Sister María José Chungandro is a nun of the Daughters of the Holy Family congregation, founded in Colombia. She was born in Santo Domingo, Colombia, on August 31, 1986, and is currently in Rome, where she has just completed her Bachelor’s degree in Theology thanks to the support of the partners, benefactors, and friends of the  CARF Foundation .

He tells us his story

I was born into a simple environment and grew up  with my family , amidst everyday gestures and the affection of my parents and sisters, God began to educate me in the faith.

From a very young age, without fully understanding it, the Lord was preparing my heart for a path of dedication that I would only recognize as a religious vocation over time.

A Catholic home where one can learn the faith

I grew up as the youngest of three sisters in a traditionally Catholic home. I remember my mother with special affection; she worked hard to instill faith in us through the  Holy Rosary  and Sunday Mass. During my childhood and adolescence, I was quite reluctant to engage with these topics; I dedicated myself entirely to my studies, as my parents insisted that the best family inheritance was education. However, at the age of 15, a spiritual retreat marked a turning point in my life.

Humanly speaking, that gathering wasn’t meant for me: some acquaintances had canceled their participation, and, moved by an inner impulse, I asked to take their place without knowing what it was about. I had never heard of these prayer retreats, and yet the idea of ​​dedicating those days solely to God filled me with an inexplicable joy. Later, my  family  had the same experience, and it led us to embrace our faith with a new and authentic coherence.

A conversion that changes the plans

When the Lord touches the heart, He also transforms the way we look at the future, our plans, and the meaning of our own lives.

My conversion began just before I finished high school. This allowed me to envision the future from a different perspective, seeking a profession that would help me serve the Lord and help others. With this purpose in mind, I moved to the capital to begin my university studies. At first, the adjustment was difficult; in a state institution, the religious atmosphere was almost nonexistent.

Even so, the Virgin Mary granted me the grace of finding friends who encouraged me to persevere in my faith. And yet, amidst good company and academic achievements, I couldn’t find true peace; I felt a constant desire to dedicate myself to something deeper, and my interest in my studies took a back seat.

Encounter with Jesus in the Eucharist

It was before Jesus in the Blessed Sacrament, in the stillness of adoration, that I began to hear more clearly what He wanted from me.

Near the university, I discovered a church with daily exposition of the Blessed Sacrament, and I used every free hour to go and pray. At home, my older sister ignited in me the desire to seek the Lord, inviting me at night—often quite late—to the chapels of perpetual adoration. We took turns keeping vigil at night, and in that silence, He began to pose the most decisive questions of my life.

In silence before the Sacred Host, man’s small love is gradually confronted by His, which is infinite, and then he understands that nothing is enough… and everything is superfluous. His Eucharistic love is beyond human logic, as Saint John of Ávila exclaimed: “And so great is your desire to see me and embrace me that, being in heaven with those who know so well how to serve and love you, you come to this one who knows so well how to offend you and so poorly how to serve you. Oh, be blessed, for, being who you are, you have placed your love in one like me!”

Learning to live hand in hand with Mary

Mary appeared on my path as a close Mother, teaching me to trust, to abandon my fears and to let myself be led towards her Son.

Also fundamental in my life was reading St. Louis Marie Grignion de Montfort’s *True Devotion to Mary*. This journey led me to a deeper understanding of the Blessed Virgin Mary and to the total surrender of my life into her hands. Discovering the path of union with Mary was a very special grace from God: understanding that you have a Mother who loves you so much that she suffers unspeakably at the foot of the cross to win you back to God… Inspired by this, we collaborated in a youth group to spread the love of Jesus and Mary, encouraging one another in community prayer.

A vocation that also flourishes in the family

God even used   my sister’s religious vocation to show me, little by little, the place to which He was calling me.

One day, my sister confided in me that a religious vocation was growing in her heart and that she would be going to Colombia as a missionary to solidify her decision. At that time, I didn’t consider this possibility at all; on the contrary, I wanted to get married and start a family.

