A reverend sister has gone on Facebook to address comments from people who say beautiful reverend sisters should get married while only ugly women should embrace religious life.
Reverend Sister Gina King stated that God deserves the best and religious life is a ‘vocation’, not a ‘consolation prize’.
She wrote: ‘“Catholic sisters should get married. The ugly ones should become sisters. Those who have suffered heartbreak are the ones who become sisters.” Really?
‘When did marriage become the highest achievement in life? And when did religious life become an option for women who are “ugly,” heartbroken, or unable to find a man?
‘My dear brothers and sisters, religious life is not a rehabilitation centre for women who could not get married. And who said that women who become sisters are supposed to be ugly? Nobody is ugly. God deserves the best.
‘Just as a woman can choose to give her life to her husband and family, another woman can choose to give her whole life to God.
‘Marriage is a vocation. Religious life is a vocation, and not a consolation prize. Some women are called to marriage. Some are called to religious life. Others are called to different forms of service.
‘So, my beautiful young ladies, do not allow anyone to tell you that only women who cannot find a husband or women considered “ugly” become sisters.
‘If God is calling you, answer Him ( the door of consecrated life is still open). Come with your beauty, your intelligence, your dreams, your gifts and, most importantly, your heart.
‘This is because if we are giving God a gift, why would we give Him anything less than our best?’
