When we encounter God’s incredible love for us, everything changes. That truth rings ever so true for one Denver Catholic young adult, who was led closer to the Lord’s heart, even to the point of discerning committing her life to Christ the Bridegroom.
Though she was raised Catholic, Kami Beliard said she didn’t really know her faith until college, when she went through the RCIA process at her school.
“I’m not a convert, but I have a convert’s heart,” she said. “Because I didn’t know anything about my faith until going through RCIA. But, through that, I fell absolutely in love with the Church.”
Soon after, she found herself on a spring break trip, spending a week with the Franciscan Sisters of the Eucharist in Connecticut. Having never encountered religious life before, she was struck by the sisters’ joy, sacrifice and service.
“I realized, ‘Wow, this is a beautiful life. This is a gift to receive a call from the Lord,” she shared. “I was just so in awe of the Lord’s intentional love through the gift of the Church. Our vocations are gifts because the Father loves us and so that we can love him more fully. Whatever vocation he has for us is good because it was intentionally chosen for us.”
Over time, the seed planted in Connecticut began to grow. Throughout her time as a missionary with the Fellowship of Catholic University Students (FOCUS), Beliard went deeper in prayer, slowly seeking the Lord’s will for her life as she came to know him more personally.
Then, one day in quiet prayer on a visit to her former campus, Beliard was floored by an invitation, a proposal from Jesus. He approached her and asked, “Will you be mine?”
Stunned, she said yes and began discerning her answer to the question, “God, how have you made my heart to love?” She considered the question for years, discerning consecrated virginity for some time before being led to discern with the Sisters of Life.
From the moment she reached out to the Sisters of Life through her community visits, she said something clicked for her.
“It didn’t matter what we were doing, from the trash to polishing the candle holders to hearing a testimony of a woman who suffered from an abortion and found healing. I just wanted to be with the Sisters of Life and to love the way they do,” Beliard shared, reflecting on the beginning of her discernment with the community. “Seeing how they interact with the souls around them, I realized this is how I desire to love the Lord and my neighbor.”
Convicted of her answer to that question of love, Beliard said she felt alive and at home even amid the unfamiliar. She knew she had to take the next step toward her vocation of love. She requested an application, went through the process and was eventually accepted into postulancy, the initial stage of formal discernment with the religious community.
She began that intentional formation and formal discernment in early September, thanks to a grant from Mater Ecclesiae Fund for Vocations, which will take on the payments of Beliard’s student loans so that she can freely enter religious life this year rather than several years down the line.
With that logistical freedom, Beliard is filled with gratitude and joy as she prepares to enter religious formation. She sees the next year as an opportunity to grow closer to the Lord, continue to discern his will for her life and learn to love ever more like him.
“It has been an incredible experience walking with the sisters and having them walk with me in preparing to enter. It has been beautiful,” she said. “I’m very, very grateful for how incredibly I’ve been received and how excited I am to continue to be walked with and to walk with them.
“I’m excited for this next year of learning how to live in the realization that the Lord sees my weakness, and he wants to patiently, slowly, beautifully and intentionally bring up the areas of my heart that he wants to address, heal and redeem,” Beliard continued. “I’m very excited to learn how to love like the Lord loves and to love myself that way so that I can also love my neighbors in a way that is patient and intentional. I really think that love allows us to see more of how the Father’s heart pours out for his children. And I want to love in that way.”
To others considering how they have been created to love God and neighbor, Beliard had simple, biblical advice: “Do not be afraid,” and “Rejoice always. Pray without ceasing. In all circumstances give thanks, for this is the will of God for you in Christ Jesus” (1 Thes 5:16-18).
“There’s no way you can hear the Lord’s call if you’re not praying,” she said. “I have to remind myself of that every day. He’s speaking in the silence of our hearts. Rejoice, pray, give thanks and be not afraid. Have confidence in God, in your Father, no matter what.”
