Angelus News | April 21, 2023 | Vol. 8 No

The young women, sisters, priests, and volunteers all pose for a photograph after the second Miriam Dinner. |
SUBMITTED PHOTO
During the dinner, the participants
prayed the Liturgy of the Hours, then
heard from three sisters. One spoke
on what being consecrated religious
means, another explained the evangelical
counsels of chastity, poverty, and
obedience, and a third described the
concepts of commitment and discernment.
Several sisters also shared their
own vocation stories and explained
the charisms of the different religious
orders represented at the dinner.
The evening concluded with adoration
of the Blessed Sacrament, which
provided quiet time for the young
women to contemplate the word of
God and to be in the presence of the
eucharistic Jesus.
The event was organized by the
archdiocese’s Office of the Vicar for
Women Religious with help from
Father Mike Perucho, the archdiocese’s
director of Vocations, and Father
Marinello Saguin, pastor of Our Lady
of Grace.
The next Miriam Dinner is planned
for Oct. 7, 2023, at St. Anthony of
Padua Church in Gardena. Organizers
hope to have the Miriam Dinner at
least twice a year with rotating locations
between regions.
Participants will also be invited to
future retreats and discernment events
of the religious sisters.
Verma is now a junior studying
psychology at UCLA. She doesn’t
know if being a nun or sister is in her
future, but the dinner helped her see
the many possibilities that religious life
poses.
“After the Miriam Dinner, it opened
my eyes because of the different
sisterhoods explaining their agenda and
what they do and what they stand for;
it made me think there are multiple
pathways that people can go through
and still serve their community in a
faithful way,” Verma said.
April 21, 2023 • ANGELUS • 17