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 8^th-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.