Relationship at the Heart
As Dominicans of Sinsinawa, we often say, “At the heart of ministry is relationship.” In fact, this phrase is in our Constitution, the document defining how we live our lives as Dominicans of Sinsinawa.
In early October, I attended the marriage celebration of my niece Emily and her husband Nathan. They worship in a faith tradition different from that of the rest of our family. Since we would not be permitted to enter the Temple and witness the actual ceremony, I asked if our family would be interested in engaging in a prayer to bless the wedding of Emily and Nathan while they were in the Temple. Emily was very excited about this prospect and asked if Nathan’s family could also participate.
So I started asking sisters if they had any resources or knew of resources to help me pull together a blessing for this couple. The sisters rallied around me and found resources for me – relationship at the heart. Emily had asked me to bring 15 copies of the prayer. The day of the wedding, there were more than 40 of us gathered around the couple to be wed to engage in this prayer of blessing. Bringing loved ones from two different faith traditions together to bless this one couple certainly drew us into relationship with one another just as our conversation at table the evening before had.
Have you had the experience of building relationships when you least expected it?
Is the Holy Spirit leading you toward engaging in a relationship with us?
East Dubuque, IL
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