Dominican Sisters of Blauvelt
The Order of Preachers sharing the Gospel for over 800 years.
Stories of Our Sisters
bring the Charism to Life
Here are Our Stories for June 2008
I entered as I was drawn to this life by the Sisters I had in Holy Spirit School, Asbury Park. They were happy, fun-loving, caring and found ways to involve us in their lives. I loved their ENTHUSIAM, humorous manner and their willingness to share God’s word with us. Every Friday the Sunday scriptures were shared by all. I loved it.
The biggest surprise has been the variety of ministry opportunities that were afforded me. I did not enter to teach even though I knew that’s what the sisters were doing in Holy Spirit. I was attracted by the way of life. I loved what I saw and was challenged to live it out in so many life experiences for which I am grateful. It surprises me each day how God’s grace is so alive and felt.
The biggest reward is the joy and support of Community life. I realize that it was a struggle at times due to different philosophical differences but for the most part this is God’s daily gift to me. It sustains me, feeds me, to go out in ministry each day and return to share those fruits. The beauty of such living is that if I am not at my best today, the other persons are. It brings such balance to life. The other “just as important reward” is the prayer life of my community. It is for me second to none. It is my nourishment for the day. It is rare that any member of the community is absent. The sharing of all is so enriching.
Dominican Sisters of Sparkill
In my work I try to convey the plight of the poor and oppressed by painting my interpretation of their experiences to put before the eyes of the rest of the world. For me the poor includes the war-torn, the urban poor, and vulnerable people, who have to wait for aid. I also include endangered species of animals as part of the poor.
Being an artist calls for time in contemplation, so contemplative fruit comes through in my artistic endeavors especially in those which reflect the reverence for all creation. The newer technologies of mass media are also strongly influencing my work.
In this time of exploration with other Dominican Congregations as to the question of how our future might look, I believe it important to look at the past history of the Dominican Order to gain insight for the best way to reach this new paradigm through drawing and painting.
Dominican Sisters of Caldwell
Whoever would have thought a basketball could lead to a religious vocation……
I was a “publican,” a student who attended only public schools, grades kindergarten through high school. As a teenager, I played basketball for the Police Athletic League, better known as PAL in New York City. Several of the girls on the team were from the local Catholic schools and we became friends. We won the City Championship and then decided to find another team as we enjoyed the sport and comraderie.
Dominican Sisters of Amityville
Several of us went to a Sodality meeting as we heard the Sodality sponsored a basketball team in the Catholic Youth Organization (CYO). I volunteered to work on the Sodality Newspaper. We met once a month in the convent basement to assemble the paper and run it off. That was my first time in a convent and eventually I asked one of the Sisters if I could go up to the first floor. Sister gave me a tour of the parlors, chapel, kitchen, dining room, etc. You might say “I got my foot in the door.”
All the while I was practicing and playing basketball and getting very friendly with the girls from the Catholic schools. One Sunday after a game, a few of the girls invited me to attend devotions at church. I joined them and enjoyed the prayers, music and Benediction. Again we went to the ice cream parlor for a gathering. This led to an invitation to attend daily Mass. I became a daily communicant.
In the spring, the girls in the Sodality were offered an opportunity to go on retreat to the Dominican Sisters Motherhouse in Amityville. It was a wonderful experience for me. Each evening we went to the chapel and prayed with the Sisters. This is the community that I eventually entered.
Look where a basketball took me! I am in the community fifty-four years at this time. If I had it to do over I would. Thank you God for inviting me to share this blessed vocation.
Service has been and continues to be a big part of my life. My parents modeled it, my schools promoted it and I participated in many service projects. Service became connected to my growing relationship with God. Through it I experienced God in a real and personal way. Good works weren’t enough… connection with God as the source of service created a deepening need for prayer, sacrament, and relationships rooted in faith. It was here that the idea of religious life dawned in me…and I promptly ran from it…nuns were so…well…nunny!
Archived
Sisters' Stories
June 2008
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Dominican Sisters of Caldwell
Dominican Sisters of Amityville
Dominican Sisters of Blauvelt
Dominican Sisters of Sparkill
I began my artistic pursuit at the age of four. I had some talented older brothers who I loved dearly, and tried to emulate what they did. I have been drawing and painting animals since this early age. I won my first art contest in 2nd grade, and have always been successful as an artist.
I was blessed by the Sparkill Congregation to pursue
this love in higher education, and was awarded by teaching art, first in elementary school, then at the high school level, and finally at the college level. Several years ago the Congregation released me fromteaching duties so that I could pursue art as my fulltime ministry. I have been blessed and grateful.
During college I continued to grow in faith and in my practice of social justice. While I went through periods of distancing myself from God and church, I grew in my ability to be honest with God and myself and to trust that God’s love was constant even when I struggled. It was also a time when I realized that poverty and many forms of suffering were often the direct result of government and church actions and policies. At the end of college the idea of religious life reawakened in me. Again I ran from it.
After college while working on Wall Street and enjoying my social life, I realized I wasn’t paying attention to the world around me. I re-connected with Amnesty International and Pax Christi and at the same time I met the Dominicans of Blauvelt. They were a community committed to prayer, to deepening their spirits in God and to addressing social justice and systemic issues. It was their down-to-earth prayer, work, play, humor, and community living that gave me the courage to let go of a life I loved to enter the life that I was loved into.
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