A mother’s tough decision

In 1962, Madam Lim, facing serious financial difficulties, made a heartbreaking decision. She gave up her sixth child for adoption.

That child was Monica.

Monica spent most of her life not knowing she was adopted. When she eventually found out, she didn’t go searching for her biological family. But she prayed. She told God, “If You want this to happen, You’ll make it happen.”

And so, life went on. But God, in His quiet providence, had already begun writing a story only He could unfold.

Meeting Opus Dei

Monica has been married for nearly 38 years and has seven children. She was raised in a Catholic family, but her personal relationship with God came much later.

During her fourth pregnancy, she was placed on bed rest, she had bled with every pregnancy. Someone gave her a stack of spiritual books to pass the time. Whilst reading about the lives of the saints, a question stirred in her heart: How do saints become saints?

Almost instantly, an interior answer came: it’s the mothers.

That thought changed her. She realised that if she wanted her children to become saints, she had to begin with herself.

Not long after, she received a call from Fr. Connor Donnelly, a priest of Opus Dei. He had been referred to her by the Family Life Society, who said she might be able to help bring in a book called The Hand of God, the autobiography of Dr. Bernard Nathanson, a former abortionist turned pro-life advocate. Dr. Nathanson had played a role in legalising abortion in the U.S. but later converted to Catholicism after realising, through ultrasound, that life begins at conception.

At the time, Monica had never heard of Opus Dei. But soon Fr. Connor had arranged for someone to meet her. This lady had invited her to a doctrine class on the Eucharist. For Monica, this came at the perfect moment as she was preparing her eldest child for First Holy Communion. She started attending the classes regularly, and saw them as a practical way to deepen her faith and raise her children to love God.

As time passed, Monica realised this was what she had been searching for. She soon saw her vocation clearly as a supernumerary in Opus Dei and asked for admission.

Christina

Monica first met Christina in August 2017. They were both in the same car on their way to a supernumeraries’ retreat in Bukit Tiram, Johor, Malaysia.

When Christina was introduced to Monica, something about her name caught her attention, Monica de Silva (the family name of her adoptive Eurasian parents). It sounded familiar. Christina’s mother had often told her and her siblings about a younger sister who had been given up for adoption… and whose name had been Monica de Silva.

It felt too uncanny to ignore. But it also felt too personal to bring up.

So Christina said nothing. She tucked it quietly into her heart and brought it only to God in prayer for years

“Are you my long-lost sister?”

On 11 October 2024, the Feast of the Divine Motherhood of Mary, Monica and Christina were in the same car during an excursion at another annual course they were attending together.

A friend sitting next to Monica turned to her and said, “Monica, has anyone ever told you? You don’t look Eurasian at all, you look so Chinese!”

At that moment, Monica felt a prompting, “Tell them.”

She took a deep breath and said, “Actually, I’m adopted.”

From the front seat, Christina immediately turned around, reached back, took Monica’s hand and asked, “Are you my long-lost sister?”

Monica was stunned. “What are you talking about?” she asked.

Assuming Christina was joking, she went on chatting with the others in the car. But after a while, she noticed that Christina had fallen quiet. She was still holding her hand… and crying.

Monica looked at her and said, “Are you serious? You have a long-lost sister? How do you know?”

Christina was overwhelmed. Years of prayer had led to this moment. With tears in her eyes, she silently whispered to God, “Is this it, Lord?”

Tears and prayer

That night, Monica couldn’t sleep. She prayed the Rosary. The next morning, after receiving Holy Communion, she found herself in tears. The same thing happened the following days. She just could not stop crying after each Mass she attended.

It felt like she had been lost and now been found.

The reunion

Christina met her mum the evening after she came back from the annual course, and shared with her the revelation that had unfolded.

Madam Lim was stunned and full of questions. How did this happen? Where had they met? Was Monica well? Was she married? What about her family? How are her adoptive parents? Where was she now?

Christina reassured her gently. “Mum, she’s doing well. She’s married. And she has seven children, just like you!”

Madam Lim agreed to meet Monica, but she was nervous. How would Monica react? Would Monica accept her for having given her away?

The reunion was set for 19 October 2024.

Monica was ready. She wanted to meet her mother, to find out who she is, how she is, and to learn everything she could.

Just an hour before the gathering, their youngest sister, Theresa, found the original adoption papers. It confirmed everything.

Monica, who had lived her whole life believing she was an only child, was slowly starting to let it sink in, that she was actually the sixth of seven children. As a child, she had always longed for siblings, because she had often felt lonely.

When she met her brothers, they wrapped her in a warm hug. “We’re so happy,” they said.

They had been old enough to remember the day Monica was given away. It had been a very sad day in their lives. They never imagined this one would come, the day they would meet their sister again

God’s Providence

This is truly a story that only God could have written.

Monica and Christina were each led, in their own unique way, into a vocation in Opus Dei. Through that shared calling, the threads of their lives were quietly and beautifully woven back together.

Monica sees how God cared for her from the beginning, not aborted, but born into a family who gave her life, raised by loving adoptive parents, formed in the faith, and eventually led to her sister through her vocation.

Christina, just a baby when Monica was given away, sees it too.

“It’s not my story,” she says. “And it’s not Monica’s story. It’s God’s story”.