SAN ANTONIO • “Once God calls, he won’t leave you alone,” said Sister Vicky Carmona, CCVI. On March 25, the Feast of the Annunciation, Sister Vicky, at the age of 44, professed her vows as a Sister of Charity of the Incarnate Word.

    Born in San Luís Potosí, México, she grew up in Texas, living in Amarillo before moving here four years ago. An earlier call she had felt to the religious life as a teenager was sidelined to care for her then-ailing mother. “I just wanted to go and save the world,” says Sister Vicky, recalling her long ago leanings towards the religious life.

    Over the years she worked in “a little bit of everything,” she recalls, including a hospital and the business world, while always actively serving in parish ministries. She was poised to begin a new career as a restaurateur, with the loan approved and scouting locations, when she began to realize God was perhaps still calling her to the religious life. She remembers distinctly feeling something was missing. But what? “God, what do you want for me?” she asked one night.

    When a friend, a Franciscan sister, called, Sister Vicky described her inner feeling of indecision. The friend suggested that perhaps she needed to listen a little more closely for God’s answer to her question. “A lot of times God speaks to us through people, through friends,” says Sister Vicky, who recalled she had been so busy working 16-18-hour days that it was hard at first to hear God’s answer.

    She began to visit different communities and felt especially drawn to the Sisters of Charity of the Incarnate Word’s spirit of service and the sense of inner joy their smiling faces conveyed. “The more I got to know the CCVIs, the more I really knew that this was my place,” she said.

     Her mother, who had been living with her, assured her that she would be fine on her own, with her present apartment surrounded by helpful neighbors and only two blocks from St. Anthony of Padua Church. “Of course she always offered me her prayers and support,” related Sister Vicky. “I know this is what you always wanted,” her mother told her, “and it is fine with me.” Her siblings also stepped forward, offering to look after their mother should the need arise.

    “I knew I was making the right decision because everything just started falling into place,” she said. “And to me that was a very good sign to say, ‘OK, God, I know I made the right decision. I know this is what you want for me.’”

    She first entered the pre-novitiate, a time she describes as getting to know both herself and the community better. This was followed by the novitiate period, studying the laws of the church and growing spiritually. Being the only CCVI in the novitiate here, she found support in the monthly inter-community program, which included novices from many different communities. “A lot of us were pretty much the same age,” she said, noting they shared their similar struggles and experiences in arriving where they were.

    During this time she got to explore various ministries of the CCVIs, helping at the Incarnate Word Retirement Community and working with migrants in Michigan. She also worked for a while at St. Peter-St. Joseph Children’s Home, known as St. PJs.
    “I had worked with kids in the past in the parish environment,” noted Sister Vicky, “but that really was my first experience working with abused children full-time. And it really opened my eyes to see how much children are neglected.”

    Though she was there to teach them, the children wound up teaching her as well. “They taught me that no matter what, you put a big smile on your face and you go on in life,” she said. She is considering going into either psychology or social work, and is currently pursuing studies in this area at the University of the Incarnate Word.

    While the San Antonio-based Sisters of Charity of the Incarnate Word’s ranks have been increasing in Mexico and Peru, Sister Vicky is the congregation’s first Latina in the United States to take vows in 16 years.

    The United States Catholic Conference of Bishops 2002 census revealed that 39 percent of all U.S. Catholics are Hispanic, leading to the expectation that an increase in religious vocations from this segment of the population could well be the trend of the future. San Antonio, being among the top 10 metro areas with large Hispanic populations, would certainly see the effects of this.

    Sister Yolanda Tarango, a fellow Latina and Texan CCVI, observed, “As the church becomes increasingly Hispanic, it will be Latinas and Latinos who will be joining religious orders.” She noted they are the most likely to do so because of their emphasis on community, as well as their rising numbers in the U.S. population. Sister Vicky echoes these sentiments, noting the strong family-oriented environment in Hispanic homes and the pride these families have in a son or daughter entering the priesthood or religious life.

    For someone contemplating exploring the possibility of a religious vocation, she says, “It’s never too late. Religious life is not a thing of the past. It is a wonderful way of life today.” She adds, “I would strongly encourage people, especially women, who in the back of their minds is a curiosity about what it’s all about, to really ask and search and let the spirit guide them.”

    She describes the day of her profession as “a very special day.” Walking down the aisle of the Chapel of the Incarnate Word, she saw around her the smiling faces of the sisters in her community and recalls a wave of joy and gratitude sweeping over her. “OK, God,” she thought to herself, “I know this is what you want — and my answer is still ‘yes.’”