Circles
Last Saturday I hosted a “Circle” gathering of Sisters and Associates at our house. Although Sinsinawa Dominicans use the word “circle” for these, generally monthly, meetings, each group’s circle seems to be one-of-a-kind with little in common with other circles other than we all tend to sit in circles. Circles have no canonical status; but from the way the members cling to them, it’s obvious that circles are important. Theoretically, the circle I belong to has 17 members. But about 5 Associates and 10 professed Sisters usually show up for a gathering. Someone may be out of town. Another person may be sick. Someone else may just have a conflict for the date we’ve chosen. Individuals in our group are not necessarily close friends and may not often meet one another except at Circle gatherings where we snack a bit, pray, “check in”—meaning catch up on what’s going on in one another’s lives, what’s important, how each member is feeling abo...