Hello! My name is Thuy Tran. The unexpected in life happened to my grandparents, parents, and four siblings: they had to leave their beloved country of Vietnam in 1975 and settled in the United States. I was born in Orange, CA, a year after they had arrived here. As I was growing up, I remembered my grandparents and parents being very devoted to their faith and being deeply religious. Their faith was all that they had to cling onto as they tried their best to adapt to a new country.
I grew up surrounded by only the Vietnamese community and at 16 years old, I was introduced to the Vietnamese CLC (Christian Life Community) movement, a group of lay people inspired by Ignatian Spirituality, at a retreat. This was the turning point in my faith journey and spirituality, because I realized Jesus was closer to me than I had thought. I was raised in the Vietnamese culture that believed God was beyond reach, reciting prayers was the way to pray, and punishment came from God when one did something wrong. At this retreat, I realized God was a very intimate and loving God, so afterwards I became active in the CLC movement until now. As I was involved in the movement, I met Jesuit priests who became my mentors. Friends that were a part of this movement were facing identity issues just as I was. We were all struggling with the American culture versus our parents’ Vietnamese culture. The past few years, as I was working as a Youth Minister, which gave me the opportunity to work with the youth and young adults that are facing the same culture challenges and struggles as I had been. Because of these struggles and my learning of the Ignatian way, I was able to share the journey as well as my faith with them. These experiences have helped me to value my roots, embrace the American culture and love God all together in the life that God gave me.
To go back to the roots with my grandparents and parents, the Sisters of St. Joseph of Orange had sponsored my family and from there they had built a relationship with one another for over 30 years. I had been searching for a community grounded in Ignatian spirituality as I was going through my discernment process. I thought it was neat that the two American sisters, Sister Rosemarie and Sister Caritas, visited our family and they didn’t wear a habit. I started searching communities that were Ignatian without the habit and after a few years of searching, I found out that the Sisters of St. Joseph were founded by a Jesuit.
As I reflect on significant turning points, events, relationships, spirituality, and development, God desires something more of me, and it was the spark in my heart that was longing for God. What causes me to say “Yes”? I realized only with graces that I have been able to respond to this "yes". I had resisted for a long time, so I figure God knows something and probably knows what’s best. I have been so blessed along the way with those that had initiated the way of life for me.
Here I am in the Federation Novitiate as a first year novice and I am very hopeful because there are people my generation that are still responding to God as I have.
