Wednesday, September 2, 2020

A New Start in Hyde Park: CDN 2020-2021

 Collaborative Dominican Novitiate 2020-2021

 



Greetings from our new home in Hyde Park, Chicago! We arrived Friday, 14 August, and have now completed our two weeks of self-quarantine. What a blessing that our canonical novitiate year can go forward in the midst of the coronavirus pandemic. This week, the three new novices and returning directors will introduce ourselves.

 


NOVICES

 

 


Sister Amanda Zygarlicke

Dominican Sisters of Sinsinawa


I was born in central WI, where most of my family is, and raised in southern WI. At the University of Wisconsin – Stevens Point, I studied Physical Education, Health Education, and Adapted Physical Education. After graduating in 2015, I taught for a year in New Berlin, WI, before being accepted into the Jesuit Volunteer Corps (JVC). This took me to Phoenix, AZ, where I taught kindergarten through 8th-grade Physical Education and Computer Science. After my JV year, I continued to teach at this school for two more years. While in Phoenix, I was also involved in youth ministry at a local parish. 

Up to this point, I had been running from God’s invitation to religious life for many years but, in Phoenix, God made it clear it was time to stop running and start seriously discerning. In listening, even though the Dominican Sisters of Sinsinawa are no longer in the Diocese of Phoenix and I was not specifically looking for a Wisconsin-based congregation, I discovered the Dominican Sisters of Sinsinawa on the diocesan vocations page. After a visit to Sinsinawa in the summer of 2018, I started the formal application process and was received as a candidate on August 7, 2019. During my candidate year, I lived in Sinsinawa, studied, and taught Physical Education two days a week at a local Catholic elementary school. 

Since my first visit to Sinsinawa, I have felt at home with the Dominican Sisters of Sinsinawa and in living out Dominican Spirituality. As a first-year novice continuing to discern, I am looking forward to learning more about this home and the lifestyle God is calling me to under the guidance of the Holy Spirit and the intercession of St. Dominic.


 


Sister Faithmary W. Munyeki

Maryknoll Sisters of St. Dominic


I was born and raised in Kenya, East Africa. I hold a BS in Information Technology from Jomo Kenyatta University of Agriculture and Technology, a diploma in Computer Engineering from Kenya Science, and a certificate in Teaching. I met Maryknoll's Sisters in Dodoma, Tanzania, where I was teaching in a Jesuit high school. The simplicity and ordinariness I experienced with the Maryknoll Sister I met struck me, and I got interested to know more about

them. Their missionary spirit – making God’s love visible everywhere and throughout all of the creation – awakened in me the desire to serve others, especially the marginalized and powerless.

That began my journey of discernment with Maryknoll Sisters. I came to the USA in 2019 where I was received as a candidate and began my integration year in Chicago. I took classes at CTU, ICN, and did my ministry in St. James Food Pantry. The pandemic situation caused me to change the ministry from food pantry to community gardening where we planted vegetables that would benefit those in need. I remain grateful to all Maryknoll Sisters for their love, encouragement, prayers, and support in this year of continued reflection and discernment.

 



Sister Annie Killian

Dominican Sisters of Peace


The oldest of four children, I grew up in Nashville, TN. Our parents both practiced medicine. We attended the Nashville Dominicans’ elementary school. Raised Catholic, I consciously chose to keep practicing my faith during my undergraduate studies at Yale University. I joined the Saint Thomas More Catholic Chapel on campus, participating in Small Church Communities and social justice ministry. After graduating with a B.A. in English Language & Literature, I spent two years at the University of Oxford, UK, and earned an MPhil in English, Medieval Studies. While at Oxford, I encountered dynamic Jesuits and RSCJ Sisters whose spirituality and common life resonated with my own desire for a life centered on God and dedicated to serving God’s People. It was there that I first felt drawn to religious life.

An abiding love for medieval literature, especially writings by mystics like Julian of Norwich, impelled me to pursue a PhD. I returned to Yale and, shortly after, decided to begin serious discernment. Providentially, the vocation director for the Dominican Sisters of Peace lived right down the street in New Haven, CT. Through spending time with the local community, I came to know the Sisters’ joy, generosity, and contemplative spirit. Their commitment to justice and peace-building touched my heart. They accompanied me patiently through the many years of graduate school. I completed the PhD in May 2019 and, the next month, entered the Dominican Sisters of Peace. As a candidate, I lived in our House of Welcome in Columbus, OH, and ministered as an English professor at Ohio Dominican University. Beginning this canonical novitiate year, I am filled with gratitude and hope, even in the midst of pandemic, trusting that “All shall be well, and all manner of thing shall be well.”


