Sister
Gina and I were “received” as novices in our respective Dominican home
congregations last week before the Feast of St Dominic. At the Caldwell motherhouse, Gina preached on
John’s account of Jesus post-Resurrection appearance to Mary Magdalen, then affirmed
her desire to continue the journey of discernment with that community. At evening prayer at the Sinsinawa Mound, I
requested the opportunity to explore the questions: “Is the truth of my life
the Dominican story? Is vowed life as a
Sinsinawa Dominican Sister the truest expression of God’s call?”
In being received as novices, Gina
and I officially became “sisters” (though we admit we are still not accustomed
to answering to “Sister” yet!) amid many hugs and more than a few tears and an
outpouring of loving support. Thus began
Gina’s and my “canonical novitiate” – a period described in the Collaborative
Dominican Novitiate Handbook as an “experience of Dominican community life,
prayer, study, ministry, exposure to and practice of the charism of preaching and
personal growth.
The Collaborative Dominican
Novitiate (CDN) was birthed by Sisters from many Dominican congregations around
the United States who sought to give their newer members a richer formation
experience and connection to the larger Dominican family. Gina and I are the most recent in a long line
of Dominican novices from various congregations over three decades who have spent
this year in St Louis to live in community with other novices and with novice
directors at the CDN. At the CDN,
novices dive head first into Dominican life, participate in an inter-community
novitiate with women and men novices from different communities, study at the
Aquinas Institute, deepen our lives of prayer, and intensively discern God’s
call.
After being received as novices,
last Friday, we were “sent” to the Collaborative Dominican Novitiate – Gina via
an early-morning flight from Newark, and me along the highways of Wisconsin,
Iowa, Illinois and Missouri – fueled by the prayers and blessings our sisters
had offered us and accompanied by our respective candidate directors. We were sent from our home congregations with
full suitcases and full hearts – bringing with us both practical items like
clothing and school supplies, as well as tender memories of sisters, friends,
family, and colleagues that we have left behind in order to whole-heartedly
begin this new chapter of life at the CDN.
Though this is our first time in
our Dominican lives of being “sent” by our communities, God willing, it will
not be our last. Itinerancy is a
hallmark of Dominican apostolic life – reflecting the desire to respond to the
demands of the gospel and the signs of the times. The word “sent” appears in the Sinsinawa
Dominican Constitutions eleven times.
The Constitutions challenge us “to be ready to be called and sent in the
spirit of Father Samuel,” the founder of the Sinsinawa Dominican
congregation. As Gina and I are
discovering, this willingness to be “sent” requires a deep trust in God and a
detachment from all that is beloved and familiar in order to step into a new
place and a new moment.
Our home-making in this new place
has meant many things. Along with our
novice directors Sister Joye Gros (Dominican Sisters of Peace) and Megan
McElroy (Grand Rapids Dominican Sisters), we have begun to develop a daily
rhythm of shared prayer. We’ve shared
our respective vocation stories and the surprising and beautiful ways that God
has brought each of us to where we currently are. Of course, we have attended to (and will
continue to attend to) the many logistics of common life like the nitty gritty
of how to share cars, distribute house responsibilities, and care for this
beautiful (yet large and old!) house that we share. We’ve unpacked our boxes and suitcases and
begun to hang photos on the bedroom walls.
Perhaps most importantly, we have shared our hopes and dreams with one
another about this community that we are building, knowing that community life itself
is a part of Dominican mission and a witness to a largely individualistic
society and a fractured world.
Received with love and joy by our
congregations and sent to the CDN to deepen our discernment journey, we are
excited and hopeful (and, okay, maybe a little bit overwhelmed, if we are being
totally honest!). To our sisters,
friends, family, and colleagues who have been a part of our sending – please know
we carry you in our hearts. To the
congregations that created and sustain the CDN – please know of our gratitude
for your courage and vision in creating this home. We invite all of you to join us here on CDN
blog as we share weekly some of our adventures in discerning vowed life as
Dominican sisters.
