MINNEAPOLIS — When Danielle Lussier of Battle Creek, Mich., was taking out loans to pay for her photography degree at the Rhode Island School of Design, she didn’t anticipate that God would call her to a “reversion,” a deeper life within the Catholic Church.
Nor did she foresee that she’d discern a call to the religious life with the Daughters of St. Paul in Jamaica Plain, Mass., that would necessitate paying off her school debt more quickly.
“When I signed my promissory note, I did not configure in my ‘reversion’ experience,” she said. “I thought, I have a 30-year plan here.”
Seeking freedom from educational debt so they can pursue their vocations, Lussier and 16 others who have discerned a call to the priesthood or religious life gathered Jan. 10-13 in the Twin Cities for the Labouré Society’s “boot camp”: an intense weekend of training, spiritual support and hands-on preparation to take on the challenge of raising funds to pay off their loans.
The event’s Jan. 13 conclusion coincided with commencement of the U.S. bishops’ National Vocations Awareness Week, which since 1997 has started on the feast of the Baptism of the Lord.
Since 2003, the Eagan, Minn.-based Labouré Society has equipped 230 “aspirants” — who were accepted into a diocese or religious community but blocked from entering or continuing formation because of educational debt — to resolve their debt through faith-based philanthropy.
On Friday afternoon of boot camp, Lussier and the rest of the class learned about professional fundraising techniques. Organizers believe these skills — along with an understanding of fundraising as ministry — are precisely what will help aspirants prepare financially, spiritually and mentally for their vocations.
“‘Boot camp’ denotes something very specific: a hard training in a short period of time, changing people, equipping people,” said Cy Laurent, founder and executive director of the Labouré Society, which is named for St. Catherine Labouré and the Miraculous Medal.
Lussier and her classmates hold undergraduate and advanced degrees from a range of U.S. colleges and universities — and a total of $839,000 in educational debt. Working individually but also supporting each other as a team, each “aspirant” seeks to raise $45,000 toward paying off the loans in the next five months.
Each team raises an aggregate amount under the society’s 501c3 nonprofit status, so donations are tax-deductible. The society manages loan payments while aspirants are in formation and completes payments in steps by ordination or vows in case someone leaves during formation.
Financial Roadblocks
The class isn’t unusual. An estimated 10,000 young people in the U.S. have discerned a vocation, but 42% are blocked from entering by educational loans, according to a 2010 National Religious Vocation Conference study. The average Labouré Society aspirant owes $40,000 in loans plus interest for an undergraduate degree, Laurent said.
Katie Clemmer of Manassas, Va., believes the debt is so common that “it’s really the face of the young Church that wants to be religious.” Clemmer, who has undergraduate and graduate education degrees, is in her second aspirant class. She is in formation at the Immaculate Heart of Mary community in Immaculata, Pa. “God wants me here, and he knows I have debt, so what does he want me to do with it?”
Aidan Toombs of Redwood City, Calif., also has found peace in his call to be a contemplative priest at Our Lady of Guadalupe Abbey in Pecos, N.M., but, as a practicing attorney with a law degree from Georgetown University and lot of educational debt, he has faced difficulty getting there.
Debt is “a very concrete, large obstacle to entering religious life,” said Kit O’Brien, operations director for the Institute on Religious Life in Libertyville, Ill., which supports the consecrated life. The Labouré Society, she added, “equips aspirants to work on their own and raise funds to solve their student-debt problems. I don’t know another organization that does it like this.”
On Friday night, the aspirants drafted a class mission statement in the spirit of camaraderie. Organizers introduced former participant Megan Spelic of Broomfield, Colo., and announced that she officially paid off her loans, having raised about $47,000 during the last half of 2012. The class cheered for the Benedictine College senior who plans to enter formation with the Little Sisters of the Poor in Washington this fall.
The society also has had an impact on Tim Bastian of Omaha, Neb. Now a board member and presenter, Bastian learned about the society when his daughter went through the program last year before entering the Carmel of Jesus, Mary and Joseph in Valparaiso, Neb.
