Consecrated life is a special gift given by Christ to many people who are living their lives with commitment responding to God’s love in a special relationship.

I am one of these people who felt and recognized the call of Christ to the Congregation of the Sacred Hearts of Jesus and Marry (ss.cc.) about 17 years ago.

My family was not  happy or excited when I expressed my desire to join the congregation. I went to my parish priest and asked permission to go on a vocation camp which was organized by the Sacred Hearts Congregation in Bhubaneswar, Odisha, eastern India. But my pastor refused me and did not recommend me to attend it since he did not know the Sisters.

Shortly after, I attended Sunday Mass and the gospel was the Parable of the Sower (cf. Mt 13: 1-23). As the priest was preaching, I felt that I was like the thorny ground allowing the seed to grow, but then competing thorns were choking the life out of the good plants. I wanted to join the congregation but I had no support to guide me.

Somehow I listened to my inner voice and without the permission of my parish priest; I went to the camp and experienced the great hospitality and welcome of the Sisters. The Sisters were loving and friendly and I said, “This is my place.” I experienced an hour of adoration before the Blessed Sacrament with the Sisters and I felt God was calling me and that this was where I belonged to.

My parents were arranging for me to go into nursing and my friends were bringing me college application forms. My own involvement in sports, in particular, as a member of the National Volleyball Team, meant that opportunities for my future were wide open. But the powerful attraction that I had felt with the Sisters made me decide to join them.

Thereafter, I felt God’s blessings and the accompaniment of the Holy Spirit from the different people who were part of my formation. So here I am a consecrated woman for 13 years.

During the time of my formation, I experienced joy and enthusiasm that sustained and encouraged me to continue in God’s service. I felt the power of loving and being loved by others. Particularly, as a consecrated woman I feel that I have an influence on others especially people whom I served in my ministry. I think of how I myself have been influenced by my own founders, my brothers and sisters in the Congregation who have lived their religious vocation and gone before me and others who are still living with me and helping me to lay strong foundations of happiness and strength in my own religious vocation.

The joy is that I am never left alone—there are always helping hands and support. I have lived in different communities in different countries. I have lived in Bhubaneswar (Odisha), Kolkata (West Bengal), Manila (the Philippines), and Hawaii (USA); everywhere I have felt the familyspirit. Everywhere, people have been good and kind to me and I, in turn, have tried to return that goodness and kindness.

I strongly believe that I am called to serve through random acts of kindness, mercy and compassion. Many people ask me why I don’t wear a religious habit or uniform so that people will recognize me as a religious Sister. I always answer them that I don’t have to wear a habit; people will know who I am by observing my attitude and behavior.

I remember when I was studying at National Institute of Social Work and Social Sciences (NISWASS), Bhubaneswar getting my Bachelor’s degree in Social Work and I was in my final year. I had agency placement in Janla, near Bhubaneswar, which is the Leprosy Rehabilitation Center run by the Missionaries of Charity Sisters. A blind man asked me, “Are you a nun?” I was shocked by this question and I just could not sleep that night.

The next day I went back to the center and I asked him, “Uncle what made you think that I am a nun?” He said,” I find you very different from the other students.” I understood that even a blind person can sense our humbleness, compassionate heart and good attitude; people recognize who we are, they do not need our clothing to tell them.

Another experience I had was travelling by train with three other Sisters to Kolkata and there was a young girl who asked us if we were nuns and we said yes. We had just offered her grandmother our lower seat because we sawher struggling to get into the middle seat. The young girl said she knew we were different by the way we were acting. I think through these small acts of love we can serve people wherever possible.

A religious vocation is a life of integrity and honor, a blessing which I received from God. It is a journey with God and through walking with Him day by day, I nurture my vocation. There are days when I feel dryness and it is not easy to cope with the situation, but all these feelings come and disappear. In this situation, the power of God gives me strength and nourishes my spiritual life. Prayer and my personal adoration is the greatest comfort through which I deepen my relationship with God.

It is a blessing that no one can take away—my love for God and my faith are always with me. Whenever I go home to Chhattisgarh, home State, and meet with my family, friends and relatives, they always tell me, “You are blessed.” When I hear this, I feel it is a blessing and an opportunity to continue to nurture every moment of my life and to be a witness of the living Gospel.

The Congregation has a beautiful charism, vision and mission. It is “to contemplate, live and proclaim God’s redeeming love.” One of the important elements is the family spirit and this is very significant to me because I feel a call to transform the family in today’s world. I want people to feel at home and comfortable with me. I hope that because of the relationship I form with them, they will come to know the living charism. In this way, I can witness the values of our way of life. By acts of love and being humble, I can transform the family today in very simple and unique ways.

One of the greatest challenges in consecrated life today is keeping things in focus this person and my relationship to him/her is what is significant. There are so many needs to pay attention to and to respond to that it can be overwhelming I remember an incident that happened in my family.

One summer, my father brought a man he met on the road to our house. The man was a stranger and was suffering from the heat. As soon as he entered our house, my father offered him a glass of water and my mother brought him food to eat. We found out that the man was on his way to a wedding and was robbed of all his belongings and had no way to continue his journey. My father helped him on a bus and for years after, the man remembered this act of kindness.

I think this story from my family which is the same as Jesus’ story of the good Samaritan, holds the key to answering one of the greatest challenges to consecrated life today, that is, to focus on people, to the person you are dealing with at the moment and to treat the person as my father and mother, as Jesus would.

(The writer, an Indian, is pursuing her Bachelor’s Degree in Religious Studies at Chaminade University of Honolulu, Hawaii, USA)