Jen’s Journal

This past weekend, I went on a roadtrip with a priest to visit a convent.  And yes, to a Church geek like me, those words sound like music to my ears!

Near the end of last semester, I had mentioned to Fr. Scott Steinkerchner, OP, that I was thinking of taking a trip up to Springfield, IL to visit the Dominican sisters there.  Scott and I had previously talked about my vocational journey and agreed that Springfield might be a good fit for me, but I was pleasantly surprised when Scott replied to my mention of a trip by offering to accompany me on such a visit.  And so, Scott set up the trip for this past weekend, and we were off!

I’m not sure which part of the trip I enjoyed more – the conversation with Scott during the drive to and from Springfield or the time that I spent with the sisters – but it was a really great experience overall.  The Springfield sisters seem to be a really balanced community that  encompasses all that I have been looking for in a religious congregation.  And there is nothing that I felt the least bit uncomfortable about!  I didn’t have that “this is so awesome and I want to spend the rest of my life here” kind of feeling (yet), but this community definitely has potential when it comes to my discernment.  I’m looking forward to getting to know them better as time goes on to see if this is indeed the community that God is calling me to join.  Keep me in your prayers.

I’d like to thank Scott and the Springfield sisters for making this trip possible and wonderful.  And of course, I’d like to thank God, too, for continuing to bless me with so many beautiful experiences in my life.

Happy Solemnity of Mary, Mother of God!  And Happy New Year, too.

It seems that I’m getting quite a tour of Maryland churches this Christmas season, and I keep finding fascinating things to share!  Today’s discovery: I unknowingly spent the first 9 years of my life with St. Dominic right in front of my face!

Since last night was New Year’s Eve, I decided to spend the evening celebrating with my brother and sister-in-law at their home in Baltimore.  This home is a reincarnation of our childhood home – my bro and sis-in-law had the house stripped all the way down to the foundation and rebuilt – and so is located across the street from our childhood parish.  I didn’t plan to spend the night with my brother and sister-in-law after the celebration, but we stayed up late, I was tired, and my bro didn’t want me to drive home with other crazy drivers on the road, so I agreed to stay.  Unfortunately, with my crazy sleeping issues, I didn’t end up waking up until after 11 this morning, and that meant that I had slept through Mass at most of the churches in the area.  With today being a Holy Day of Obligation and a pretty cool solemnity, I knew that I would be pissed if I couldn’t find a parish to attend, so I went online and frantically searched for a church in the Baltimore metro area with a New Year’s Day Mass at some time after noon.  Things weren’t looking so great and I was ready to give up my search when I heard the sound of church bells ringing from the church across the street.  I quickly found their bulletin online and discovered that they were indeed having a noon Mass today, and it was only 12:01pm, so I could totally make it to the church and not be too late.

If you read my last post about Midnight Mass for Christmas, you might remember that I didn’t want to go to this particular parish for Christmas because the Mass would probably be bilingual (= most likely long and possibly boring) and the priest is a little weird when it comes to visitors/people who aren’t Polish.  I wasn’t going to make any complaints today, though, because when it comes down to it, Mass is Mass.  And it’s good that I had that attitude because I walked into, not a bilingual Mass, but rather, a Mass entirely in Polish!  I only understood 3 words the whole time: amen, alleluia, and hosanna.  Fortunately, I know the Mass well enough that I could follow along and mumble English responses under my breath, but the homily gave me plenty of time to let my eyes (and my thoughts) wander around the church.  And that’s when I made my exciting Dominican discovery!

You see, this church is named Holy Rosary, and while I’ve sort of associated the church with the rosary in my mind, I never made the connection between the church and St. Dominic… that is, never until today, when I looked up above the altar and saw him!  St. Dominic, receiving the rosary from Mary, Queen of Heaven.  Given the fact that this church has been around for some time and still relies on big, metal fans for cooling instead of upgrading to air conditioning, I doubt that this statue of St. Dominic and Mary is a new addition.  Rather, I think St. Dominic must have been there all along.  There when I was baptized, there when I made my first communion, there every Sunday for the first 9 years of my life.  And I didn’t even know it!  In fact, back then, I didn’t even know that there was a St. Dominic.  My awareness of the Dominicans didn’t come until college.  But still, it’s kind of cool to look back and know that St. Dominic has been watching over me, silently, since the very beginning.  A sign of things to come?  We shall see…

In the meantime, I want to close with the Evening Prayer antiphons for this Marian feast.  I hope you find them as inspiring as I have:

Ant. 1: O marvelous exchange!  Man’s Creator has become man, born of a virgin.  We have been made sharers in the divinity of Christ who humbled himself to share in our humanity.

Ant. 2: By your miraculous birth of the Virgin you have fulfilled the Scriptures: like a gentle rain falling upon the earth you have come down to save your people.  O God, we praise you.

Ant. 3: Your blessed and fruitful virginity is like the bush, flaming yet unburned, which Moses saw on Sinai.  Pray for us, Mother of God.