An investment adviser and lecturer at Creighton University, he sees boot-camp training not just in terms of sales skills, but relationship skills.
Useful Skills
The relational fundraising skills aspirants acquire also benefit their communities or dioceses, Laurent said: “Whether a diocesan priest, religious priest or sister or brother, every one of those institutions is a fundraising business, parish, diocese, community, and some of them are mendicant.”
Ana Rodriguez of Sacramento, Calif., anticipates that the fundraising may impact her life with the Missionary Sisters of St. Charles Borromeo, Scalabrinians, in Melrose Park, Ill. “If we can’t take on this task, no matter how challenging it is, if we are not disciplined and focused and we don’t persevere, we’re not grounded in our prayer doing this exercise of fundraising, it just kind of says: How effective are we going to be as a religious?”
As challenging as it is to ask for funds, aspirants actually give potential donors an opportunity to join their vocational journeys, Laurent said.
Lussier said aspirants will be asking, “Are you who the Lord has asked to fill this need? In doing so, we are meeting people and receiving them as we receive the gift of their generosity. It’s really changed the way I see my debt and how I am to take responsibility for my debt.”
Clemmer added, “What we’re being called to do is much more than asking for money. We’re being called to really look into other people’s hearts and share our hearts with them and say, ‘We both have this love for the Church. Can we do something together here?’”
On Saturday afternoon, the aspirants practiced sharing their vocation stories — to be videotaped and posted on YouTube.
Toni Garrett of Grand Prairie, Texas, who returned for a second aspirant class and is in formation with the Community Sisters of the Holy Family of Nazareth of Grand Prairie, delivered her testimony, adding this invitation to potential supporters: “We want you to be part of our vocations. They were never only ours; they always belonged to the Church.”
Being part of the Church means embracing all the steps in a vocational journey, Laurent said. “Their journey, like yours and like mine, is a journey back to him, and there’s no journey back to him except through the cross,” he said. “That’s part of fundraising — suffering, paying the price, doing it with a joyful heart, celebrating, even. We know where we’re going.”
Susan Klemond writes from St. Paul, Minnesota.
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Pay Caesar what belongs to Caesar! Very wise and positive effort! The Holy Catholic Church needs more young Vocations. Especially in these times we live in. I hope all the dept of the aspirants are payed off shortly and will keep it in my prayers to Jesus Christ, Blessed Virgin Mary and St. Philomena.
I suppose this falls into the category of “you don’t know unless you ask.” But for myself, I can only see contributing to one of these young people who had an extreme case of hardship. Forty thousand is certainly a lot of money, but I would think most physically capable young people without children and who have a supportive family could pay that off in two years - i.e. working two jobs while living with mom and dad. Without a supportive family, it would probably take four or five years but it is definitely doable relatively quickly with roommates and Ramen Noodles.
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I detested my own and my husband’s student loan debt, which was well over six figures, so I’m not unsympathetic toward these young people. And I understand there’s a vocations crisis, but if these young folks are being called, is there some reason they can’t wait to answer for two to five years? I know how difficult it is to wait to answer when God is calling, but why can’t the experience of sacrificing, working hard, and acheiving the final payoff be the beginning of their yes to God?
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I don’t know. Maybe I’m just cranky this morning…
Mater Ecclesiae Fund for Vocations in Falls Church, Virginia helps those who wish to answer the call to liquidate their educational debt
Oops. Our debt was well *into* six figures, not *over*. It just felt like millions. ;)
Eileen, I think I see where you’re coming from, in a sense. From my perspective, it can be difficult to see aspirants getting so much help to pay off their debt, especially as a lay person with a lot of educational debt myself (e.g., it’s not as if there is an organization that helps to raise money to pay off debt before marriage, or if we have a vocation to lay single life, unless one started a very creative and attention-getting Kickstarter campaign). Some people have suggested encouraging discernment earlier, before students go to college, but I don’t think that would solve the problem. Higher education is going to be necessary for most young people entering religious life, especially if they are entering an order focused on education or missionary work. Think about all the times in the past where saints and missionaries faced financial obstacles-if it is God’s will, there’s generally a way, but it won’t necessarily be an easy one, especially in the case of paying off student loans. I am so glad for the work that the Laboure society does-this kind of training really benefits the aspirants in both the short and long-term.
