Sr Mina Fetu'u

Today is vocation Sunday. I have been asked to speak about my vocation. Why did I become a Sister of Compassion? Why did I stay?

I grew up in a good Catholic family. I was educated by the SMSM Sisters. In the area where I lived we were surrounded by priests and sisters.

I believe that my vocation, my own call to Religious life, began at home through my own family through their prayer and example. My mother had a great devotion to the Sacred Heart, Our Lady and the Rosary. My mother walked to the church at 4 am every morning to say the rosary with her friends.

My desire to enter Religious Life began when I was 18 years old, but because I enjoyed life so much and enjoyed my freedom so much, I tried to put that desire aside. At the time, I thought I would be locked away in the convent and I would miss all my fun life. Two years later I felt my call to Religious Life become stronger and stronger. It was time for me to do something about it, so I went to see my Parish Priest. He gave me the names of different Congregations but I was not interested in any of them. He did not mention the Sisters of Compassion.

Why did I become a Sister of Compassion?

About five or six months later I met Gemma. She was our first Tongan Sister of Compassion. She came to Tonga for a holiday before she entered the convent. She told me about the Sisters of Compassion and their work of looking after little babies. When she mentioned little babies my eyes lit up. I said That's me. I thought looking after little babies would be light and easy. The reason why I said that was because I had five brothers between me and my eldest sister. My sister married when I was six years old; not only that but I was the delicate one so my family spoiled me. Sometimes they over-protected me. When my brother saw me studying at night, he would tell me to go to bed, otherwise I would be sick.

After I had talked to Gemma I started to talk to other priests and Sisters who had taught me at Sr Mina school. I visited our Church daily. One day I was kneeling in the Church when a little voice came to me to go and see the bishop. So I said: Right, I'll go and see the Bishop. If he is at home that means God wants me to be a Sister of Compassion. If he is not home I will give up and go home and forget all about it. I did not make an appointment, I just arrived at his front door and rang the bell. One of his boys came out and told me off. The Bishop is having a rest. You have come at the wrong time. While we were arguing, the bishop - Bishop Rodgers - appeared at the door and invited me in.

I had discovered God in that little voice whispering within my heart. God had called me to the Sisters of Compassion in a mysterious way. At home I was never interested in looking after little babies, yet I was attracted to the Sisters of Compassion through little babies.

When I entered the convent I understood the huge challenges ahead of me with the weather, the food, the language, the work and many other things being so different. I shall never forget the day I entered the convent. I felt some kind of happiness within me that I had never experienced before. I was overjoyed to be in the convent.

The hardest thing for me was getting up early and trying to keep up with the time. I never liked rushing. Before my Profession I remember going to see my Novice Mistress to tell her I was going home. She talked to me about temptations and how the devil worked in my life at this time of preparation for Profession. She gave me five days to think about my vocation. I visited our Mother Foundress' grave and prayed to know God's will. After four days I came back and said I was not going home. At another time when my father heard that I had had an operation he wrote to me and told me to come home as I was not the only one who could do this kind of work. There were lots of young girls in the world who could do it. If I wanted to pray, I could pray at home. My health was important to them.

I wrote to Bishop Finau and asked him to go and see my parents and tell them to leave me alone. I am happy here. This is my vocation. After he saw my parents he wrote and said: Don't be too hard on your parents but thank God you have parents who love and care for you. You are right about your vocation.

I have had my ups and downs but there have been lots of joys and happy days in my Religious Life. I had Tongan girls with me in the Novitiate who knew me, understood me and were a great support to me.

Why did I stay? Without God, I can do nothing. God reveals his love for me through my family, through my Sisters in Religion, through the people I journey with and the people I care for in the hospital and nursing home. God also reveals his love for me through you, the Maori people, by the way you love me and accept me as I am and who I am; and through you Father, who are a great help to me in so many ways in my work.

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