Our Inter-charism Novitiate Comes to a Close

It’s hard to believe that the year is coming to an end!  It seems like such a short time ago that we moved in and together planted our individual plants in a mix of soil from our various Mother Houses into one pot.  And yet so much has happened, it also seems a lifetime ago.  The seeds of deepening faith, prayer, community, study and ministry planted in the years of formation prior to this canonical novitiate year continued to grow in the rich soil of the two charisms, Dominican (OP) and Providence (SP).  This year’s unique inter-charism experience only added to the gifts so many Dominican novices have received through the years at the CDN – classes and Masses with student brothers from the Priory, the ICN workshops and opportunities to share faith, conversation and fun together during over-night stays (this year through the hospitality of sisters and brothers at Ruma and King’s House), discussions on current issues in religious life with Sr. Elyse Ramirez, OP, panel nights, and educational and recreational outings.   All of these experiences spoke to the richness of Dominican life, rooted in the vows and the four pillars, and to God’s creative abundance.  

The S-Pops during the CDN opening ritual

Our community prayer at the CDN combined some of the traditions of both charisms.  The SP’s use the People's Companion to the Breviary, which Dominicans had been using prior to the introduction of Dominican Praise.  We used the former for morning prayer and the latter for evening prayer one week, and switched the next week, and always ended by singing the Dominican Blessing. The CDN tradition of chanting the psalms and canticles, and the variety of readings in the People's Companion, drawn from saints and powerful Catholic writers, enriched the communal prayer that I had already come to love.  When the pandemic forced Janice and Jessica to remain at their Formation House in West Terre Haute, Indiana after Spring Break they introduced the Dominican Blessing into community prayer there.   At the CDN we kept the SP tradition of exchanging the sign of peace after morning prayer on Tuesdays, and continued to follow their meaningful way of praying communal lectio divina, but missed our SP sisters’ input during faith sharing.  The SPs are known for bringing artistic creativity to their prayer; they inspired us, and the art supplies at the CDN got a wonderful work-out during our reflection days.   

Sisters of Providence Marsha Speth, Janice Smith, and Jessica Vitente

Our first dinner together with Jessica and Janice included Jessica’s Postulant Director, Sr. Marsha Speth, SP.  That evening in August bore special fruit after the conversation turned to liturgical dance, a creative talent that Marsha and Novice Director Sr. Cathy Arnold, OP, share.  The ideas that sprouted then grew into an Easter season (Zoom) “Moving Prayer” workshop that gave Jessica and me along with some other ICN novices and directors a chance to learn about and experience praying with dance and motion.

An ICN meeting before COVID-19

The pandemic, as tragic as it is, has offered many opportunities to practice communal discernment, and has helped me learn to hold things lightly.  ICN meetings on Zoom might not have been ideal, but we were all grateful to the speakers who willingly adapted their presentations to new circumstances and to technology, and to our creative novice directors who provided us with a remarkably meaningful closing ritual, and a chance to celebrate with each other using Zoom. 

An ICN meeting during the pandemic

In addition to COVID-19, this year of prayer and discernment offered other challenges – the personal ones that come with self-examination and growth, and universal ones including poverty, health disparities, racism and other injustices that remind us how far we still are from living the Gospel truths Jesus preached.  What role will God call me to play in the on-going work of establishing God’s “kindom,” as the SP’s taught me to say?  I look forward to continuing to discern that, and to growing in religious life, and learning to preach the Gospel more effectively.  As I move on to the apostolic year of my novitiate, I find myself more inspired than ever by the example of St. Dominic, the joyful friar who listened to others with compassion and shared God’s love with everyone he met, by the entreaty of St. Catherine of Siena to  “proclaim the truth and do not be silent through fear” and by the advice of the SP’s foundress, St. Mother Theodore Guerin, SP, who said “Reflect seriously on what you desire to do. Above all pray much that our dear Lord may make known to you what He wishes you to do.”

Jessica and Sr. Joni Luna, SP - moving day, May 2020

So, with a grateful heart, and prayers of gratitude for all those who worked with us, prayed for us, and helped make this very special year of growth in God possible, may peace be with you until we meet again.