However, God arranged everything to place before my eyes what I would have taken much longer to find on my own. Having her away wasn’t easy, and communication was scarce due to her many activities, but the Lord used that absence to surround me with other holy souls who drew me much closer to Him.

A religious family: the Daughters of the Holy Family

Upon getting to know the community closely, I perceived in them a joy and charity that made me sense that my place could also be there.

After six months, she returned. In Barranquilla, she had met the Daughters of the Holy Family, and the Lord had confirmed to her that this was her place. She publicly announced her decision to consecrate herself to God and shared with us her last month at home. This time, the natural nostalgia of saying goodbye was transformed into the consolation of knowing that she was where God wanted her.

A journey that becomes a call

What seemed like a simple trip to accompany my sister became, for me, a key moment of discernment and light.

Several months passed, and one day my sister called to invite us to her religious observance in Colombia. We were overjoyed and decided to travel to be with her on such a special day. At that time, I was doing my university internship during the holidays, so I worked double shifts to free up a whole week before returning to my fourth year of studies.

I traveled a few days before my parents to spend more time with my sister, and those days were mainly used to get to know the community… It felt like discovering heaven on earth. I saw among them an exquisite fraternal charity and, on the other hand, the Blessed Sacrament exposed twenty-four hours a day, guarded with immense love by the nuns themselves; all of it stemmed from the conviction of having been called to “be Marys on earth.”

I felt I had found what I had longed for for years, even without understanding it. I was very afraid, but I asked God for only one thing: certainty, nothing more, and I was willing to leave behind everything I had built in my life.

Discernment by putting God at the center

When I stopped asking myself only about my desires and started asking myself where I would best serve God, everything became clearer.

It was then that a very wise nun taught me that, in discerning a religious vocation, the most important person is God, who deserves to be loved and served above all things. My question became simple: “Where could I best serve God? Where could I become more holy and contribute more to the holiness of the Church?” At that moment, a clear light pierced my soul, making me understand, without a shadow of a doubt, His holy will.

I immediately went to the chapel to thank Jesus: “Oh, be blessed, for, being who you are, you have placed your love in one like me!” The next day I had a flight back to Ecuador with my parents, but I had to tell them that I had decided to stay to follow God’s call; although at first they were bewildered, they offered me their full support, undoubtedly assisted by a special grace from God, as they themselves later confirmed.

God is never outdone in generosity

What I left behind to follow God’s call, He transformed into new opportunities for service and training.

It is true that upon entering high school, I suspended my university studies, but God, who is never outdone in generosity, granted me the grace to dedicate myself to the study of sacred sciences within the community. Some years ago, another undeserved grace arrived: the beginning of my studies in Rome, first in Religious Sciences and then in Theology, at the Pontifical University of the Holy Cross. It has been an immense joy and the fulfillment of a dream of our Foundress and of our entire Religious Family, as I am the first of our sisters to begin and complete theological studies.

To train to better serve the Church

Theological training is not just a degree, but a concrete way of loving the Church and the souls that God entrusts to us more.

I consider it both a grace and a duty  to place ourselves at the service of the Church with a solid formation , so as to enlighten with pure truth the many souls in this world who thirst for God. And, first and foremost, for ourselves: theological formation is indispensable for those whose task is perfection in charity, for virtue, if not studied, is not known; if not known, is not desired; and if not desired, is not sought. How does a religious who neither sanctifies themselves nor others serve the Church?

A plea to Mary for the CARF Foundation

In the end, I can only place my vocation, my formation, and those who so generously make it possible in the hands of the Virgin.

I pray to Mary, Seat of Wisdom, that she may awaken in religious life a renewed love for Truth itself, which is her Son, and I entrust to her powerful intercession the intentions and needs of all the benefactors, partners and friends of the CARF Foundation, who make possible the formation of so many priests and religious, thus offering a most noble service to the Church.