Hello and Goodbye

It’s been a while since we posted an update to our blog. We’ve spent an incredibly busy and amazing six weeks here in Boston during our summer experience at the provincial house.

What exactly have we been doing here? 

In addition to living and praying with our larger Boston community, the five of us (Cheryl, Theresa, Carly, Chelsea, and I) have been working in various departments of our apostolate: video, marketing, editorial, and digital.  In June we welcomed young adults who are discerning with our community and more than twenty high school girls who participated in our St. Paul Summer Program.   On July 7th, we had the joy of witnessing Boston native Sr. Marlyn Evangelina’s perpetual profession.   In addition, both Carly and Chelsea celebrated their birthdays here in Boston.   Sr. Margaret Joseph recently interviewed Carly and me for her Pauline Faithways blog and very graciously recapped our Los Angeles experience.    To top it off, we’ve crossed paths just about daily with many of our sisters from our smaller local communities who are visiting here or passing through Boston for their annual retreats.  As you can see, there’s never a dull moment around here!

Cheryl, Sandy, and Theresa

Julia

This summer also has been a time of transition for our postulant community. A few weeks ago, Theresa, Cheryl, and I learned we’ve been admitted to the novitiate which will begin for us here in September. Joining us will be Julia, a postulant from our Mexican province, who will also complete her novitiate in Boston. The two year novitiate is a more intense time of prayer, study, community life, and mission. 



While we “pre-novices” are excited to be moving on to this new stage in formation, it has also meant saying goodbye to our friends in St. Louis and to the postulant community.   Chelsea and Carly are beginning their second year in formation as postulants and returned to St. Louis earlier this week.   Sr. Rebecca, our postulant formator, will join them after directing a retreat for some of our sisters.

As I reflected on the past year, it occurred to me that many of our bonding moments as a postulant community have occurred in the kitchen (e.g., Postulant Surprise). So, it’s not a shock that one of our last recreation nights together resembled a bake-a-thon. We divided into two teams to make lemon bars (one of my favorites) and coconut-lime banana bread, which was a huge hit thanks to the recipe provided by our good friend, Erin.

Coconut-lime banana bread!

We've joked over the past year about the personality differences in our group and how these affect many aspects of our lives, including our culinary efforts.  Some of us measure ingredients with extreme precision (yes, that would be me).  Others throw in “a little of this, a little of that.”  At the end of the day, despite our contrasting approaches, we’ve made some magnificent, though unusual, dishes together, if I do say so myself: Birthday Supreme, the aforementioned Postulant Surprise, and our Lemon Trifecta (chicken piccata and lemon pasta with lemon bars for dessert), to name a few. 

"The A Team" preparing to make lemon bars

Our cooking adventures mirror the journey we’ve made as a postulant community.   We’ve challenged each other over the past year—both in and out of the kitchen—and helped each other grow in ways none of us expected.  While we’ll miss each other, we know this goodbye is not forever.  We look forward to rejoining each other next summer as the new novices enter.  Until then, we'll swap recipes on Pinterest and continue to grow in ways both culinary and spiritual!

-Sandy

Carly, Sandy, and Chelsea