On June 23rd, leadership was transferred to the new Dominican Sisters of Hope leadership team. The congregation celebrated with blessings, the ceremonial lighting of candles, and a reflection by Sister Connie Kelly, OP. Sister Connie’s preaching is below, after the photos from the day.
Sister Connie Kelly, OP delivered the preaching for the ceremony.
The previous leadership team lit candles and personally passed them onto the new members of the leadership team.
The new team takes their candles and greets the congregation
Liz Baganz Randolph, Executive Director of Health and Wellness, shows a glass stone. The congregation will bless stones for the new team.
Sisters bless each stone
The stones are gathered around a candle for the new team.
The congregation offers both leadership teams a blessing
The members of the new leadership team bless the congregation with holy water
The candle for the new team with blessing stones
The new leadership team. From left: Sisters Diane Trotta, OP, Margaret Anderson, OP, Patricia Magee, OP, Judith Brunell, OP, Catherine Walsh, OP
The team receives gifts from the executive team and staff
Today we have gathered as pilgrim people. Here to once again acknowledge we are believers and through are belief in God, the Church of God, is very much alive among us. We are also present here today to celebrate our Transfer of Leadership. To pass the torch, to stoke the fire, to tend the light that lives in our hearts, moving in and out, as needs arise. Through movements that tell the story of who we are as Hope. Movements that allow for endings and beginnings in order that we may always continue to move forward as one.
The movements leading up to our General Chapter 2024 guided us as we Navigated a Future Full of Hope through various Community Days and preparations within our Community Chapters and by committing ourselves to pray our Chapter Prayer.
Through our time together in early May we called upon the Holy Spirit again and again. Uniting us as a community and for the world. We invited the fire of the Holy Spirit to continue to ignite our hearts. A fire upon hearts that started long ago. A fire that touched Mary Magdalene, Jane of Aza, Dominic de Guzman, Catherine of Siena and so many more. A fire that has spread around the world. Fire is a symbol for Dominicans.
A fire that brought three communities together to explore what our future could be and led to the founding of the Dominican Sisters of Hope almost 30 years ago. A fire that will continue to burn in the hearts of the many women and men who bear witness alongside us and other Dominicans, as Charism Carriers.
The fire, the light lives in our hearts…and the fire light within and without guides us on this journey.
This fire, the light of our hearts, teaches us first and foremost that we are all unconditionally loved, each one of us, for who we are.
The fire, the light in our hearts, teaches us that we are each unique with different gifts to offer one another and the world. It is not ours to say who should have what gifts. Each gift given to us, is a result of the grace that God has bestowed on us, as individuals. When we allow these gifts to mature and grow, we all benefit. Am I/are you/are we open to letting these gifts mature further no matter how old or young we may be?
At the same time, it is very important that we avoid boxing one another into their gifts, where we become blind to whatever other gifts may need to be uncovered yet. Let us always give thanks for our gifts, known and unknown, and the gifts of others. At the same time, we need to remain open to surprise. God does provide us with surprises. How will I/you/we be open to all that is coming my/your/our way?
Have you ever watched a fire burning in a fireplace or from a campfire? It can be mesmerizing. This fire teaches us how to let loose, be free and invites us to a unique movement that is never the same. The fire that God offers is within our hearts. It is freeing, inviting and unique for each of us. We are invited into this movement, this dance through moments of sacredness. How will I/you/we respond to this invitation to dance in the sacred moments gifted to us moving forward?
The fire, the light in our hearts, teaches us that when we are challenged, we need to go deeper into our faith. It has been suggested that the challenging moments are nothing else but the forge that purifies the soul of its imperfections. The fire, the light encourages us to rise above what has us stumbling or maybe even falling. Fire teaches us to hear the hope of another, in order that we may recognize our own hope. The fire invites us to walk with others on this pilgrim journey, so we can truly see. The fire invites us to deeply listen to the stories of those we journey with in order that me may fully understand the love of God for us.
Remember, God’s grace meets us where we are and does not leave us where God found us. Am I/are you/are we willing to grow from these challenges, to accept that grace will lead us, so that others may do the same?
The fire, the light in our hearts, teaches us that nothing is impossible with Hope. In believing this we can fully rejoice in Hope rather than in results.
The fire, the light in our hearts, teaches us to live and speak the truth always. We have experienced so much in the past few years that has moved so many away from the truth into everyday falsehood. This is our reality. As Catherine of Siena reminds us “Preach the truth as if you had a million voices. It is silence that kills the world.” How will we respond to our broken world?
The fire, the light in our hearts, teaches us that living out our faith means truly desiring to live the resurrection. We are called to live through the common good which means to live counter-culturally. To bring about justice. To honor our neighbors around the globe as sisters and brothers, in this ever-growing human family. We must move away from privilege and individualism and give witness to others of how such a life can be lived. We are desperately called to care for Earth, our home. To appreciate the graces, the blessings of God. Remember to daily ask yourself, where is God in how I lived out this day?
And not least, the fire, the light in our hearts, teaches us that we need to acknowledge the good times and the challenging times. The happy and the sad times. The moments of grief and the moments of elation. As pilgrim people, we are reminded to live out of our abundance and not our scarcity. Pilgrim people need to come together to celebrate all the good that has been gifted to us. Let our communion be our celebration and our celebration bring us into communion.
Calling on the Holy Spirit to strengthen our fire-light with our hearts once again, I offer this prayer for all of us and in particular for Pat, Catherine, Judy, Diane and Margaret:
Rush upon us, O Spirit of God
from this time on rush upon us
like living water
like leaping fire
For this time, rush upon us, O Holy Spirit,
with wisdom and knowledge,
with understanding and counsel,
with wonder and recognition and awe.
Just in time, rush upon us, O Spirit of God,
in life giving words,
in songs from the voiceless,
in compassion for all
in a passion for witness.
At this time, rush upon us, O Holy Spirit,
this hopeful time,
this searching time,
this preparing time,
this coming and going time,
this trusting time,
this new time.
All the time, rekindle the fire-light of our hearts O Spirit of God. (adapted)