crossing provinces

One of our Sisters next door in the infirmary always says that she's "tried out all three provinces." She entered through our aspirancy in Ireland (which has long since closed). She was to come to the US for her novitiate, but because of WWII she had an extended stay with our Sisters in England. Then she arrived here in New Jersey, but a few years later was selected to teach in our missions in California. (I love that California was considered the "missions" - in the 1950's!). Now she's back here in the Eastern province for her retirement. In a way, Sr. Lawrence Marie was a pioneer!

We now have a Congregation Novitiate, one of our first steps in moving away from province structures and toward what we call "being congregation." I'm from our Western Province in Seattle, but I'm spending the bulk of my Novitiate in our Eastern Province and soon I will be spending a 3 month ministry experience in the UK Province. I'm following in Lawrence Marie's footsteps, you might say.

This weekend we were lucky enough to have a visitor from our western province. To make it even more special for me, she is one of the Sisters I lived with in Seattle. Louise is a gem, or as my mom would say "she's a good egg." It was great to see Louise reconnect with Sisters she has known in this province, some for more than 50 years. Even before we were consciously working on "being congregation," relationships were formed over the miles. Each province has its own culture and feel, but deep down we are all Sisters of St. Joseph of Peace, connected by our history and charism of peace through justice.