Beauty queen becomes catholic nun
KCO Reporter - November 2019
Just a couple of years ago, Esmeralda Solis Gonzales was walking the catwalk in her local beauty pageant. After winning the competition, the Mexican beauty queen took a very different path in her life. She abandoned her crown, and her job as a nutritionist, to don the habit of the Poor Clare Missionaries of the Blessed Sacrament.
The 22-year-old, who was raised Catholic, first met with the Poor Clares when she was 14 and the sisters made a big impression on her. Although she won the beauty title that most girls dream of, it wasn't her heart's desire. She believed God's timing allowed her to experience the more normal life of a young woman before turning to her religious vocation.
Her story is inspiring for young women all over the world, and you can discover more about the novice in the interview she did with the Catholic News Agency, However, we've selected some of our favorite pearls of wisdom by the postulant, which will hopefully guide you in your spiritual life, even if you're not called to a religious vocation.
You really don't know what religious life is until you're within it. So far I have been able to see from another perspective what the world is and what it offers you,
"I was very happy with everything I had, but it does not compare with the happiness that God now places in my heart" Esmeralda said.
"In religious life, every new day is a new beginning and a new opportunity to extend the kingdom of God. This involves making a lot of sacrifices but they are always rewarded with happiness," she said.
"You mustn't be afraid. If God is calling you, he'll take care of everything. All you need to do is receive him with a lot of peace, joy and confidence. I believe fear is a big excuse that is responsible for truncating the true happiness that only God can offer," she said.
The Poor Clare Missionaries of the Blessed Sacrament are a Religious Institute of Pontifical Right founded by Blessed Maria Ines Teresa Arias in 1945 in Cuernavaca, Mexico.
The spirit of the Institute is Eucharistic, Marian, priestly, missionary, and is centred on Jesus in the Blessed Sacrament.
The missionaries work in clinics, youth groups, preschools and schools, university dorms, centres for the spiritual exercises, missions, among others. They are present in Mexico, Costa Rica, Argentina, the United States, Spain, Italy, Ireland, Russia, Japan, Korea, Indonesia, Sierra Leone, Nigeria, Vietnam and India.
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