(Still) Rooted and Grounded in Love

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A year ago, shortly after beginning my itinerant Dominican journey, I ran across a passage from Ephesians about being rooted and grounded in love, and wrote a post about it.

Two weeks ago I moved again, this time to the Collaborative Dominican Novitiate in St. Louis.  This year I join two novices and two co-directors from other Dominican congregations across the country.  At our opening prayer ritual, my ears perked up as I once again heard the words being read: “May Christ dwell in your hearts through faith, as you are being rooted and grounded in love…”

What timing, to hear these words almost exactly one year later!  Kelly, Chuc, and I (the 2014-2015 novices) mingled soil from our various motherhouse grounds and planted small succulents that we’ll keep in our chapel throughout the year.  They will be reminders of our own growth, nurtured by soil from the holy places we’ve begun to call home.

As we begin our novitiate journey, I’m glad that little plant will be keeping watch over us.   It reminds us of all the people who have nurtured us, bringing them into our present journey even if we are physically far away.

Who has nurtured and nourished you?  How is their nourishment bearing fruit in your life?

Sr. Christin Tomy

St. Louis, MO

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