Mother Angelica once said that she wished many years in purgatory to those biographers’ who sugarcoat the lives of the saints. Often, when we read about the saints, we hear only about their joys and spiritual feats. We read about their daring adventures to convert souls in distant lands, their lengthy hours of prayer before the Blessed Sacrament, and their courage to face death with peace and joy. The list goes on.

Consecrated life is a call from God. For many individuals, it happens unexpectedly; only in hindsight does one realize that one was chosen. Some experience a personal, profound and unforgettable loving call from Christ and are gripped by God forever! That's exactly what happened to me. 

Preparing for Hurricane Irma has given me a fresh perspective on what matters most. With each alert, evacuation notice, and email telling me that work would be canceled for “x” amount of days, my panic level rose. The uncertainty of the storm’s path falling on my city and then my family’s city kept us all in constant contact reviewing our emergency plans. 

I sometimes joke that, 30 years ago, I bet my life and my career on higher education, the Roman Catholic Church, and the American form of constitutional government — three unshakable, bedrock institutions. It's true, of course. It's not much of a joke. But across the last several years it has come to seem funny that I could have thought those three were a good bet.