Surrendering Anew My ‘Yes’ to Jesus

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This year in the midst of uncertainty in the world, I celebrate 25 years in religious life. My heart is overwhelmed with gratitude and joy for the gift of the grace of my vocation. In Our Lord’s faithful love, He chose me to be His own and sustained and strengthened me through these years as He called me to my Community of the Dominicans Sisters of Hawthorne in loving service of the cancerous poor.

I am blessed to live out this vocation with my Sisters with whom I share the same Divine calling to love and be loved. Our religious life flows from the love of Jesus on the Cross and we become one in Him in His Eucharistic love, the source and summit of our life.  As Dominicans, we seek the face of Jesus in contemplation and share the fruits with others as a witness of His love, especially with those whom we serve.

Our foundress, Mother Mary Alphonsa, calls us to be at the foot of the Cross with Mary as we share the cross of “Christ’s poor” with our patients who carry the cross of incurable cancer. During this pandemic, we have been called to truly become their family, especially when their families are unable to see them as often. As we care for them and make them comfortable and happy, we pray for them and spend our lives showing them God’s infinite love and mercy.

During the jubilee Mass with my sisters, when I renewed my profession of vows, I surrendered anew my “yes” to Jesus with joy and faith in His merciful love. I offered myself to His loving will for me and to remain in His love. Our Lord has always been there for me and with me. With His grace, I pray that I may be faithful to the end for His praise and glory. As Father says in his homily, “Jesus has chosen you to be His bride, so closely united to Him that He promises ‘whatever you ask the Father in my name He will give you.’…And the deeper your love for God grows, the easier it becomes to place full confidence in His will for you, for your Community, for the Church and for the world.”

Sister Alma Marie Borja, O.P., is marking her 25th anniversary with the Dominican Sisters of Hawthorne.