Serving the Lord as a Missionary
Interview with Helen Beckert
Part Three from our “Thy Will Be Done: Life After College” Series
Photo by Chelsey Shortman
Interview with Helen
Helen was born and raised in western Kentucky, the oldest of three sisters. She holds a bachelor’s degree in history and secondary education from Murray State University. For three years, she joyfully served as a FOCUS missionary at Georgia Tech in Atlanta. She now lives in the Bluegrass State once again, and serves as the campus ministry intern in the Diocese of Owensboro while earning her M.A. in theology from the University of Notre Dame. Helen enjoys going to Adoration, drinking coffee, baking, visiting beautiful churches, reading, swing dancing, and spending time with her friends and family.
Tell us about yourself and what you do!
I’m a cradle Catholic and was raised in the faith, but I had a deeper encounter with Jesus Christ in the Eucharist during my junior year of college. Post-college, I served as a missionary with FOCUS - Fellowship of Catholic University Students -for three years. Living mission on a college campus radically deepened my relationship with the Lord and taught me how to love Him and to love others more intentionally. Through the generosity of my diocese and a sponsorship program, I am now pursuing a master’s degree in theology while working as the campus ministry intern at a small Catholic college.
How did you “prepare” for life after graduation?
After graduation, I had no idea what to expect! All I knew was that I would be a missionary. I didn’t even know what campus that I was serving at until a couple of days after my December graduation! Before graduating, I sought out advice and mentorship from a few other Catholic women who I love and admire. I asked questions about post-grad prayer life, finding friendships after college, and maintaining a balance between work and personal life. I also tried to stay connected with friends who were in the same stage of life. In the midst of the transition, I continued to seek advice, support, and prayer from my mentors and dearest friends. Above all, I sought to maintain a consistent prayer life. Many days, I had to fight for prayer, but it was through these times of prayer that the Lord prepared my heart for post-grad life.
The transition was far more difficult than I anticipated. Due to a moving mishap caused by bad winter weather, I showed up in my new home with only a suitcase full of dirty clothes. I knew no one at all in downtown Atlanta, a far cry from the tiny college town where I had felt so connected to a Catholic community. But the new campus community that I began serving as a missionary welcomed me with open arms, and I dove in, building new relationships with students and my fellow missionaries. My birthday fell not too long after I moved, and my new friends threw me a big surprise party. That night, surrounded by so many people I had just met, I knew that I was loved, and I knew that the Lord was breaking open my heart to love those people and to give myself to them in a new way.
How did this transition affect your relationship with God?
In the midst of the transition, I learned how to place my trust more radically in God. I knew in my head that I trusted Him, but making the leap and learning to transition well forced me to live out that trust. Trusting that He would provide for me financially. Trusting that He would put new friends in my life. Trusting that He would show me why on earth He had called me to be a missionary and to leave my initial career goals behind.
The transition also revealed a lot of my personal brokenness that I had been running from for years. About three weeks after I moved, one of my fellow missionaries found me crying in a secluded corner of our campus Catholic Center. As she comforted me, she gently suggested that I consider going to see a counselor. Eventually, I mustered up the courage to make that first appointment with a Catholic therapist. In the course of my time in counseling, my counselor walked me through my wounded heart and the shame that plagued me from my past sins. I learned that healing was not only possible, but also something that God greatly desires for His children. To be healed, I had to let Him hold me, to let go of my need to control my life. The Lord used this challenging transition to bring me healing and grace through the gift of a good Catholic counselor.
I often call to mind one of my favorite verses in scripture, 2 Corinthians 4:7 - “But we hold this treasure in earthen vessels, that the surpassing power may be of God and not from us.” In the past, I rejected my weaknesses and broken parts, believing that God only wanted a perfect version of myself. But He wants to work in us, in earthen vessels, to carry the Gospel message to the world. In fact, He has used my brokenness in so many ways in my ministry, and my past made me more able to connect to college students and to give them a glimmer of hope from my story.
How have things turned out differently than anticipated in your career? How are you finding contentment with your life?
My career has turned out wildly different than I ever imagined. For many years, I planned to become a high school social studies teacher. God, however, had other plans. After serving as a missionary for three years, He has called me to continue to serve the Church by working in ministry. As I continued to work with college students, I saw just how transformative the Gospel message is when it is shared intentionally with people. I couldn’t see myself doing anything other than helping others grow in their relationships with our Lord, who so greatly desires to be in relationship with all of His children.
