WITH SO MANY different groups coming together in the Catholic Church, it’s important to have someone who can navigate these relationships and bring these groups closer together. Joan Patten, Delegate for Consecrated Life, maintains these relationships and acts as a bridge between religious communities within the Diocese of Orange.
OC Catholic recently spoke to Joan about her role and how she serves the community. Answers may be edited for length or clarity.
Q: Your role is important to maintaining a harmonious relationship between individuals in consecrated life, members of the clergy and members of the Diocese. Why do you believe it’s important that this relationship is continued and strengthened?
A: I can sum up my responsibility as the one who 1) helps the local bishop be in relationship with the various religious communities and consecrated men and women in the Diocese of Orange. Our support assists the religious community with their particular mission and care for their members. It includes helping answer questions about paperwork, visiting communities and supporting local superiors. 2) I also support the religious communities by advertising their events and collaborating with them, primarily for vocational discernment.
Q: You provide support and guidance to young adults who are discerning a vocation in consecrated life. What’s the most important piece of advice you’ve given someone who’s considering a vocation in consecrated life?
A: Learn how to pray! This means learning to notice the thoughts, feelings and desires that directly impact your relationship with God. Prayer is a relationship, and the more we share with Jesus in prayer, the more certain we’ll be of God’s love for us. My advice for discerners is to learn how to pray and how to be a disciple of Jesus by spending time with Him. Ask priests, consecrated men and women, parish ministers or our office for guidance. We can help you learn how to pray, but it’s Jesus who will reveal the Father’s will to you.
Q: What does the Pro Sanctity Retreat Center do for the people of the Diocese, and how does it serve as a place of personal and spiritual growth?
A: I am a consecrated member of the secular institute of the Apostolic Oblates. The Pro Sanctity Spirituality Center is part of the apostolate of my institute. My responsibility as the delegate for consecrated life is my “day job,” but my life as an Apostolic Oblate is my vocation. Our mission is to promote and foster the universal call to holiness, especially to the laity in daily life. We do this through the work of the Pro Sanctity Movement, which is a lay movement in the Church that strives to respond to God’s call of holiness and proclaim His infinite love to others.
Q: What inspires and motivates you when carrying out your day-to-day work as Delegate for Consecrated Life?
A: As a member of a secular institute, the Catechism of the Catholic Church says that my call is to be like leaven (or yeast) in the world, operating as yeast does in bread; it makes it rise. I am called to sanctify the Church and the world from within. In my role as delegate for consecrated life, I get to support, animate and contribute to the missions of all the religious communities in the Diocese of Orange with my prayer, presence and active support. I enjoy meeting with young adults and directing them to Jesus who has a great plan for them!
Q: Who’s your favorite saint and why?
A: A few of my top favorites include St. Padre Pio and St. Therese of Lisieux. These saints have taught me to pray as I read their writings and prayers. Their example of trust in God’s love for them as they drew near to His heart inspires me to greater love and trust. Servant of God Guglielmo Giaquinta, the founder of the Pro Sanctity Movement and the Apostolic Oblates, is also one of my favorite “saints in the making.” He wrote a beautiful prayer that begins with “Tell my Lord, that you love me, speak to my heart once again.” This prayer invited me while I was discerning my vocation, to trust in God’s love and go forward with courage and hope.