Thanksgiving - Immersed in the Season of Gratitude & Wonderings

 

The past three weeks have been full. We are thankful for the opportunity to visit three Dominican Congregations in Racine, Grand Rapids, and Adrian. We celebrated Paula's birthday in between our trips.

Happy Birthday, Paula!

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IN-TO-ME-SEE (Intimacy)

"Celibacy is a vow for relatedness." - Diarmuid O'Murchu

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After our workshop on Family of Origin that Shingai shared in the last post, we came back to Racine the following week for a 4-day intense study on Human Sexuality and Celibacy with Sr. Lynn M. Levo, CSJ, Ph. D. I was grateful to learn about the "energy" that inclines me into relationships with others, and to be more aware of how destructive it can be to adopt a conditional identity (ie. I need to have "this" or "that" in order to accept myself). We were challenged by different controversial situations revolving around gender identity and sexual orientation, and how the call to diversity, inclusion, and belonging remains crucial at the heart of every organization. We also had in-depth discussions on healthy integrated sexuality, which included how to meet our human needs, and how to address attractions, boundaries, and intimacy. We were left with a critical discernment question, "Is celibate life in community the best way for me to love and be loved, to give my gifts in service to others, and to be in relationship with God?"

"We preach the invisible presence of God and the visible absence of God."

Us with Sr. Megan McElroy, OP

We spent this past weekend visiting our Sisters in Grand Rapids and Adrian.

At Grand Rapids, we had a session on Preaching as Befriending with Sr. Megan McElroy, OP. We encountered the spirituality of a preacher, anchored in our friendship with God, and woven within the call to search for Truth and share it. I was amazed to learn that, depending on the community, there was an element of preaching, not against the Word, but against the text. If, as preachers, we are called to share the Good News, what news is considered good news? We were left with another question to ponder, "Is hard news good news?"

History => Her Story => Our Story => My Story

We were blessed with wonderful opportunities to learn the History of Grand Rapids and Adrian Dominicans when we visited our sisters. It was fascinating for me to grasp our history in a bigger context, realizing that we are more alike than we are unalike in our roots.

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Us with our Adrian Dominican Sisters

Thank you for your prayers as we continue to sit with the questions that keep emerging during this privileged time of our Novitiate.

Posted by Angela