, I'll help her, but my hubby won't let me give a credit card number.

Paypal takes a chuck of the money but you can send a check directly to the place if yo like.

I will look further into a PayPal Acct.

Thank for the idea!

And thank you, Curt Jester, for posting this!

But if she decides religious life is not for her, does she have to pay the money back?

I have set up a PayPal account, as someone suggested, but I am having a hard time getting the button to work on my blog, so if you go to PayPal log in and then click on the tab “Send Money” you can send it using my email address above.

If anyone who donates tells me that they would like their money refunded should I leave the convent. I will keep a list of the contact information and amounts.

There is a foundation that assists young Catholics such as this pay off debts before entering the religious life. More information:

http://www.labourefoundation.org/

I was about to suggest the Laboure Society as well. Also, check with your local Serra Club, maybe. They might know of a benefactor. I suspect they focus on priestly vocations, but I'm not sure, not being a Serran myself, but being the recipient of the of some of their members.

Sta, tell your hubby that Matthew 5:42 commands him, without exception, to help her.

Speaking of Matthew 5:42, I need 15,000 to pay off my student loans and car before I enter (grad school) this fall. Since Matthew 5:42 provides no exceptions allowing you to ignore the requests of atheists or trolls, you can email your credit card #'s to me and I will bill you as necessary.

If she is serious about a vocation she should get a job and pay off the loan before she goes in. The Lord will wait for her, and her vocation will be firmer. I don't like this approach of begging for handouts.

Dear Jim.

I have a job. I work 32hrs a week doing manual labor and go to school full time, but my family has nearly lost their home following my dad being laid off and almost dying in a car accident during the past two years. Most of my salary goes towards helping my family, but I have been able to put $600 towards the loan myself. I am trying VERY hard to pay it off. I paid for the last two semesters out of pocket (tuition and books) so that I would not have to take any more loans - so I am not just begging because I am lazy. I am begging because I really have no other option. I do not enjoy it.

Because of my help my family is starting to be OK again, but it is taking time. Soon they will no longer need my monetary support and then I can also start saving to provide for money for the first two years in the convent for clothing, tolietires and money so that I can visit them for Christmas. It is not cheap becoming a nun! I also have to pay for a plane ticket to NJ and one from NJ to CA when I enter.

I have also taken on some side work writing for a website to try to make money and I was up until 3am last night working on that.

In terms of waiting, the Vocation Director does not think that is a good idea and if I wait that means I have to stay in school to still have insurance and that means another 5,000 for another year - and my salary is not that big (It would be very difficult as I go to school via online so that I do not have to put money towards gas, clothing, car maintenance... ). Now is the right time and even if I have to sell my computer (which would make life really inconvenient) I am going to. I am not going to let 3,000 keep me from the convent.

I thank everyone for their support so far. It has been wonderful.

Brittany,

Do you belong to a parish that could help you with a fund-raiser, like a spaghetti supper or something?

I'm trying to pay of my (now) $7700 student loan myself, so unfortunately, I'm not in a position to be able to help you.

As far as health insurance, my family didn't have health insurane all the way through high school. I spent several years as an adult without health insurance. Of course, it's better if you have health insurance, but are your medical issues such that not having health insurance isn't really an option?

To go through a bachelor's degree program with school debt less than $5,000 these days is nothing short or remarkable.

This is a huge problem for aspiring Religious. (Some) dioceses routinely pay off the student loans of potential seminarians. Often priestly congregations of Religious will do the same. But not all, and women's communities will rarely, rarely help with school debts.

It is absolutely normal for college students to incur debt.

God sometimes calls at inconvenient times. This is an opportunity for the laity to step up to the plate and put their money where their mouth is. Do we want vocations or not? Because vocations are being lost, today, for this precise reason.

It is true that this is a problem. I got my call to be a nun in my Junior year of High School. When I went to visit convents I was seriously advised to go to college first because the order "can't afford to educate people anymore".

So here I am, six years later, still not a nun (though I still want to be) and deeply regretful of this decision.

I'm the Vocation Director for the Salesian Sisters and proud of Brittany's efforts to pay off student loans before she enters.

Like the Laboure Foundation, we believe that no debt should hold someone back from entering. Neither should a lack of a college education hold someone back.

God calls whom He wills, when He wills, and how He wills. It is not ours to question His choice of people, time, or circumstances.

Let us pray that God will continue to send many young people who are generous to the Salesian Family, so that the young people of the world who are in need will find direction, hope, and a deeper love for God.

My congratulations to Brittany for her diligence in handling the financial difficulties of getting an education, supporting her family AND still being able to enter religious life (yes, it will happen). For the last three years I have operated a grant program that helps people like Brittany enter religious life. (Sorry, Brittany, at the moment the grant program is closed.) Of the 30 applications we handled, Brittany's perseverance and financial stewardship would rank near the top.

The advantage of our grant program is that we promise to take over making monthly payments while a sister or brother is in formation. We only pay off the debt completely at the 5th anniversary of final vows (unless the balance is so small that it is paid off sooner). If a person leaves formation, they take back responsibility for the payments, but they don't owe us anything.

As the head of Serra International told me the other day, people in Brittany's situation should be viewed by the Catholic faithful as an opportunity, not a problem. If men and women are generously responding to God's call with their lives, we should be generously responding to assist them with our funds.

If you would like to help us restart our grant program (after helping out Brittany first), have a look at our proto-website at fundforvocations.org. Or contact us through any of the following. Thanks.

Corey F. Huber
President
Mater Ecclesiae Fund for Vocations
PO Box 7433
Falls Church, VA 22040

fundforvocations.org
cfhuber@fundforvocations.org
703.536.1995

Thanks Sr C and Corey. I am very grateful for the support and I am going to post your words on my blog!

I just wanted to let you know that with everyone's support we managed to raise enough money to pay off my student loan!!!!

Thank you so much for the help!