Relationship is Where Collaboration Begins

Written by Sr. Julie Rambin, Published by Sr. Terri Schell

As novices, some of the skills we have worked on this year are relationship-building and collaboration. We have been learning to listen more deeply to God and each other, to discover the hidden fruits of working together, to remain open to the unexpected. These skills and approaches help us in learning to live a healthy and joy-filled life together. 

All of us entered community life as adult women. We came to our congregations as independent adults, with careers, cars and even houses of our own. Though we come from different cultural and family backgrounds, we had all lived in the U.S. for some years prior to the novitiate. 

The dominant U.S. culture highly values independence, and we have all internalized this value to some degree. Independence is an important life skill, but it’s not the only important one. 

As someone strongly inclined toward independence, I had to learn the value of collaborative work. As a college student, my experience of “group work” was that one person (usually me) would complete the bulk of the work on any given project. 

In the novitiate, I have worked together with others on all sorts of group projects, and contributed in varying ways and degrees. I have also benefited significantly from the hard work of others, and appreciated their gifts especially in areas where I would have struggled. 

When the whole group is really committed to collaboration, sharing gifts, and working together, great things can happen.

Recently, we five novices were able to visit the McGreal Center at Dominican University in River Forest, IL. Together with Dominican novices of the Central Province, we toured the center and learned more about its history, as well as the history of Dominican sisters and friars in the United States. 

As we saw in some of the old photographs in the center, collaboration is an important element of our history. We have been collaborating across congregations in many ways for years.

We were grateful to Chris Allison, McGreal Center archivist and tour guide extraordinaire, who introduced us to a number of the center’s important collections. 

It was good to meet other members of the Dominican family, to get to know the current Central Province novices.

We enjoyed our lunch too!

While the friar-novices were in town, we invited them to our house for evening prayer and dinner.

It was wonderful to have the opportunity to spend time with other newer members of the Dominican family, to make connections and develop relationships. “At the heart of ministry is relationship”...and relationships are where all of our collaboration begins.

As we look toward the future of Dominican religious life, we wonder what it will hold. In this time of preparation for Pentecost, we pray for the Holy Spirit's outpouring on the whole Dominican family. May the Spirit surprise us with the fruits of collaboration and joy-filled lives.