" You are going to be a Sister, Michiko ?" " Yes, I will !" ( My mother had converted to Catholic from Protestant not long ago). This conversation with my Sunday school teacher, when I was 10 years old, stayed very clearly within me.
Come to think of it, God had prepared my way little by little, but I was only absorbed in painting which I liked and did not often go to church, at the age of high school and junior high. I went even less, when I was told to go to church.
I was the only girl among my 8 brothers. Only my parents, one younger brother and I had been baptized. All my brothers chose their own way, and despite some opposition I took it naturally, and there was this kind of atmosphere in the family too.
When
I was in the second grade of high school, I was asked " For you what does Christianity
mean ?" As I was the only Catholic in my class, I managed somehow to get out of
the situation. However, "Who is Christ ?" was the question which remained in my
heart.
But I could not find an answer which was convincing enough for myself. Ever
since then, God showed Himself to me little by little.
Becoming an adult, I was thinking about the religious life. However, the thought, " me ?....a nun ?" always stopped me, and I was looking for something else to which I could offer myself.
It was around that time that a Sister from the congregation "S" came to the church. She had been a little aggressive about a vocation, which made me hesitate. While I was waiting for an answer to my letter written to her, I met a Sister of the Daughters of St. Paul.
"Vocation
is between you and God. We can only help you in prayers." The way to the congregation
of Daughters of St. Paul was opened to me, by those sincere words. There were
days when I prayed " I don't have to do it well. Please give me your holy grace
when necessary".
After all, I never got any reply from the Congregation "S", and
I remember with gratitude the wonderful way God is working.