"The Oprah Winfrey Show" had amassed quite the following of devoted viewers by the time it aired its last episode in 2011, but a handful of fans ended up giving new meaning to the word "faithful."
In 2010, "The Oprah Show" aired a piece about women who gave up material possessions, wealth and sex to become Catholic nuns, with reporter Lisa Ling spending a night inside the convent of Dominican Sisters of Mary. The sisters there were young -- their average age was 26 -- and when Ling first arrived at the convent at 5:30 p.m., she expected to find the sisters in prayer. Instead she found them playing cards and Scrabble. And, several hours later, Ling learned that their post-lunchtime exercise often included field hockey.
Of course, life at the convent still centered on ritual, silent prayer and obedience. The sisters attended nightly services as well as morning Mass, ate meals in silence and studied dutifully, yet Ling realized they still felt a sense of freedom that hadn't been present before entering the sisterhood. "They had successful lives and careers, but... they always felt this underlying insecurity and they wanted more out of life," Ling said back then. "So in a way, rather than being very strict, their lives are actually much more liberating."
Something about the episode had a profound impact on several "Oprah Show" viewers, who recently told "Oprah: Where Are They Now?" that they realized they, too, were being called to serve.
One such nun, Sister Maxine, was working from home that day at her parents' house when she saw the show with the nuns from Dominican Sisters of Mary. "My mom's a big Oprah fan," says Sister Maxine. "She calls me down and she goes, 'Oh, oh, come watch! There are nuns on Oprah.' I was like, 'Nuns?' And she goes, 'And they're young!'"
Another woman, Sister Theresita, also felt moved to answer the call upon seeing that episode. "It really got me to think, 'Yes, this is something that maybe God is asking of me too,'" she says.
Each of them realizes it's a rather unique way to come into their calling.
"I don't think there are many people in the world who can say that they helped contribute their vocation both from God and Oprah," says Sister Marie Jeanette.
For more from "Oprah: Where Are They Now?", visit wherearetheynow.buzz.
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