May God Creator bless you - with love from the S-Pops

Easter Blessings

“Isn’t media technology a blessing?”  I never imagined I would find myself saying that as often as I have in these past few weeks.  On the other hand, I never imagined that this year I’d be watching not just Sunday mass, but Palm Sunday, Holy Thursday, Good Friday and Easter services on television, along with so many priests, sisters and laity throughout the world. 

Worshiping virtually with other Dominican sisters

Everyone has had to cancel plans to travel and/or spend time with friends and relatives at Easter.  At the CDN we abandoned plans to celebrate the Triduum at the Mound with the Dominican Sisters of Sinsinawa, and had to settle for a virtual Easter get-together with our SPOP sisters, Jessica and Janice, who continue to shelter in place with their sisters at the Providence Mother House in Terre Haute.  While we’re grateful for instructors and guest speakers who’ve enabled ICN meetings and classes at Aquinas to continue on Zoom, we all miss praying, learning and spending time with each other.  I know I am not the only one who has felt more deeply connected to the women and men who followed Jesus to Jerusalem and on Holy Saturday found themselves living with loss, fear and uncertainty.   

Holy Thursday – wheat, wine and the Word

Yet, with technology, the rhythms of the holy days continued, and at the CDN they offered some unexpected gifts.  With the time we saved by staying home we were able to join women in formation and discernment in a virtual Palm Sunday retreat led by the Dominican Sisters of Peace vocations team, and a virtual, preached Holy Week retreat hosted by the Dominican Sisters of Adrian Weber Retreat Center.     

Holy Thursday Dinner

I had more reason than ever to be deeply grateful for the blessing of extra time to devote to prayer and reflection during this canonical year.  I was able to devote several hours each day to the retreat conferences themselves and to the Gospel passion stories they featured.  An earlier lecture on Feminist Biblical Interpretation by Sr. Barbara Reid, OP, and Lorraine’s reflection day workshop on Mary Magdalene added so much depth to my reflections on and connection with the women who witnessed Jesus’s passion and proclaimed his resurrection.

Easter Sunday - light and life

Of course, we also had fun, and a lot of laughter when we realized that with masses, retreats, and an evening watching Godspell we had heard or read the Passion nine times that week!  We enjoyed hot cross buns on Good Friday, decorated eggs on Saturday, and judiciously pruned our flowering tree to bring the beauty of God’s creation into our home for Easter.  Choosing to stick with our effort to minimize grocery shopping as much as possible, we collaborated on creative menus, using what we already had for holiday meals that may have been more delicious because of that choice.  Not exactly washing each other’s feet, but these days perhaps an even more practical and meaningful way of serving each other and our neighbors.  

Decorating Easter eggs

All of us at the CDN wish you the blessings of peace, health and joy in the risen Lord during this Easter season.

Celebrating Blessings

Life certainly took some unexpected turns this month.  At the CDN we’re grateful to be safe and well, and our thoughts and prayers are often focused on those struggling in any way with or because of the COVID-19 pandemic.  We also are aware of and grateful for our many blessings. 

SPOP's in the CDN Chapel

Like so many people who are separated from family, friends and loved ones, we’re also experiencing some separation.  Jessica and Janice, the Providence members of the SPOP’s, are sheltering in place at St. Mary of the Woods, where they had been on Spring Break.  We miss them but are grateful to be able to stay connected as a community using Zoom.  That same technology is also allowing us to continue with classes, the ICN and “Contemporary Issues in Religious Life.”

Enjoying the sisters' hospitality at Heartland Farm

I was very fortunate that my planned Spring Break visit to our sisters in Great Bend and Garden City, Kansas with Dominican Sister of Peace Diane Traffas and our candidate, Annie Killian, happened before we were advised to shelter in place and maintain social distance.  As we are so often reminded, religious women are prophets and ministers, working on the margins where people and creation are suffering the most – the sisters in Kansas are no exception.  Sisters who in other circumstances would have been retired for years create an oasis for body, mind and spirit at Heartland Spirituality Center and Heartland Farm ecospirituality center.  Others devote countless hours to knitting, sewing, crocheting beautiful craft items, and turning pounds of fresh fruit into jams and jellies, all of which will be sold at an annual bazaar that raises tens of thousands of dollars for ministries combating poverty and other challenges in Kansas and Nigeria.  Still others companion their sisters in the infirmary wing, and made sure that Annie and I heard about their sisters’ lives and accomplishments.  

