Community in Dialogue

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Topics to blog about were aplenty this month: leaving the Collaborative Dominican Novitiate in St. Louis, good-byes there and here at the Mound, hellos, transitions, attending a preaching conference, etc.  Then last night (July 1) happened.

We were all asked to listen to and discuss a talk given by our Prioress, which centered on basic assumptions we hold surrounding our lives here and on mission.  My local community and I met and had a wonderful, lively discussion that lasted well over 3 hours!  This was on the heels of lively table discussion earlier that day at lunch with a different group of Sisters.

I am thrilled for this opportunity and specific invitation to enter into the very Dominican tradition of dialogue and disputatio, a tradition and practice that doesn’t end with the close of a day.  Make no mistake, it doesn’t necessarily mean agreement.  The dialogue is open-ended, continuing, and requires a willingness to deeply listen to each other in order to move forward. 

While I am new to religious life, I am not new to life.  I left one that was very good to me.  Last night’s experience, however, was a reminder of how much community means to me; how much I missed sharing a life and a common mission with a group of like-minded people.  I’m looking forward to moving forward together, in conversation and in dialogue with each other!

Sr. Kathy Flynn

Sinsinawa, WI

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