Where Do You Live?

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Does that not seem like a simple question?  Yet, each time I am asked, “Where do you live?”  I hesitate.  Currently, my home is in Milwaukee, Wisconsin.  I love this city!!  And, our Motherhouse, the home of every Dominican Sister of Sinsinawa, is located in the Southwest corner of the state, on County Road Z.  We call it God’s country!! But, the fact that I have two homes is not the real root of my hesitation.

For Dominicans, our home is first and foremost in the grace-filled and spacious heart of God.  Wherever we are, with whomever, we strive to be at home.  Home means being deep listeners and faith filled prayers.  Home means being totally open.  Home means deepening our inner awareness.  One place where I feel so at home is in my studies.  I am studying theology.  I study about God.  It is amazing and stretching, eye-opening and mind boggling.  And, of course, a never-ending process!     

So, whether I am in a room filled with inquisitive sophomores or at the dinner table with my sisters or accompanying a mother worried about the choices her child is making at the moment, I want to be at home.  At the food pantry or in Church, in the presence of a complete stranger or with a treasured family member, I want to bring God’s heart to all I meet.        

Peggy Ryan, OP
Whitefish Bay, WI 

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