Touring St. Catherine's Hospital in Garden City, Kansas

In Garden City, where the sisters once had a much larger presence, the hospital they established several decades ago still maintains ties to the congregation and provides outstanding healthcare with the same generous Catholic spirit that the sisters instilled.  Today, one sister ministers at St. Dominic’s Church, a parish of about 850 families, while two others have been walking with and ministering to people in and around the city, including immigrants, refugees, and women and children who have been impacted by trafficking and other forms of abuse.  As we drove around the challenging neighborhoods where many of these families live, they told us the stories of successes and disappointments (their own and those of the people they serve), and helped us understand more about the systems that keep so many people from thriving.  At the same time they told us about the many activities and learning opportunities that they and others have built in Garden City, and took us to places like Emmaus House where individuals and families can go for a hot meal, a safe place to spend the night, or food from a well-stocked pantry.  Woven through all of our conversations were the sisters’ deep love and concern for all of the people they serve, and rootedness of their almost palpable faith.  Sharing evening prayer that night and lectio divina the next morning were as moving as the stories they told. 

Emmaus House Kitchen and Cook

Emmaus House Food Pantry

The gift of that Spring Break was not just a change of scene and a chance to spend more time with sisters, and with Annie.  It was a witness to the fact that sisters continue to listen deeply to the signs of the times, discern the needs and the best opportunities to minister in response to them, and preach God’s message of love and compassion.  In this unexpected time of isolation and national and international distress, both the legacy and the on-going presence of these and so many other quietly dedicated religious women give me comfort and hope.

St. Dominic's Church Lenten Display

Annie with Great Bend Sisters

Diane with two of her friends at the Great Bend Mother House

Enjoying every minute with the sisters in Great Bend

Presenting to the CDN Board

They say that the Canonical Novitiate year at the CDN flies by, and it certainly does.  I’m amazed that the CDN Board meeting that I’ve been hearing about from former novices for such a long time is actually over.  The opportunity to meet so many Dominican formation directors and congregational leaders was enriching and affirming – the interest and support in the room were palpable.  In my short visit with these sisters, I heard conversations here and there that made it clear that these women are filled with new ideas, and open to new possibilities for religious life, formation and ministry in the future.  Once again, I found myself filled with hope for the future.

The opportunity to present my experiences this year to the Board reminded me again of how rich the year has been, not only with community, classes, ICN meetings, and ministry, but with some unique experiential opportunities.  Our Fall semester visits to a number of Dominican congregation sites (as well as my visit with Jessica to St. Mary of the Woods), and events like the RFC Congress brought home to me how pioneering religious women in the US have lived, and continue to live the Gospel and turn their passions into action such that their lives become a visible preaching:

• Sisters’ Pioneering History – St. Catherine’s, KY; St. Mary of the Woods
• Care of God’s Creation – Jubilee Farm, Springfield, IL
• Addressing the Signs of the Times – Sr. Eileen Gannon’s discussion of her work at the UN, during Aquinas Institute Dominican Day, St. Louis, MO; and Sr. Norma Pimentel’s presentation on her work with immigrants at our border during the RFC Congress, Louisville, KY
• Sisters in Community in Action – Fundraising Bazaar for Nigerian Sisters, Great Bend, KA 

S-Pops at Jubilee Farm with Sr. Sharon Zayac, OP

Meeting Sr. Norma Pimentel at the RFC Congress

Of course, the presentation also gave me a chance to see how much my prayer life, personally and in community, has grown, as has my understanding of how critical that part of life is to everything else we do.

Community prayer in the CDN chapel

As I was preparing for the Board meeting, it was a relief to know that while I am the only Dominican novice this year, Janice and Jessica would also be presenting to the Board.  With so much to talk about, it was also helpful that they took the lead on sharing the essential inter-charism aspect of our CDN experience this year, while I focused more on other aspects of the year.  At the same time, we all emphasized two key points:

• Sharing our two charisms in the deeper way that living together has allowed has enriched all of us – God’s Providence has a much deeper meaning for me than it would have if I’d only been hearing about it through the ICN
• As much as we appreciate each other’s charisms, we each feel more drawn than ever to the charisms of the congregations we have been discerning with since entering