 

DIRECTORS

 


Sister Lorraine Reaume, OP

Dominican Sisters of Adrian


            I am a Dominican Sister of Adrian, originally from Toronto, Canada. I am excited to be starting my third year with the CDN in this new location and to able to minister on behalf of the many Dominican Congregations that make up the Collaborative Dominican Novitiate. My own CDN experience in 1998-1999 grounded me in the Dominican Family and gave me a solid identity as a Dominican. I am grateful to be able to walk with women on that same journey. My undergraduate degrees are a BA in English and Psychology (University of Waterloo), and a B.Ed. (Lakehead University). I also have an MDiv and an MA in Theology from Catholic Theological Union. I have a certificate in Spiritual Direction, have completed the Collaborative Leadership Development Program, and have also done the ForMission program offered by the Religious Formation Conference. Before religious life, I was a teacher and then a Lay Missionary in Bolivia. I also co-coordinated the Lay Mission Program for Scarboro Missions for four years. In religious life, I have served as a Campus Minister at Siena Heights University, as a Pastoral Associate with a focus on Hispanic Ministry in both Anchorage, AK, and Detroit, MI, and as Formation Director. I love to walk with others as they discern and discover how God is calling them to life.

 



Sister Cathy Arnold, OP

Dominican Sisters of Peace


Another year, another transition! As we welcome the novices to Chicago, and I too learn to navigate a much larger city in the midst of Covid-19 conditions, I am happy to continue to help provide a nurturing and life-giving environment in this new community at the CDN. I participated in the CDN as a novice from 2000 to 2001 and have many wonderful and, yes, some challenging memories, which helped me to grow more deeply into Dominican life, especially in building relationships and on social justice issues. My educational background includes a BS in chemistry from Marietta College, an MA in theological studies from the University of Dayton, and completion of the Religious Formation Conference ForMission program. My final project for ForMission involved developing and leading an Inter-cultural Living mini-workshop with our Sisters and Associates. Since then I have also completed the Collaborative Leadership Development Program sponsored by LCWR. In the past, I participated in a Peace Ambassador Training program and helped co-ordinate a Leadership for Peace program for college age students. I have also ministered in special education and high school education. From 2007 to 2018, I served as a vocation minister and then as Coordinator of Formation for the Dominican Sisters of Peace. Walking with women in formation is a gift, a privilege, and a sacred task as they and we discern how the Spirit is working in the discernment of becoming Dominican. For fun, I enjoy baking bread, walking, reading, biking, gardening, and sharing time with my Dominican Sisters, friends and family.

8 comments:

  1. Welcome to all of you and may this year be a real blessing for each of you, even amid all the adjustments caused by COVID! What interesting times in which we live! (but haven't we always lived in interesting times!) A special greeting to my sisters Cathy and Annie! Miss being able to see you in person.

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  2. Margaret Palliser (Dominican Sisters of Sparkill)Saturday, September 05, 2020

    How wonderful! May this be a year of untold blessings and grace! Welcome to this very special time of prayer, study, community, service, and discernment! We are praying for all of you! Margaret Palliser, Dominican Sisters of Sparkill

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  3. Welcome to your NEW year at the CDN! Know of my prayers for you all. I was part of the CDN in St. Louis, 1996-97!! i know this year will be filled with all sorts of good things! PEACE to you all.
    Aneesah. Dominican of Adrian.

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  4. Welcome! May the peace and joy you have sought in Christ dwell richly in your heart as you settle into your new home in Chicago and with each other.
    One's Canonical Year is a great gift, which you will continue to unpack for many years. May the Holy Spirit guide you all as you delve deeply into the call, life and beautiful tradition you have entered. My prayers are with you!

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  5. Greetings from the UK, and welcome to the family! Our novitiate programme (English OP sisters of St Catherine of Siena, aka known as the Stone Dominicans) is also about to begin here in Cambridge. Love and prayers from here, and please pray for our novices-to-be too. Know that a very warm Dominican welcome would be assured if ever you make it to this side of the Pond!

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  6. Dear Sisters, I wish you the most wonderful year in community and discernment. I'll be one of many people thinking of you and following your journey on this blog! Blessings and warm wishes.

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  7. Great to see you all and special blessings in the new home for all of you!

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  8. Just read your newsletter from Chicago - everyone looks good, even in the masks! Best wishes to all and I hope you enjoy your new home on Ellis Avenue. Chicago a wonderful city full of blessings and new adventures. God bless.




    Best wishes to all of you in your new home on Ellis Avenue. Just read your newsletter, and everyone looks good, even in the corona masks! Enjoy Chicago, a
    wonderful city full of fun and adventures. God bless. Sue Rech, M.M. Tanzania, E Africa

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