As I tried to discern the next step in my life, I begged God to make the path forward abundantly clear. I knew that I wanted to continue working in ministry, but I had few credentials to go down that path, and little means to go back to school to continue my education. Not even a week later, the opportunity to attain a master’s degree in theology with a full sponsorship was presented to me, and I knew that this was God’s answer to my prayers. I’ve never been one of those people to make a five-year plan. My greatest desire in my career is to serve the Lord by serving His people, and to go where there exists the greatest need for His love. Recently, I read Come Be My Light, the collection of St. Teresa of Calcutta’s letters. I am so inspired by the way that she called others to address the greatest poverty - the poverty of loneliness.
How has finding a community and a new sense of home in the Church been like for you?
Since graduating college, I have moved twice. The first time, when I moved to Atlanta, I had community naturally built in for me with my job. I lived with my missionary teammates and did almost everything with them or with my students. The second time, moving back to Kentucky this summer, I had some community in my new home, but I had to work harder to seek it out. You must pray and ask the Lord to provide you with a strong community, but you also need to take some initiative. And be honest with your close friends if you are struggling with you transition, asking them to lift you up in prayer. I also had to put aside my fear of showing up alone at young adult events aside.
Honestly, one of the things that makes me feel at home in the Church is going to pray at a church or Adoration chapel. Being with Jesus in the Eucharist reminds me that my eternal home is in heaven, but that He still wants to provide a beautiful home for me on earth. When you’re one of the youngest people at Sunday or daily Mass, or when you’re a newcomer in a community, it can be easy to feel out-of-place. But don’t buy into the lie that you’re not wanted or that you don’t belong. Give yourself a little bit of time to get adjusted to your new home, and then find ways to give yourself a little bit of time to get adjusted to your new home, and then find ways to become involved in your parish community or in other organizations that pique your interest.
How are you intentionally living out your faith and seeking out new friendships?
On a daily basis, I make time to attend daily Mass and carve out time for silent prayer. In prayer, I usually try to spend time in silent meditation and do lectio divina with scripture. I also dive into spiritual reading throughout the week. Recently, I finished Fr. Jacques Philippe’s The Eight Doors to the Kingdom and began Carlo Carretto’s Letters from the Desert. My spiritual director and I meet about once a month to discern where God is moving in my life and how I need to grow in prayer.
When my roommates and I are at home together in the evenings, we like to pray Night Prayer from the Liturgy of the Hours together. I have met some new friends by going to local young adult events hosted by my diocese and local parishes. Some of my college friends who live in the area have also been generous enough to bring me into their friend groups and invite me to family gatherings.
Some days, it has felt exhausting to make new friends, especially since I’m an introvert! Reaching out to new friends is much different when you have different work schedules and don’t live in the same residence hall on campus, so it takes a little more effort. But having those new friendships is worth the extra effort.
Drawing from your own experience, what advice might you give to women who are currently in the midst of their transition from graduation to post-grad life? How might they discern the next steps the Lord might be inviting them to take?
Put your relationship with God and your prayer life first! Prayer is your relationship with God, so you need to make the time to build that relationship through daily prayer. Pray in the morning, on your lunch break, in the evening after work, I don’t care. Just pray, even if it’s just ten minutes. Also, if your schedule allows, attend daily Mass during the week as you are able. Receiving Jesus in the Eucharist will change your week, I promise! And carve out a regular time to receive the sacrament of Reconciliation. Fostering your relationship with God and giving a small “yes” every day will help down the road when He calls you to make a bigger “yes” to His will.
When you can find a parish home, register at that parish. Don’t be a roaming Catholic. Get registered, and start tithing. Tithe to your parish, and find other good organizations or causes to support financially. The Lord asks us to be generous in every way, including our bank accounts. I know from experience that young adulthood means that you feel broke, but if the widow can give two small coins to the temple treasury (Luke 21:1-4), then we can spare some room in our monthly budget to give of ourselves to others. God will always outdo us in our generosity and desires to bless us as we learn to give of ourselves.
Be brave in seeking out new friendships and community, but find ways to stay connected to your college friends and community. Look for mentors who will hold you accountable and give you advice. Find a spiritual director in your area, and search for Catholic therapists in your area if you need the help of a counselor. Once you are a little more removed from college, don’t forget how you felt or what you struggled with at the beginning of your transition, and reach out to younger women who may be going through something similar in their post-grad transitions. Join a Bible study, or start one if one doesn’t already exist in your community.
In the words of Pope St. John Paul II, “Be not afraid!” Preparing for and diving into young adulthood can feel daunting, but you will learn that you are far braver and stronger than you think. Continue to turn to the Lord in prayer and ask Him for what you need, whether that’s a new Catholic community or simply the courage to stand up for yourself in the workplace.