CHOSEN FOR CHRIST FROM A TEMPLE | KAIROS GLOBAL | FEBRUARY 2022

Author: Sr. Maria Jees SD

Intro: From a fervent Hindu devotee to an ardent Christian and a religious, Sr. Maria Jess SD writes about her journey to the Catholic Church. 

My Encounter with Christ

The God of our ancestors has chosen you to know his will, to see the Righteous One and to hear his own voice; for you will be his witness to all the world of what you have seen and heard. (Acts 22: 14-15)

I was born and brought up in a Hindu family. By the time I was 16, I began to search for God to love him and to serve him. I became an ardent devotee of Krishna (the Hindu god). This devotion was so strong that when I reached my twelfth standard, I had decided to become a Hindu religious. 

During my twelfth standard final examinations, I was placed in a Hindu-run hostel and would go to the temple every day. One evening, as I was praying in the temple I heard a voice, ‘Open your eyes’. The voice continued to ask me, ‘You are a human being, why do you worship this stone and serpent?’(It was kept there). At that very moment, I lost the Hindu faith without any effort or decision on my part. I left the temple with a firm decision never to go back again. When I reached the hostel, my roommate, a Christian, was doing her personal prayer. Just as I entered the room she handed me her Bible saying, ‘Regimol, there is a Word of God for you’. Without sharing anything about what I had just experienced, I took the Bible and read the verse which she showed me. It was: ‘Don’t keep your leg in two boats’. That Word touched me and I decided to keep my feet in Jesus’s boat. That moment itself I started to experience God’s presence and grace. My whole life changed, engulfed with enthusiasm and love. 

The Power of the Word of God 

When I returned back home I bought a Bible and started to read it. It was very difficult for me to understand at the beginning. Slowly I became so eager to read it and in it I discovered the meaning and purpose of life and experienced a transformation taking place in me. 

One day I had a dream where I was asked to fast the following day. So, the next day, I fasted from all food and drink. That evening, around 6pm in the evening, as I was in my room praying, someone came to the house. My mother had just gone out, so I went to see who it was. An old man was waiting for me with an empty vessel and he asked for food. As I filled his bowl, I tried talking to him but he just smiled and didn’t speak a word. He left the house just as my mother came home and I told her about the strange old man who had just walked past her. Mom said that she had not seen anybody. It shocked me and I realised that I fasted because of the dream and the person who came to accept my fasting was the Lord. Another event happened when I was at home. A man came from Tamil Nadu¹ and said he was sent from Vailankanni Church² by Mother Mary, who showed him my house. He said that Mother Mary had a message for me – that I would wear a white dress, would travel many places and would follow Christianity. At that time, what he said made no sense to me. 

While studying for my undergraduate course, another incident occurred. During a Bible convention, I asked Jesus in prayer, ‘Are you really a living God? If so, I want to see you now’. As I was praying, I saw a bright light come upon me and it went through my whole body. I really experienced the powerful love of God and fell down because I was unable to withstand that wonderful experience. From that moment onwards, I started to experience the living presence of Jesus in my life. He started to talk to me and transformed my life. As a student, I was not interested in studies but after meeting Jesus, I began to excel in all my examinations.

Jesus Youth and My Vocation to Religious life

When I started to live with Jesus I desperately felt the need for Christian fellowship. I began to go to church for Holy Mass. I joined Jesus Youth in college and it again changed my outlook about life. Prayer meetings gave me the thirst to live for the kingdom of God. I dedicated my life and time to that, because of which I faced many obstacles from family, relatives and friends. But through Jesus Youth, I was able to endure all my difficulties and grow in faith. After my graduation, I joined the Congregation of the Sisters of the Destitute. There I received baptism. Before my baptism I had a dream where I saw my old name and a new name. It was written in golden letters on the sky in an unknown language. I heard a voice telling me to turn and see. The new name was written under the picture of Mother Mary (Maria Jees). After this, I experienced many miracles and encounters with Jesus in my life. 

Why I accepted the Catholic Church

When I attended Holy Mass in the Catholic Church, I started to experience God’s presence, especially in the liturgy. When the Host was raised, I could truly experience the real presence of God in the Eucharist. I longed to receive him but it was not possible. So I would touch the garments of those who had received Jesus during communion. The lively participation of sacramental life, especially regular reception of sacrament of reconciliation is another factor which attracted me to the Catholic Church. Priests, religious, lay organisations like Jesus Youth gave me life giving expressions of faith in the Church.  The life, faith, love and unity among Catholics drew me towards the Catholic Church.  Though other Christian denominations also invited me to join them, it was the Eucharistic Lord to whom my heart belonged. Another important factor is the presence of Mother Mary in the Church. My life and vocation are closely related to the Mother of my Jesus. Many miraculous interventions came from her. My sister, who had been married for many years, was unable to conceive and bear children. Once, when I visited a shrine of Mother Mary, I heard a voice telling me that my sister would be blessed with children. I knelt down before the statue of Mother Mary and promised to bring them there if it happened. My sister was blessed with two children and they visited this church and gave their testimony (St. Mary’s Basilica, Bangalore³). 

What I like about Catholic Church

The universality and the compassionate approach towards the poor and destitute. I belong to the congregation of the Sisters of Destitute, where I was taught to see the face of Christ in the suffering humanity and I found it. The disciplined faith formation, the work of the Holy Spirit and the way the Church is open to challenges and crises show the living presence of Jesus in the Church. I see in her a mother who is patiently guiding and rearing her children in faith and a bride who is waiting and enduring to receive her bridegroom.  

Sr. Maria Jees SD belongs to the Congregation of the Destitute, Delhi province. Professed in 2000, she has been the social work coordinator of Simla Chandigarh diocese, preacher and counsellor in Divine Retreat Centre, Delhi and a formator in the province.