novitiate update

I realized that I haven't shared much of the nitty gritty about Novitiate lately. It's hard to believe, but the first week of May will be EIGHT MONTHS into our canonical year! We'll also be finishing our intercommunity novitiate classes that week - we only have 3 weeks left. I will miss going up to Ossining every week for our classes, and I will miss our group of novices even more. It's been such a great experience. I've learned a great deal from our presenters and have made some wonderful friends. What better way to start religious life?

The summer holds some exciting prospects. I'm hoping to spend a week volunteering at our retreat house on the shore. I'll be attending the Summer Institute at Fordham. I'm going to El Salvador for a 10 day study trip with Sisters & Associates from different provinces. And I'll be making retreat in August. I've also got lots of spiritual reading I'd like to do. I'm hoping to learn some Spanish. I'll also be continuing my weekly volunteer ministry at the hospital. Plus I'm continuing the wild and crazy journey that is community living, particularly in the Novitiate. Not to mention some big unbloggables that have to do with meeting myself in this time, shadow and all, as well as some big shifts in my relationship with the big guy. Novitiate has been hard work, but it's an experience I'm oddly grateful for, warts and all. Who gets the time and resources to pray every day, without having to worry about paying the bills?

We still don't know for sure what next year holds. Our Congregation Council is meeting at the end of this month and will be approving the program for our 2nd year. The 2nd year of our novitiate will focus more on ministry - we'll most likely spend two 3-month periods living with a local community of sisters and being actively involved in ministry. In between, we'll be back here at the Novitiate House for integration.

Well, that's my update. When I know more, I'll let my bloggy friends know as well.