But to address your main point, I’ve witnessed the absolutely heroic sacrifice of a few of my own friends from college who have answered the call to the priesthood and religious life at the absolutely ire of their parents, family, and in many cases, friends (the parents of one friend of mine have refused to speak to her until she leaves the convent). Despite the struggles, they are extremely happy. Many people who enter religious life do have supportive families, but there are just as many who don’t. This can be a very lonely and trying experience, especially facing the challenge of paying off debt without their financial or social support.
Also, the ‘average’ debt may be around $40,000, but it is much higher for many, and some may not be responding to God’s call right out of college but after years in the professional world. Most convents have a maximum age for applicants-usually around 35. So for some, the clock is ticking. I’m curious if the Laboure society has had any experience with older aspirants, or if some religious houses will begin to look at their maximum age limits in light of the phenomenon of student debt.
Eileen, I think I see where you’re coming from, in a sense. From my perspective, it can be difficult to see aspirants getting so much help to pay off their debt, especially as a lay person with a lot of educational debt myself (e.g., it’s not as if there is an organization that helps to raise money to pay off debt before marriage, or if we have a vocation to lay single life, unless one started a very creative and attention-getting Kickstarter campaign). Some people have suggested encouraging discernment earlier, before students go to college, but I don’t think that would solve the problem. Higher education is going to be necessary for most young people entering religious life, especially if they are entering an order focused on education or missionary work. Think about all the times in the past where saints and missionaries faced financial obstacles-if it is God’s will, there’s generally a way, but it won’t necessarily be an easy one, especially in the case of paying off student loans. I am so glad for the work that the Laboure society does-this kind of training really benefits the aspirants in both the short and long-term.
But to address your main point, I’ve witnessed the absolutely heroic sacrifice of a few of my own friends from college who have answered the call to the priesthood and religious life at the absolutely ire of their parents, family, and in many cases, friends (the parents of one friend of mine have refused to speak to her until she leaves the convent). Despite the struggles, they are extremely happy. Many people who entering religious life do have supportive families, but there are just as many who don’t. This can be a very lonely and trying experience, especially facing the challenge of paying off debt without their financial or social support.
Also, the ‘average’ debt may be around $40,000, but it is much higher for many, and some may not be responding to God’s call right out of college but after years in the professional world. Most convents have a maximum age for applicants-usually around 35. So for some, the clock is ticking. I’m curious if the Laboure society has had any experience with older aspirants, or if some religious houses will begin to look at their maximum age limits in light of the phenomenon of student debt.
Financial assistance is a very good thing to pursue, depending on the person entering a religious life. Personally, I am disheartened the religious communities place a limit on age to qualify as a candidate.
At the age of 41 I took a 3 day vocation retreat to check out the Franciscan Order in Kentucky. Long story short: I decided to postpone my decision for a ‘few’ years; I regret doing this! Why cannot a person apply, regardless of age if in good health? Myself speaking here: I would gladly donate all my possessions and monies to the order, without hesitation! God’s Blessings to all!
Thank you for your comments. I have to add a couple facts that didn’t make it into the story. A number of the women in this Laboure Society class were approaching the cut-off age for entering their communities. The “aging out” factor hits women harder than men, who for instance, could enter many diocesan seminaries later in life. So they really couldn’t afford to wait a few more years.
According to the Laboure Society’s statistical information as well as their first hand experience with aspirants, many vocations are being lost because of educational debt, which 42% of those discerning a vocation have.
It would be easier if everyone responded to a vocational call earlier in life but as in the case of the woman in the lead paragraph, that sometimes happens later—during or after college. Twenty years ago, this would not have been such an issue. It’s just the way the educational system has gone.
The young people I interviewed were amazing and I’m excited to think that they will be serving the Church as God has called them to do. Our Church so desperately needs them!
Hi All,
Thanks for your kind comments and thanks Susan for a beautiful article! It was wonderful to have you with us and I know you were inspired by the Aspirants!
