"For I know the plans I have for you... plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future” (Jeremiah 29:11).

Angela’s reception into the Novitiate on July 1, 2023, marked a further step in her continued discernment with the Dominican Sisters of Mission San Jose. In her Canonical Novitiate Year, Angela will join other Novices at the Collaborative Dominican Novitiate in Chicago, IL.

Angela was born in Saigon, Southern Vietnam, as her parents’ oldest and only daughter. Baptized when she was one month old, Angela grew up in a cradle Catholic family, loved and supported by her parents and younger brother. The seed of faith was sown first in the family; and, later on, was cultivated as Angela’s parents sent her to attend the Vietnamese Eucharistic Youth Movement at Our Lady of Perpetual Help Parish. It was in this little church amid the hustle and bustle of Saigon City that she encountered a vibrant faith community. Learning about religious life through a fashion show at the parish, on a Good Shepherd Sunday, was quite a unique experience for Angela. A little spark of interest and curiosity stirred up within the heart of a nine-year-old girl at the time, when she was asked to model as a religious sister for that fashion show.

“That fashion show gave me such enthusiasm in becoming a sister,” Angela said, “but at some point in my teenage years, it faded.” Yet God's call to religious life is a question of grace. Little did Angela know, seven years later, she would leave her home country, set foot in the U.S., and begin an exciting journey as a college student. She attended Green River College in Auburn, WA. Her family later immigrated to support her and her younger brother. “They knew we would receive better education in the U.S.,” said Angela.

Two years after Angela’s arrival in the States, at the age of eighteen, God’s call to religious life resurfaced within her.

“I was afraid to respond to that nudging question of considering religious life. I was young and clueless. I did not feel ready to alter the life I was living.”

Angela waited a year. Then curiosity got the best of her. So she went online and did a VISION Vocation Match quiz, a resource from the National Religious Vocation Conference (NRVC). The Dominican Order appeared on the top page of her results. She soon learned there were different Dominican Congregations across the U.S., and decided to start with the one closest to her family.

“The Dominican Sisters of Mission San Jose in California,” Angela shared, “just a two hour flight away from my family in WA. A big post on their homepage immediately caught my attention, ‘Come and see’ Discernment Retreat – August 2019. I guess I would start from there, so I signed up.

”God’s plan for one to be happy remains a mystery, yet when looking back, Providence is at work at every step along the journey. That Discernment Retreat was an eye-opening experience for Angela. Touched by the meaningful relationships between the sisters and a profound sense of peace during prayer, she proceeded to start her discernment journey with the Dominican Sisters of Mission San Jose.

“I felt loved deeply by God... I felt called... and, for the first time, I felt peaceful sitting with it. That call was not so much spoken to my ears, rather it tugged on my heart. And that was enough for me to take the next step into discernment.

Angela spent two years in discernment with her Vocation Director, Sister Mary Yun. In September 2021, she moved into one of the communities, Immaculate Conception Priory, in San Francisco as a pre-candidate. She participated as much as she could in prayer and community life with the sisters, while working full-time as a Certified Nurse Assistant.

“I felt worried at first. I was so inexperienced, even in how to process my transition. And God said, "You’ll learn."

The community’s diversity challenged yet, at the same time, enriched Angela’s experiences, both in prayer and intentional community living. A year later, on July 9, 2022, Angela was welcomed into Candidacy. She then moved to Southern California and lived with ten sisters in her Welcoming Community, Flintridge Sacred Heart Priory. Angela felt at home and inspired by her Sisters' influence and passion for their missions. She stayed at Flintridge for a year before being received into the Novitiate in Chicago, IL on July 1, 2023.

“I was blessed to have my Reception during our Assembly, when almost all of my sisters were present. It’s a powerful reminder for me that I’m not doing this alone. I have so much support from those who have chosen the life I’m choosing and have thrived. Living with them and getting to hear their stories, it’s so clear... that grace was present among them. And, at Evening Prayer, each of them marked that beautiful expression of grace on me with the Sign of the Cross."

Angela’s journey to the Collaborative Dominican Novitiate in Chicago, IL, is focused on deepening her relationship with God and with others in the Dominican Family. The four Dominican pillars of prayer, community life, study, and ministry will continue to be lived out as Angela and her companions go deeper together in answering God’s call.

“I am discerning a path that is woven in constant changes,” Angela said, “And as much a planner as I have been, I’m now learning to be open...to be okay with not knowing too far ahead in the future, and trust that I can put my life in God’s hands.”