Talk to trusted people to explore call to religious life

The nuns take on a question about discernment during a "Motherhouse Road Trip" edition of "Ask Sister." 

"For several years I've had this feeling that religious life may be calling me," Bree said. "How do you differentiate between a calling and a strong whim? If God was speaking to me, wouldn't I know it by now? I'm 25." 

Sr. Joyce Lehman. of the Sisters of the Precious Blood of Dayton, Ohio, responded: "My experience is whims don't last real long, and they don't do well when you test them because they don't have a lot of substance."

But sometimes whims point to something important. She suggests talking it through with  

She suggests talking to a close friend and to someone she does not know well but who's spiritual life she trusts. 

As for the questioner's age, 25 is "about the right time" for such discussions, Lehman said.