Elizabeth Mersino was born in Ortonville, Michigan. She was consecrated on August 22nd, 1999 and solemnly renewed her promises on August 25th, 2001. Elizabeth is currently working in the northeast United States helping young women in their character formation and spiritual growth and discernment.
 

My life has always been very typical but very intense. I love sports. Since the age of nine, I have played basketball and softball. From then on, each season had a sport - summer was softball, fall was basketball, winter was volleyball and basketball simultaneously, and spring was softball. Besides sports, I strove for academic excellence in order to maintain my 4.0 GPA. Valedictorian was my goal. In short, everything I lived I lived with intensity? except my faith. 

I am the 6th of 7 children born of Catholic parents. Like your typical American Catholic family, our involvement in the Church was very little other than attending Mass each Sunday. Somehow, I even made my Confirmation without any CCD preparation.  

Growing up, I always felt the desire for more. I thought the answer was in greater athletic excellence and more challenging academic programs. I would shoot hoops in my backyard for hours at a time to perfect my form; I conditioned all year round to keep in shape; I constantly sought reading materials in order to help broaden my gamut of knowledge. I was hungry for something and couldn't be satisfied. And that's where God planted his seed. I was fascinated by the metaphysical truths contained in the science fiction books I read (Star Wars, Robert Jordan books). My openness to the supernatural led me to learn more about my Catholic faith.  

I devoured the children's version of Lives of the Saints that we had on our bookshelf at home. When I was 11, I asked my mom for a Bible for Christmas. She gave me a Bible and a rosary. I began to read the Sacred Scriptures from page 1. I found a book that would teach me to pray the rosary and I prayed it almost every day since. I began to find great nourishment in all of these sources. Amidst all of this I continued living a "normal" life. No one knew what was happening in my soul, nor did I really understand. But God knew what my heart was yearning for and he was preparing to show me the answer.  

In 11th grade I was invited to do YTM missions for a weekend in Indiana. I thought it would be a great idea and a great way to spend time with other Catholics who were interested in their faith. It was a great experience of faith for me and it was there that I received the first call. Sitting on the floor in a circle after the missions everyone was sharing what they learned from the experience. Someone was mentioning follow-up activities and she made mention of a school in Rhode Island. I had no clue what this school was, but I did know for sure that the Holy Spirit spoke to me clearly for the first time in my life. He said, "That's where you need to be." I returned from that weekend with a conviction in my heart that was not based so much on intellectual knowledge, but on certainty of a call from God. To say a lot in a few words, I left that next summer to go to Rhode Island. I lived my senior year of high school in the vocational discernment school in Rhode Island with 60 other Catholic girls who were totally into their faith, absolutely "normal," who loved basketball as much as I did, and who were all seeking to know God's will about their lives. It was a precious year for me and there, living under the guidance and care of the consecrated members of Regnum Christi, I waited for the call: did God want me to get married or was he asking me to consecrate my life totally to him?  

In that year I learned so much about Regnum Christi. Everything about it appealed to me. My desire to live intensely was fulfilled in the motivation to live every minute of my life for souls. Whether I was studying, playing, praying, doing apostolic work, every minute was offered to Christ. I also learned to come out of myself. Despite my involvement back home in so many activities I remained relatively shy and insecure. Through the apostolic work, I learned to go out of myself to reach out to souls, to enlighten consciences, to teach those who hungered for the truth that Christ is the only answer. We lived our life in that little haven in Rhode Island centered on Christ. I discovered in him a person who is truly present and truly the strength of my life. Because I am naturally more quiet and reserved, I thought that God was calling me to the contemplative life. But with Christ as my strength and courage I learned to launch myself far beyond what I believed I could do in a life perfectly balanced between contemplation and action. 

I have always wanted to give myself totally to something. As an adolescent my dedication was to sports and academics. As I got older I was convinced that I was meant to dedicate my life to a spouse and family (especially when I had met my last boyfriend before I left for Rhode Island), but when God calls a person, he asks for her whole being. And now my intense desire to surrender myself to an ideal is fulfilled in the surrender to Christ, my own Spouse, and to his souls whom he has entrusted me from the beginning of time.  

Some say I am young. I left home at 17. I was consecrated at 18 and now I am barely 21. My only answer to this is that when God called, I couldn't deny him the best years of my life. When Love came knocking, I couldn't close the door in his face. And I learned that when you are generous enough to take a step, God fills your heart with a love and intimacy that nothing else can replace.
 

Elizabeth Mersino can be reached at matere@ids.net.