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Meet Sr. Divinia Pedro,
a Sister of St. Joseph of Toronto

Every day I offer myself to God in gratitude for the many ways He blesses me with peace, love and joy

My name is Divinia Pedro, a novice of the Sisters of St. Joseph of Toronto. My desire to enter religious life started when I was a young, non-Catholic teenager in the Philippines, but I had to set it aside to help with my family’s needs. I was baptized and became a Catholic in 1987 and immigrated to Canada the same year. At that time, my mother was in remission from cancer and my moving to Canada would enable me to help the family even more.

Meeting the Sisters

I met the Sisters of St. Joseph for the first time in February 1990 when I spent my “birthday retreat” at the Motherhouse. I became a regular visitor at their infirmary. The Sisters of St. Joseph have been part of the most important new beginning in my life since then. God really works in mysterious ways. Little did I know that my desire for a deeper relationship with God would become stronger in Canada. The Sisters have become my mentors, not in school but in life, faith and spirituality. Before my mother died in 1992, she said to me: “I know you would be happier if you entered religious life. I am giving you my blessing.”

Steps in my journey

My desire to grow in deeper relationship with God and the dear neighbor led me to the CSJ Associates in 1993, volunteer work at the infirmary and involvement at the parish. Despite all these activities, I continued to feel that there was still something missing, I was incomplete, I couldn’t work for money alone and I had to do something about it. With the help of my spiritual director as well as my pastor, I made the biggest step in my life – I joined the Sisters of St. Joseph of Toronto as a candidate in 2003. I left my accounting job and was received as a novice in September 2004.

My family went through sicknesses after I entered but I felt God’s strong presence ever more. Yes, God is really near.

Ministries

My ministry experiences included, among others, the Women’s Drop In, the Out of the Cold Program and the New Beginnings for Widowed, Separated and Divorced Catholics. And here I met God and felt His love among the broken-hearted, the poor and the marginalized.

Every day, I offer myself to God in gratitude for the many ways He blesses me with peace, love and joy. As I enter into this new beginning in my spiritual journey in the Federation Novitiate Program, I continue to pray that I will remain open and courageous, in readiness to be sent as Jesus was, in the love and service of God and my dear neighbour as a Sister of St. Joseph of Toronto.

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