Help Gaby become a Religious Sister

*Donation Disclaimer: This fundraiser counts with the generous commitment of a donor who will match all contributions made, significantly amplifying the impact of your generous support.

My Vocation Testimony:

My name is Gabriela Perez. I am an aspirant in the Society of Mary (a community of missionary Sisters dedicated to the New Evangelization), and this is my story of love with Jesus Christ, my God and my all.

I grew up in a Catholic home, under the teachings and guidance of my Catholic family. However, my relationship with Jesus Christ was not personal. My faith was not the most important aspect of my life, and I lived it out inconsistently. But there was always a consistent factor in my life...

I was desperate for Love. I yearned for Love, I hungered and thirsted for Love.

What I didn’t realize was that Love was always with me, but I went out in search of the love that came from the world.

I spent restless nights partying and drinking, and searching to be seen and loved in relationships, feeding on this false love from the world that never seemed to satisfy me. I was in pain.

In my second year at American University in Washington D.C, I was invited to a program called Alpha. I went reluctantly, and the big question of that night was “what is happiness?” I realized that I was unhappy, but I didn’t know why. The semester went on and I returned every week because it was a place where I was challenged to think about my purpose in life.

Love was drawing me closer and I didn’t know it.

Halfway through the Alpha program, I attended the Holy Spirit retreat, and Love showed me the reason for my unhappiness. I was living a life full of sin, and my heart was burdened by the weight of it. My unhappiness came from hurting Love Himself, and by hurting Him, I was destroying myself.

But Love said “give it all to Me,”and through the Sacrament of reconciliation (confession), I surrendered, and dove deep into the ocean of Mercy of the Heart of Jesus. I confessed my sins, my infidelity, and my wounds. At last, the weight was lifted from my heart and placed high on the Cross of my Savior. He bore my sins and took them upon Himself, so that I would live.

Love Himself said to me “it’s over, it’s done,” and I was made new in Him, in Mercy.

Love came to me, Love forgave me, Love saved me. True, everlasting Love. At last, I was His, and He was mine. So, I decided to live my life for Him alone, in the service of others.

Time went by and my hunger increased. I yearned more intensely for Him, and I realized little by little that the world would never make me happy, because I don’t belong to the world. My desires changed and I no longer saw myself living the life I had always imagined.

The following summer my family and I traveled to Medjugorje, a small village in Bosnia and Herzegovina where the Blessed Virgin Mary has appeared since 1981. It is a place of grace and healing, and on our way there, I felt that something would happen. Our Blessed Mother blessed me in every place I visited so that my eyes were fixed on her Son, and she took me by the hand leading me directly to Him.

During one moment of prayer, I felt an intense sensation building up in my chest, and it felt like I was going to explode. I sat on some rocks and began to write in my spiritual journal things in my heart that with difficulty I was trying to put into words.

I now desired to radically and completely abandon myself to Him whom I loved. To give myself completely to Him, body and soul, and to live every day of my life for Him as a religious Sister. Love was calling me to be His bride, to consecrate myself to Him in this life, before I am united to Him in the next.

Love called out my name and said “you are Mine.”

I now am an aspirant to the Society of Mary, the community of missionaries which God Himself has called me to serve in. However, Canon law requires that a person entering a religious order be free from any debts they cannot pay, and this includes my student loans which make up a sum of $230,000 USD. The next entering class for the Society of Mary is to begin formation in August of this year; I therefore ask my brothers and sisters, that you help me find relief from this debt which creates a barrier in my entering religious life. With your contribution, you are supporting my vocation which is for the world, and you are participating in His mission for the Universal Church.

I am not my own. I am His, and by being His, I am yours. I consecrate myself for you.

In Christ,

Gaby

*If you are interested in learning more about the Society of Mary, click here.