Dominican Days Orientation May 2019

Christmas Gifts

Jessica and Ellen in the "Christmas at the Woods" nativity scene

It’s hard to believe the Christmas season and our semester break are over!  Mine began with Jessica at St. Mary of the Woods where we joined her sisters and their local friends and families at the Sisters of Providence “Christmas at the Woods” celebration, complete with a life-size nativity scene, hayrides, crafts and a chance to pet the sisters’ alpacas.  The next day, I thoroughly enjoyed a tour of the Mother House and was moved by my visit to the Shrine of their foundress, St. Mother Theodore Guerin.  My tour guide, Sr. Kaye, brought her alive for me as we went through the museum area, and I found myself very moved as we both sat in silent prayer near her tomb.  Like so many of the women who contributed to Catholic life and established congregations of religious women in America in the 19^th century, she faced and overcame seeming overwhelming obstacles, leaning on her faith in God, and God’s providence.   

Dominican Sisters of Peace Columbus Mother House Chapel at Christmas

Grateful for the opportunity to visit the sisters and experience “The Woods” that are so much a part of Jessica and Janice’s lives, I headed to Columbus to celebrate Advent, Christmas and New Years with my Dominican sisters there.  

So many written reflections and homilies in December speak to the presence of both darkness and light and the importance of not losing sight of both.  Funerals for four sisters who passed away in our nearby health care center (Mohun) during Advent were a stark reminder of the shared presence of darkness and light in life. 

Blessing a sister 

Yet there were blessings as well. As a woman in formation in the 21^st century I am very aware that there will be many more losses in the next few years. I found strength, inspiration and peace watching the women from the Mother House visiting Mohun.  They ministered to and joked with the ill and injured, kept vigil at their dying sisters’ bedsides, prayed together, and comforted each other, sharing stories, prayers, and faith in God’s love and compassion. They have learned to accept darkness and light, sadness and beauty, as a part of life and a part of their own journeys with God. 

  

I was also struck by the impact the sisters have on the very high quality professional staff at Mohun who do their work with a joyful caring I’ve never encountered before, and I’ve visited many nursing homes.  The senior managers tell me it’s because of the loving and prayerful atmosphere that the residents – primarily sisters – create and the way they treat and pray for the staff.  They demonstrate God’s love as a way of life, and preach God’s word in everything they do, in spite of their own pain and suffering.  Their generous love and faith are contagious and their example was a Christmas gift I have brought back with me to the CDN.  I will be thinking of them while I pray, study scripture, and read about and discuss Dominican life with Srs. Cathy and Lorraine.  As I explore the possibilities and challenges of religious life and discern who God is calling me to be, these sisters have inspired me with their witness of faith that God does indeed have a plan, and that God’s plans, in whatever direction they take me, offer hope and a bright future.

The SPOPs back home for the winter at the CDN

CDN Celebrations

It’s hard to believe that we’re already celebrating Thanksgiving weekend!  This semester has flown by, and as I was reflecting on all that has happened, I was struck by how much we have had to celebrate.  This semester has offered me an opportunity to explore and celebrate the richness of the Catholic faith and the diversity of ways of living and expressing it. 

We’ve participated in many celebrations of the mass at a number of different parishes in St. Louis, some very traditional, some offering beautiful music from a range of periods and cultures, and others focusing on social justice.  Each week we also join the Aquinas community for mass, where Jessica sings and I’ve had opportunities to serve as lector and Eucharistic minister, and the Dominican brothers at the Priory where chanted morning prayer before mass is so beautiful that getting up extremely early is worth it.  We also chant at home, and have had opportunities to learn different prayers and celebrate feast days from both the Dominican and Sisters of Providence traditions. 

The ICN singing God's praises

    

 At the ICN, and in the A.I. Vows class, which most of our fellow novices from the ICN are also taking, we’ve celebrated the gifts of the different charisms we’ve each been called to, and the cultural approaches to worshipping God that we bring to our gatherings.

The ICN Novices

We’ve learned some of the myriad ways available to us to learn about, be in relationship with, and praise God in sessions on topics such as spirituality, theological reflection and the Christ of Faith.  As we each lead morning prayer, or evening worship during overnight gatherings, we’ve learned different prayer styles and traditions, including body prayer and Taizé.   Two days on contemplative prayer, specifically centering prayer and lectio divina, have brought my personal prayer life to yet another level. 

