Vocation Stories

Seized by God-Turns and Twists on My Vocation Journey

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From One Home to Another
I am blessed to be born in a love-filled and faith-filled Catholic family. As a child, I was taken up by the fact that God has blessed me with a loving family, intelligence and many other talents. I was always one of the toppers in my school and college. This awareness of blessings in abundance generated in me a desire to do something good for the people and society. I was also disturbed by the shocking disparities between the rich and the poor.
The Religious of the Assumption came to India after the Second Vatican Council and had taken seriously the radical option for the poor. They opted for a non-institutionalized simple way of life to serve the poor. In Calicut, Kerala, the Sisters were working among the traditional fisher folk and fighting for their rights. My parish priest introduced those sisters to me, and I went and stayed with them. I fell in love with the Assumption Sisters! I was taken up by their struggle for justice, involvement in human rights, and their simple, joyful hospitality. They had a special charm and humanness which I had not seen anywhere else.

Theology and Biblical Studies
I came into the field of theology and scripture through an intervention of God—a sickness—which changed the course of my life. After my philosophy studies, I was sent to a village community for a community experience. It was the ideal community for me as I had joined religious life to serve the poor. I learnt Marathi, and went there and lived there for six months. Then I got sick (developed some problem with my heart) and had to be brought back to the provincial house in Pune. While on treatment, I was asked to join the theology program at the Pontifical Athenaeum, which is very close to our provincial house. It was a moment of confusion and fight with oneself and God – to understand God’s plan for me. Why did God take away from me what I loved the most in religious life? My grandfather consoled me, saying: “God has better plans for you. So, be open, and just abide by God’s plans; you will see miracles in your life.” And it really happened; I saw many miracles in my life just because I remained open to say YES to God.
The selection to be a faculty member of the Pontifical seminary happened when I was a junior sister. I was just twenty-five years old and was doing my second year of B.Th. at Jnana Deepa Vidyapeeth (JDV, Pune). The then Dean of the Faculty of Theology asked my Provincial Superior whether the congregation could spare me to join the staff of JDV in the Scripture Department. My provincial told me that the provincial council would say YES to JDV, if I thought it was my mission. As was the custom in JDV, before they could send me for higher studies, I had to teach a B.Th. course in the presence of one of the professors. I was very young and most of the students were older than me. I had no degrees except my B.Ph. and B.Th. Most of the students in my class had higher secular degrees. In my first batch, there were 163 students (but only 4 women). Moreover, there was NO other woman on the staff as full-time faculty member. So I was a bit nervous. Once again, my grandfather’s wisdom threw light on my path. He said, “My child, interpreting and teaching God’s word is God’s mission, and if it is God’s choice that you teach in this pontifical institution, then there is nothing to be afraid of. God will take care of you.” I said, yes, believing that it was God’s plan for me.
In general, I have received a lot of appreciation and encouragement from people from all walks of life. I have also sometimes experienced a kind of resistance to accept a woman as a theologian or a biblical scholar, and this from both men and women. But they are only a few individuals in every group. In some cases, I could win them over through open dialogue, but at other times, I accepted the fact that some have difficulty in accepting women as theologians. I am basically an optimistic person who considers everything (even the most painful experience) as something positive for my growth and well-being. Hence “what others think of me” did not affect me much. I wanted to give my best and make a unique contribution in the church and society.

Religious life
I am a very happy woman religious. Joy is the identity mark of my vocation to be a religious. I consider religious life the best gift that God has given me. In fact, I have had a blessed life, full of pleasant surprises. My congregation has offered me everything I needed to discover my true identity and mission on earth. I am immensely grateful to the Assumption sisters in general and my Superior Generals and Provincials in particular. I love my sisters, and they in turn love me and support my mission – publications, traveling all over the world for conferences, teaching assignments and other community-building biblical sessions.
I have also had some painful experiences of jealousies and criticisms, which always challenged me to reread my life, and to become more compassionate towards those who criticized me, as well as to remain more committed to my mission. At times, I had to face some difficulties because of some rigid rules and traditions of the congregation. But by God’s grace, I could make use of these difficulties as opportunities for growth. When I think of these painful and difficult experiences, I have now realized that I was badly in need of them for my growth. I am grateful that God did not listen to my prayers very often. In fact, what God had in store for me has always been much better than my own personal choices for my life.

Good Friends
My life has been enhanced by many good friends inside as well as outside the congregation, young and old, women and men. What I enjoyed most is the freedom to be myself, with my values and convictions. I believe that inequality and domination are foreign to any authentic friendships, and I felt that I was an equal partner in these relationships. We sometimes agreed to disagree on some issues, but grew together in love. My sisters and friends have loved me, challenged me and helped me to become what I am today, and I am deeply grateful to them.

Being a Major Superior
My appointment to be a Major Superior came when I had many academic dreams, just after I had been promoted to the rank of Professor of Sacred Theology by the Congregation for Catholic Education, Rome. It was yet another unexpected turn in my vocation journey. I owe much to Jnana-Deepa Vidyapeeth, the Pontifical Biblical institute and the Catholic University of America. My experiences as both a student and then a faculty member enriched my life, helped me to discover my mission as a biblical theologian and an animator, and prepared me for the same.
After having been the Provincial Superior of the Province of India for the last five years, what gives me immense joy is seeing my Sisters living happily in the community and doing well in their mission. I tried to put into practice the friendship model of leadership highlighted in the Gospel of John. I tried animating the province as a community of friends. I enjoyed giving freedom to the Sisters to discern and decide, and it brought out much creativity and commitment in them. Sometimes I failed to understand them, and at other times they disappointed me by using their freedom without subsidiarity. But it is really worth having this atmosphere of freedom and trust, which implies forgiveness and reconciliation on a regular basis. Even though I had to face many challenges, the animation of the province, in general, has been a wonderful experience of giving life to, and receiving life from, the Sisters for the mission. One of the main challenges of religious life today is to be a discerning person: to discern what is true, good and life-giving in this fast-changing world. We, religious, are challenged to leave the comfort zones of life in search of God’s people and God’s mission


– Sr Rekha Chennattu is the provincial superior of the Religious of the Assumption in India, and Professor of New Testament at Jnana-Deepa Vidyapeeth, Pune. She is the author of a number of books and articles, and addresses church groups and university faculty and students in various countries.

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