I want to love and serve you

Prayer was key in asking what God really wanted

by Sister Helga Leija, C.V.I.

The idea of joining a religious congregation was something I found appealing, yet I never discussed it. During college I met a Sister of Divine Providence who impressed me with her spirit and the radical way she lived the gospel. I couldn’t help but admire her, although I never thought God would call me. God only called people who had it all together.

I was born on the U.S. side of the U.S.-Mexico border. I grew up in Mexico and attended high school and college in the U.S. One day, as I prayed in the school’s little chapel, I just knew it. I wanted to belong completely to God just like the Sister I had met. Secretly I started searching for information about religious life. Several months later I told a priest I wanted to be a Sister and asked him what I needed.

“A vocation,” he said. At the time I was sure I did not have a vocation, but I prayed for one. I pleaded with God, “I want to love you and serve you. If you give me a vocation, I will be yours forever.”

Two years passed and I continued to pray and discern, asking God what he really wanted for me. I met with my spiritual director, made retreats, taught and directed the choir in my parish. Eventually, I met the Sisters of the Incarnate Word and Blessed Sacrament of Corpus Christi, Texas at their Language Institute in Brownsville, Texas, where I studied Italian.

A nun welcomed me wearing a white and red habit. I guess she noticed the look of shock on my face and asked if I had ever thought about becoming a Sister. I think I nodded nervously, and several minutes later another Sister arrived. She invited me to their convent and to a retreat the very next day. I continued visiting them, and more and more I felt at home.

After four years, I entered the postulancy of the Sisters of the Incarnate Word. Their mission is to worship Jesus, the Incarnate Word, and to make Jesus visible in the world.

I am an apostolic novice, and next year I will be a canonical novice. I look forward to making my first vows in 2008.