“Sow God’s word! Make good on the talents entrusted to you.” -Catherine of Siena
After 33 years in education, in 1996, I was asked me by the Amityville Dominicans to take on the formidable task of ‘birthing’ a new corporation, Benincasa Family Services, in honor of Catherine of Siena. Its purpose was to be an umbrella for projects dedicated to the care of the poor and those not able to care for themselves.
First challenge; Build and establish a Child Care Center in Amityville.What did I know about architects, construction companies or New York State laws regarding child care? Make good on the talents entrusted to you
I talked, I listened and I prayed. I met many obstacles from the asbestos abatement to a two-year long court battle. I spent hours praying at the grave side of our founder, Josepha Witzlhofer asking for her intervention and her strength. When I was really discouraged, I was energized by our retired Sisters who constantly asked, “When are the babies coming?”
Finally in May 2000, everything was completed and we welcomed five babies to KinderTowne. We chose this name in honor of our German heritage. Today, we care for forty-seven children from six weeks to five years. The staff includes two Sisters and seventeen lay women. Our senior Sisters read to the children and do various art projects with them.
Second challenge: Create a Neighborhood Center that would promote coordination and cooperation among diverse community organizations, service providers and residents in a former congregational school. What do I know about community needs, gaps in service and current rental rates? Make good on the talents entrusted to you
Again, I talked, I listened and I prayed. The Jamaica Neighborhood Center, formed in 1998 identified the values of hospitality and empowerment. We established an Advisory Council to recognize existing services and to identify areas of unmet needs. Today, five staff members coordinate programs for job seekers, adult and childhood literacy, Asthma and Lupus Coalitions as well as sharing information on such topics as reverse mortgaging, identify theft and hospital closings. Non profit organizations rent 90% of the building which is overseen by a Sister.
Did I know my talents? Was I given opportunities to “Make good on the talents entrusted to you?” Have I sowed God’s word in ways I never thought possible? I believe so.
Stories of Our Sisters
bring the Charism to Life
Here are Our Stories for October 2008
Dominican Sisters of Amityville
Archived
Sisters' Stories
October 2008
(This page's stories are listed first for each congregation.)
Dominican Sisters of Amityville
Dominican Sisters of Caldwell
Dominican Sisters of Blauvelt
Dominican Sisters of Sparkill
Dominican Sisters of Blauvelt
Dominican Sisters of Sparkill
I was educated in my grammar school years by the Caldwell Dominicans in St. John’s Clark, New Jersey. My family was active in the church and were friendly with the Dominican Sisters. I suppose it was a natural turn of events that when I felt called to be a sister, the Caldwell Dominicans were my choice.
I have been blessed during these past many years to minister in different parts of the United States and in the Bahamas. My ministries have included teaching young children and being a principal in an elementary school. I have also been privileged to be a social service minister with and for families living with Aids and teen parents. Presently I am the Director of Trinity Academy Early Childhood Center in Roseland, New Jersey.
Looking back over my life as a Blauvelt Dominican, I now see it as movement through stages of moral development. Entering Blauvelt in 1964, I was obeying what I sensed was God's call to religious life. Because my childhood class was told by sister that our lives would never be quite right if we didn't follow God's call, fear definitely motivated my entering. At that stage of moral development I looked to others to find God's will: to sister and especially to father, and I was partly motivated by fear of punishment.
The liberating experience of the Catholic Charismatic Renewal gave me a personal sense of moral authority. Empowered by the Spirit dwelling within me, I began to discern God's will through prayerful reflection on Scripture, rather than looking to father. Charismatic communities made real the possibility of a non-hierarchical, inclusive church. (Many eventually became hierarchical.)
I am grateful to my congregation, the Caldwell Dominicans, for the many opportunities they have given me to pursue higher studies, travel and participate in workshops, seminars, retreats and a sabbatical. My local community, that is, the sisters I share life with, are involved in various ministries and are fun loving and dedicated to making a difference in our world. We mutually nurture our call to be women of prayer, justice and caring for the earth.
These many years have stretched and challenged me intellectually and spiritually. I have encountered God’s Divine Mystery in so many places and in so many people. How thankful I am!
The members of the Dominican Congregation of Our Lady of the Rosary Come together to proclaim with John the apostle the words of Christ:“I have come so that they may have life and have it to the full.”
In late August, I attended the ceremony of a recent graduate who entered the Pax Christi Sisters. That gathering occasioned a flood of memories of my own entrance in1961. My “call” or vocation was an ordinary experience. It was an ongoing nudge during the two years I was a 9-5 secretary. I am a lifer in terms of my education by the Dominican Sisters of Sparkill.
The Second Vatican Council, the context of the Charismatic Renewal, encouraged Catholics to follow our conscience. It called us to think! Before Vatican II we were told to believe and not to question. Being encouraged to think put many Catholics on the road to equality and emancipation. Finding hope in the renewal of Vatican II and personally experiencing the power of the Spirit propelled me forward as a Blauvelt Dominican.
Blauvelt Dominicans took the Vatican Council to heart. We opened ourselves to the work of the Spirit among us and transformed ourselves from a hierarchical structure in which the leaders had absolute power - to a participatory, inclusive congregation of intelligent women.
Experiencing the resistance of some clergy and church hierarchy to the renewal of Vatican II awakened my sense of justice. My shift toward social justice was intensified in the 1980s by participation in the nuclear disarmament movement - and gradually through the women's movement, which included for me a deepening awareness of racism, classism, homophobia and other forms of oppression.
Consciousness of oppression - how it works, who benefits, who pays the price - and a commitment to work for social justice in order to overturn oppression is the present stage of my Dominican vocation. It calls me to work with others for human rights, for justice and peace, against all forms of oppression including the exploitation of the earth. The Dominican Call to Justice strengthens and guides this commitment to social justice.
From a brief experience of the pre-Vatican structure of religious life; from the poets and singers of the Vietnam era to the congregation’s corporate stand response; from the classroom to the “board room” as a member of the congregational administrative team; through the life, death and resurrection experiences as a member of a family, congregation and human community, I believe I have lived life to the fullest these past 47 years.
The address at a recent assembly focused on our world view and how it changes and expands through one’s experience. Membership in my congregation has been a powerful force in shaping me into the person I am.
My primary ministry has been in high school education. Each experience has been a response to a call to be a changing force and influence in the lives of high school students at a crucial time of growth. For the past 15 years, I have been privileged to minister at our congregational high school–Aquinas. It has been particularly rewarding as we carry forward the Mission of the Dominican Sisters of Sparkill in this congregational school founded in 1923. It is in this place and time that I commit myself to “proclamation of the reign of God through a ministry for justice.” Each day brings new surprises and is never boring. The interaction with students, partnership with parents, and the collegiality among faculty and staff enable us to do together what could not be done alone. We educate young women in a community of faith and learning rooted in the Catholic tradition and committed to excellence in the education of young women–mind and heart, body and spirit (Mission Statement). The work is challenging, the rewards abundant. Through the legacy of the Dominican Sisters, the giants upon whose shoulders we stand and extraordinary leadership and dedication of the many men and women who have joined us in the ministry of education, we have and continue to make a difference. The hope of the future is in the hands of the young women we send forward to make this world a better one
www.catholicdominicansisters.org
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