Totus Tuus - Your Mission in my Heart, Lord
-Sr. Claudia Mendes
-By Olavo D’Souza
It was a warm Sunday afternoon in the summer of May 1984. Children were winding up their last few holidays of fun and enjoyment before the onset of yet another school year. At the parish of St. Elizabeth’s Church in Ucassaim, Goa, a vocation seminar was conducted for the youth by Sr. Barbara Ferreao and Sr. Veronica Fernandez of St. Joseph of Chambery on their work in the missions. The young eager minds listened intently and among the participants gathered together was young Claudia, who was very inspired by the discussion. Something about the charisma of the speakers and her own desires struck a chord within her. She thanked God to have been led to this opportunity. As she listened, she felt a stirring in her heart, a discernment to a call from above. She did not fully comprehend at that point the implications of this stirring. This was a life changing moment. In her heart, she felt almost certain that this was a divine calling. Coupled with her great devotion to St. Joseph, she made the decision to join the convent even before she received her final SSC school result. Ucassaim already had several vocations to religious life, many of whom had joined the order of the ‘Sisters of St. Joseph’.
“ You did not choose me but I chose you.
And I appointed you to go and bear
fruit, fruit that will last. ( Jn 15:16 ) ”
Two months later, she visited the convent of the sisters to spend time in prayer, to listen to the voice of the Lord, to ascertain His will for her life. The answer was clear, she was to carry the Lord’s mission in her heart. Shortly after, on the 6th of June in that same year, Claudia joined the convent of St. Joseph of Chambery in Chembur, Mumbai to begin her journey in the extremely rewarding and often challenging work in the missions. Perhaps, the seeds of a religious life had already been sown much earlier in her life.
Claudia is the fifth child of seven siblings. Her parents Luis and Emiliana Mendes were God-fearing and very devout Catholics. The early inspiration surely came directly from their faith-filled upbringing which helped her to grow in love for God and neighbour. Instruction in the faith, nurtured through the personal example of her parents, catechism, Legion of Mary ministry at the Parish and a special devotion to St. Joseph and Our Lady of Perpetual Succor at home were the seeds of her religious vocation. For Claudia, the presence of the chapel dedicated to St. Anthony in her ward has been a source of inspiration. The catholic education she received under the guidance of the Holy Cross Sisters who ran a school in Bastora, where she studied also prepared her heart to eagerly receive and accept God’s direction for her religious life.
“ Do not fear, for I have redeemed you;
I have called you by name,
you are mine. ( Is 43:1 ) ”
Asked if this was a difficult decision for her family to allow her to pursue this special calling, she replied candidly, “My parents initially wanted me to complete my studies and see the world around and then make my decision to join religious life…but I was focused and drawn to the divine calling right from my childhood and thus expressed my desire to them in my early teens to be a nun. I was also inspired and motivated by Fr. Moreno de Souza, SJ – who was then in charge of ‘Dor Mhoineache Roti’. Fr. De Souza was our family friend and the Godfather of my sister Agatha. His visits to our family fostered a religious fervor. He often brought us books on the lives of saints and encouraged us to read them.”
Spiritual Formation and Final Vows
Her formation period as an Aspirant gave Claudia the opportunity to grow deeper in her faith and spirituality. Alongside her spiritual formation, she also focused on her academics by completing Higher secondary from SFS college, Nagpur. She completed her Postulancy and Novitate and thereafter took her first her vows in Pachmarhi, M.P on 28th June 1989. As a Junior Sister, she did her graduation from Nagpur University, B.Ed. from St. Teresa’s, Santa Cruz, Mumbai and her Master’s degree from Jabalpur University.
On 27th June 1993, the much-anticipated moment in her life arrived. Claudia took her final vows at St. Elizabeth Church, Ucassaim in the presence of his grace then Archbishop Raul Gonsalves. She could not contain her tremendous joy and excitement.
Mission Work
Sr. Claudia’s mission work has taken her to several places covering the length and breadth of the country, working with people of diverse backgrounds and social classes. She embraces diversity and has served in both rural and urban places in her missionary work. Her area of focus is education. As an educator, she has served in different capacities as – Teacher, Pioneer, Community Animator, and Principal and Manager of schools in different parts of India:
• Morjim and Siolim – Goa
• Chembur – Mumbai
• Bhopal – M.P
• Jabalpur – M.P
• Jhansi – U.P
• Nagpur – M.S.
Her immense gifts and talents as an evangelist, educator and her leadership skills gave her the opportunity to take on several management roles:
• Delegate to the ‘General Chapter’, Rome, Italy
• Provincial Councillor
• Principal – St. Joseph’s Convent, Senior Secondary School, Ranjhi, Jabalpur, M.P.
• Currently – Principal of St. Joseph’s Convent High School, Kamptee, Nagpur (M.S) from 2010. This is the first school in India founded by the sisters of St. Joseph of Chambery in 1854. It is a co-ed, English and Hindi Medium School.
Life of Service
What does it mean to be of service? For Sr. Claudia, its about working to bring about change at the grassroot level; “It gives me great joy to serve the students in this school who hail from both middle class and very poor and under-privileged sections of society. It gives me an immense sense of fulfillment as I reach out to the marginalized of the society where I experience God in a concrete way. Love for my God and Congregation is my priority”. On June 29th, 2014, Sr. Claudia celebrated 25 years of religious life.
How does Sr. Claudia deal with difficult challenges? “I firmly believe in the power of prayer and the conviction that “God Alone Matters” and this has strengthened me to face all the challenges of life with creative fidelity and joy and thus to be a transformative presence by being a woman of the Gospel”. Sr. Claudia’s outlook on her life and mission can be summed up in her favourite bible Hymn: “As a deer longs for flowing streams, so my soul longs for you, my God”.
“Love to be unknown and considered as nothing”
-Maxim by Fr. John Peter Medaille, Founder of Sisters of St. Joseph
25 Years of The Yahweh’s CovenanTal love
- Poem by sr. Claudia Mendes
How swiftly the years have sped by!
Was it only yesterday?
Filled with great love of Jesus,
A heart full
Of youthful dreams,
That I said my “Yes,” like Mary
To Him who called me to His service?
25 years 1989 – 2014
What does that pregnant dash enclose,
Of the ‘in-between’ years of my life?
Grace upon grace,
Deep God-encounters,
Millions of trusting prayers,
Myriad incidents of sunshine and rain.
All jewel-colours of the vicissitudes of life
The pattern, the meaning and the dream of my life
Has been beautifully
Interwoven into a splendid tapestry of my Mission and Ministry.
The Master Craftsman has been skillfully weaving,
The threads of my life,
all these years,
into something beautiful for God.
And so today,
With my Beloved Mother, siblings, Sisters of the Congregation, relatives and friends
I say:
“God of my life,
Thank you”
For every moment
Of these 25 years.
And once again,
I offer you my ‘Fiat’
To whatever will be,
As I walk on,
At this age and stage,
To the beat of a different Drummer.
The romance with Lord continues from youth into midlife.
As I sing my psalm of praise
“ All through the years You have been at my side O Lord”
“ All through the years You have been my Guide O Lord”
“ Shield me in Your Love”
Totus Tuus …Totally Yours O’ Lord!
Sisters of St. Joseph of Chambery, le Puy, France,
Nagpur Province