Footprints in the Snow
 

It was because of an unquenchable thirst in my soul! It was because of the God-shaped hole in my heart! It was because of a promise I made at the age of four! It was because of the footprints in the snow! There are many reasons for my becoming a religious sister, but I believe that my vocation was mainly because the Divine Lover called, drew and chose ME!

My vocation came gradually through a series of calls from God. As a kid, I spent many childhood years happily visiting and learning at a convent near my house in Biên Hòa, Vietnam. So it was not surprising that God made his first call through my favorite religious sister. Her direct question, “Do you want to become a nun?” received my instinctive response “Yes!” I did not know that my “yes” at the time will put me on the Divine Lover’s special calling list. All I knew was that I was very happy whenever I visited the sisters. My Junior High and High School years in the U.S. were marked with God’s patient calls. Sometimes His voice came via Sister Winifred's invitation to visit her convent in rural Philadelphia. At other times His invitation came as a funny comment from an old lady at Church and often as jests from my family and best friend. However, my college years became quite a struggle as I compromised my faith, skipped Mass quite frequently, and fell away from the faith. This brought about an unquenchable and aching interior emptiness. To me, God became a stranger. But the Divine Lover was definitely very smart to have left a God-shaped hole in my heart. I kept on yearning for him yet I did not know how to fill this hole. Nevertheless, He was waiting for the right time to catch me!

I remembered waking up one snowy Sunday morning, during my third year of college, with a burning desire to come to the Lord, to go to Mass. The walk to St. Bridget’s from school was with much difficulty because of the thick blankets of snow. I prayed out of hopelessness. God answered instantly by sending two angels in disguise, who gave me a ride to church. As I attended Mass that morning I felt alive again. It had been a long time since I felt that deep joy and fervent love for God. Having been energized by the Eucharistic Lord, I decided to take a shortcut up the snowy hill back to school. Yet the slippery snow made my trek most difficult. I almost gave up but those big footprints on the snow gave me encouragement and hope. Someone had made it up the hill before me! Now I only have to follow suit by walking on those footprints. As I stepped on them the thought of our Lord treading the earthly path up to Calvary came to my mind most vividly. Yes, like the footprints on the snow, Christ has left a series of footprints for me to follow to reach my ultimate destination, Heaven, home sweet home!

Shortly after graduation, I responded to an invite from my best friend to go for a week of Come and See at Mary Immaculate Province, home of the Vietnamese Dominican Sisters. With my parents’ blessings and family’s support, I joined the Dominican Sisters a month afterward. I could say that my heart’s longing was fulfilled as I walked on Christ’s footprints daily for the past nine years in the convent. Now as I wait for the day of my final profession, I often sing joyfully like the bride in the Song of Songs, “I found him whom my soul loves. I held him and would not let him go” (3:4).

 
Sr. Theresa Joseph Loan-Anh Nguyễn, OP is a professed religious since 2012.