A few points:
1. Every Aspirant is required to liquidate their assets before entering formation and contribute maximum payments to their own loans -savings, cars, computers, etc. (unless required by community or diocese to bring these items)
2. Every Aspirant is required to work full-time and donate maximum payments towards their own loans until entrance.
3. Many -if not most- communities and all dioceses require an undergraduate degree before entering.
4. There is indeed an age limit for many communities and dioceses and we do indeed help many Aspirants enter before they are prevented from doing so by age!
5. TLS only makes minimum payments while Aspirants are in formation. If they leave, they resume their own payments. We make final ‘pay-offs’ at vows or ordination.
6. 2-5 years would be VERY optimistic for most Aspirants to repay their loans alone. For example, many Aspirants work for the Church making very small salaries. Other professionals we assist may be receiving small salaries because they work for non-profits or other small businesses. Some come from economically depressed areas and many have unsupportive families. TLS does take into consideration an Aspirant’s ability to repay their own loans in a reasonable time frame, if that is an option.
I hope this helps!
My best friend is in this class, she is in the picture also and I’m so happy for her, and she shared her experience—it was a phenomenal time of growth and fellowship!
She’s going to be such a great asset to the church as a sister—this is like investing in the future of our Church. <3
Our own daughter, a Dominican Convent, right after graduation from college. She had a great deal of debt. She was going to work and pay it off, but instead we, her parents, chose to pay it for her, even though it has been a financial hardship for us. Why? Because we felt God was calling her then, and having her not answer that call until the debt was paid off, could have easily derailed her vocation completely.
If liberals were doing this, it would be decried as laziness and entitlement. Why should we encourage young people to beg for money for debts they willingly incurred in a less enlightened time in their life? Let them work to pay it off - ora et labora!
Another factor to consider is that those entering the vocation of marriage or consecrated single life can still work and marry and repay their loans in their vocations -albeit sometimes under challenging circumstances. However, with Aspirants to priesthood and religious life in these cases, they literally cannot enter their vocation. It is a roadblock. A hard stop. A definitive no. The communities and dioceses simply can’t assume the student loans -even if they won’t accept the Aspirant without the education.
Again, please note: Aspirants receive minimum payments towards their loans while in formation. Think of it as ‘the church’, those who believe in these vocations, as paying a small stipend for the assistance provided by those serving as sisters, brothers, and priests to be. The Aspirants serve in schools, hospitals, retreat centers, senior centers, religious education, parishes, and many other areas through their communities and dioceses. These Aspirants are not paid for their services in those areas -but, their college educations form them in many cases to do a better job.
It’s a great value for the Church in the long run!
Two observations to consider:
For centuries the bulk of the bill for the education of priests and religious was paid for by donations from the faithful. It seems that the Laboure Society is merely affording the faithful with an opportunity to continue this tradition in the Church in the contemporary context.
Many in society think nothing of awarding scholarships to those who will serve the community, e.g. ROTC scholarships and the education given future military officers at the service academies. Perhaps the grants made by the Laboure Society might to be viewed as retroactive scholarships for those called to service in the Church.
Hello all,
Thank you for all of the comments, and for reading this post. I am in the current class of Aspirants and really do appreciate all of the feedback. I take all of this to prayer and have in the past as I have fundraised and received feedback from many that falls in many places in the spectrum of support and opposition. Your feedback, no matter where it falls deepens my discernment. I have to actually say that I am really grateful to those who have some opposition to this process because sometimes it is hard to receive that, :) and when after receiving the opposition I am still motivated and have the grace to continue to ask for help, I become more assured of my call.
I would love to share my story and the stories of the other Aspirants with you on the phone or face to face, via Skype, my classmates have great stories, God is calling wonderful people.
Email: .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)
God bless,
In 1965 there were 179,954 religous sisters in the U.S., by 2000 there were only 73,316. We need to do something different and we need to do much more than we’ve done over the past 45 years. God bless all you Laboure Society volunteers and candidates, as well as, all those who donate in the next six months! God speed!
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