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August 31, 2026, La Grange Park, Illinois – Three women and five men preparing to profess their perpetual vows in their respective religious congregations had the benefit this summer of the wisdom and experience of two Adrian Dominican Sisters. Sisters Xiomara Méndez Hernández, OP, and Sara Fairbanks, OP, gave presentations on the vows of obedience and celibacy, respectively, during the July 2026 Life Commitment Program offered by the Religious Formation Conference (RFC) at the Wells Spirituality Center in La Grange Park, Illinois.

The participants were preparing to profess perpetual vows to the Servite Fathers, the Society of the Divine Word, the Sisters of St. Francis of Dubuquey, the Franciscan Sisters of Perpetual Adoration, and the Sisters of Charity of the Incarnate Word. Six of the participants were from countries outside of the United States, including Togo, Nigeria, Haiti, and Honduras.   

The intent of the 42nd Annual Life Commitment Program was to give those preparing for perpetual profession the opportunity to reflect “on what it means to embrace a lifelong ‘yes’ to God – not only on the day of final vows, but through a lifetime of growth, challenge, renewal, and faithful discipleship,” according to the brochure. Each day of the conference focused on the message of one of the four presenters and included input and time for participants to reflect on the message and engage in group discussion. 

Sister Xiomara has been involved with the RFC for seven years and gave two presentations for the Life Commitment Program in Spanish. Last year was her first time presenting in English, the language she presented in this year as well. 

Vow of Obedience 

Sister Xiomara’s focus was to “help the participants to reclaim obedience” and not to see it as passive, to go beyond the cultural idea of obedience as docile, predisposed to submit readily to control; tractable, permitting easy handling; or bidable, easily led. Instead, Sister Xiomara spoke of obedience as a “mature, conscious, and relational practice” and as the act of saying “yes” to God.  

She spoke of four motives for obedience: fear-based, reward-based, duty-based, and obedience-based. “At the end, my hope is that we land in the last type of obedience: love-based obedience.” Sister Xiomara presented Jesus as an example of living out love-based obedience, as described in Philippians 2:8: “Being found human in appearance as a man, [Jesus] humbled himself by becoming obedient to death – even death on a cross.” 

Sister Xiomara challenged the participants to reflect on their source of joy and whether obedience leads to joy. “When we are obedient, we need to trust and fall in love with God, and that will help us decide everything,” she said. 

In her presentation, Sister Xiomara drew on her own experience, particularly in her choice for the vow formula that she proclaimed. “I had special permission to make vows for eternity,” she said. The traditional vow formula professes obedience until death. “I brought my own story into the presentation so they see I went through many struggles as I discerned religious life before I made my final commitment,” she said. “I was very conscious about the language, professing perpetual vows. I see this as a continual ‘yes.’”

Vow of Consecrated Celibacy

Sister Sara spent much of Friday with the participants, eating meals and attending Mass with them, and even watching World Cup soccer games with them. She gave her presentation on Saturday. 

Sister Sara first contrasted consecrated celibacy – abstinence from any sexual relationship – to cultural celibacy, which for some means merely not being married. “Consecrated celibacy is at the heart of religious life because it expresses our personal response to God’s invitation to our radical intimacy and mutual commitment for life,” Sister Sara said. “In this response to God’s call, we commit ourselves totally to God to the exclusion of other commitments – to spouse, family, or projects.” 

Still, she said, consecrated celibacy does not mean isolation from other people. “It’s about developing intimacy with God, self, and others.” She focused much of her talk on developing relational skills for those three areas of relationship. Skills for relationship with God include “attentiveness to God, prayer as an act of receptivity, asking God the right questions, right thinking about God … and finding God in the silence of our heart.” 

Skills for the love of others include empathy, interpersonal trust, communication skills, capacity for self-disclosure, and fidelity. “You’re in ministry with all kinds of people, and in community with all kinds of people, and you need to develop relational skills, having friends who nurture your growth and development,” she said.

Sister Sara emphasized one relationship that many neglect: relationship with oneself. “If you don’t have healthy self-esteem, it’s hard to believe that God loves you,” she said. She pointed to the teaching of St. Thomas Aquinas, who, even in the 13th and 14th centuries, understood the importance of correct self-love. For Thomas Aquinas, “self-love is the pillar of spirituality,” Sister Sara said. “All the good that we desire for our loved ones, we most desire for ourselves.”

Sister Sara said she benefited from the process of preparing her presentation. “I enjoyed reviewing some of that material. I’ve done a lot of inner work myself and integrating my life experiences in my relationship with God, and my growth in my own self-esteem and self-compassion. Developing relational gifts was so foundational for me.”

Hope for the Future

Both Sisters Xiomara and Sara came away from the experience with hope for the future of religious life. Sister Sara noted that, when she entered, only two or three women were entering religious life in a typical year. “I knew from my experience that this wasn’t a popular choice, but the desire to serve God is expressed in other lifestyles as well – the Associates and lay people who are lay ecclesial ministers,” she said. “I’ve met a lot of people dedicated to proclaiming the Gospel. I don’t know how religious life is going to evolve, but I trust that it will.” 

She also finds hope from the three women who have recently entered the Adrian Dominican Congregation: Sister Elizabeth Guerrera, who was received into the novitiate on August 7, 2026; Sister Jamie Caporizo, OP, who made her First Profession of Vows on August 8, 2026; and Sister Katherine Frazier, OP, who professed her perpetual vows on August 11, 2024.

Sister Xiomara found hope in the readiness of the diverse group of participants to profess their perpetual vows. “They were joyful. They were real,” she said. “I felt so much hope and joy for the Church through them. What is dying is the old religious life pattern. But God continues to call…. The ones who are entering are really, really committed.” 

Caption for above feature photo: Sister Xiomara Méndez Hernández, OP, shares her wisdom with men and women preparing to profess perpetual vows in diverse religious congregations.