“Live every day fully and gratefully,” says Sister Theresa McGrath, 86, a member of the Sisters of Charity of the Incarnate Word, San Antonio, Texas. “I’m grateful that God called me to religious life. I’m also conscious that the gifts and talents I have are really given to share with other people.”

Sister Alice Garcia, 91, a member of the Sisters of the Sacred Heart of Jesus in San Antonio, Texas, did not say “yes” to religious life when her 8th grade teacher, a Catholic sister, suggested she might have a vocation.

“My first-grade teacher, Sister Celestia, was the biggest influence on my vocation,” says Sister Anne Cecile Muldoon, a member of the Ursuline Sisters of Cleveland. “She was just so loving and kind. She made you feel at ease, and I wanted to be like her.”