So, too, have sessions on the joys and challenges of intercultural and intergenerational living, further enhanced by the diversity of cultures represented in this year’s ICN.  We have men and women from Africa, Asia, Poland, and Central, North, and South America. Each brings his or her own cultural traditions and individual wisdom and perspective to our discussions and our community prayers.  As our vows class comes to an end, I am so grateful that the ICN will continue to offer us the opportunity to share with and learn from each other, and I look forward to the mass we are coordinating next week as it will include music and prayer from our different cultures and languages – a community celebration of God’s love of diversity.

Playing Canadian game Crokinole for Lorraine's birthday

At the Cardinals baseball game

Of course, community life has included many celebrations as well!  All 3 of our novice directors celebrated birthdays this semester. Lorraine, who is from Canada, introduced us to the game Crokinole as part of her birthday celebration. We've shared meals that felt like celebrations with visiting Dominican Sisters and Sisters of Providence.

Missouri Botanical Garden

We celebrated the beauty and abundance of creation at the Missouri Botanical Garden, and American culture at a Cardinals baseball game.

  

A CDN community celebration

Because of sisters coming and going over the holidays we celebrated Thanksgiving twice, and had much to be thankful for this year.
As we enter into Advent, we hope that your own season of preparation for the coming of Jesus will be abundantly blessed.

Wishing you the blessings of peace and joy during the holiday season

P Stands for Preachers

Several years ago, when I first learned that the “P” in “OP” meant preacher, I thought “Oh, this is definitely a mistake, I can’t possibly belong here!”  I very quickly learned that I was confusing preaching with proselytizing, and that Dominican preaching encompasses not just public speaking but a whole world of ministries that support the mission of bringing the light of God’s truth to the world.  That was something I could get excited about. 

Preaching respect for God's creation by participating in the Climate Strike

Today I’m at the CDN, and my Introduction to Preaching class with Sr. Sara Fairbanks, OP, has been a much richer experience than I dreamed it could be.  Although I have been going to mass all my life, I never understood the difference between a homily and a sermon, nor did I appreciate the concept that good preaching doesn’t simply occur between two parts of the liturgy, but rather it draws us from hearing God’s word to celebrating the Eucharist.  The semester isn’t over and already I listen to preaching during mass very differently, and find myself focusing more deeply on the Gospel in light of the gift of the Eucharist.   

Dominican Panel Night with Elyse Ramirez, OP; Ed Ruan, OP;
Brother Andrew Martin del Valle and Sara Fairbanks, OP

Social media is not my comfort zone, so our first assignment – writing a preaching tweet for each of the daily gospels for a week – was more than a little daunting, but the challenge was rewarding.  Capturing the key point and a meaningful message from the gospel in only 180 characters, and then finding an image to pair with the words, required a whole new level of reflection.  It turned into an opportunity to explore prayer styles like lectio divina and Ignatian spirituality in new ways, with new kinds of fruits.  Since we posted our tweets on a private electronic bulletin board, we were able to see and learn from each other’s work.  It seemed each of us found a different jewel to highlight in each Gospel reading, and a different way to reflect that jewel’s beauty and wisdom.

Luke 6:1-5  We’re tired, hungry, and wondering if the road will ever end.  

We need nourishment if we’re going to keep going.  And there’s Jesus, 

standing in a field of grain, arms open wide saying “Don’t be afraid, 

see what my father has provided – come, take and eat of God’s goodness!”

The same has been true of our oral preaching in class.  Fortunately, my knees don’t knock and my hands don’t shake nearly as much anymore, perhaps partly because I’m so excited to hear the insights my classmates offer in their preaching.  Each one brings such creativity to presenting their insights and challenging us to incorporate the Gospel into our lives.  Somehow, God’s word speaks to each of us in ways that are as unique as we ourselves are.  The Gospels remind me of a rainbow, the Old Testament symbol of God’s covenantal relationship with us – myriad shades of color woven together into a visible manifestation of God’s love and creative power.  I now understand that oral preaching itself is a gift that is as diverse and as exciting as that broader Dominican definition of preaching.

Luke 5:1-11  Simon fell at Jesus’s knees in astonishment; he would have been more astonished to
know about the blessings that leaving the life he knew to follow Jesus would mean for himself and
the world. We too can’t imagine the future our loving God has planned for each of us.