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Dominican Sisters Open Mic
Ep. 8: Spiritual Motherhood – A Mother's Heart in the Religious Life (Sr. Mary Dominic, O.P.)
00:38:06
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- [00:00]
Sister Mary Dominic
Really, my parents made it a point of. Of. Of teaching the faith to us, whether that was, like, through direct instruction when we were homeschooled or just, like, talking about things of the faith, especially as we got older, having conversations about things. I just had this sense of, like, Jesus loves me, and I. And that requires a decision on my part. Like this. This love is so real that I can't remain indifferent to it. Like, I either have to accept him or. Reverend Recognizing that something was missing in my life and my practice of the faith, because the faith was something I just kind of took for granted growing up. And so meeting young people who, like, knew Jesus and spent time in prayer with him every day, I was just. I was just so astonished by them.
- [01:04]
Sister Miriam
Foreign. Hi, and welcome to Dominican Sisters open Mic. My name is Sister Miriam, and I'm a sister of the Dominican Sisters of Mary, Mother of the Eucharist, based out of Ann Arbor, Michigan. Each week we'll be sitting down with sisters of our community, and we're talking all things Dominican. Today on our show, we have a special guest of one of our sisters, Sister Mary Dominic. And our topic is going to be Spirit, Spiritual Motherhood. Sister, thank you so much for coming and joining us. We appreciate you being here.
- [01:42]
Sister Mary Dominic
Sister. Thanks for inviting me. And I'm excited to chat with you.
- [01:46]
Sister Miriam
So I wanted to give a little bit of biographical information about you. You are originally from Minnesota.
- [01:53]
Sister Mary Dominic
I am.
- [01:54]
Sister Miriam
And you entered in 2013, certified to teach K through 8. And you're currently teaching fourth grade. Where are you at, Sister?
- [02:06]
Sister Mary Dominic
I am currently teaching fourth grade in Finley, Ohio, at St. Michael's School.
- [02:11]
Sister Miriam
Okay. Finley, Ohio. I bet they love you out there, Sister.
- [02:15]
Sister Mary Dominic
Well, I love it there.
- [02:17]
Sister Miriam
One of the things we love to explore is how does God work in. In a woman's life in making himself known and showing her her religious vocation? And so I wondered if we could start with that before we get to the spiritual motherhood topic. How did God make himself known to you or show himself to you as you were growing up in your family life?
- [02:48]
Sister Mary Dominic
Yeah. Thanks, Sister. So I actually, the topic of spiritual motherhood is very integrated to how Jesus revealed His will to me through my vocation. So I grew up a beautiful Catholic family with parents that were just joyful, knew that their vocation was marriage, knew that family life was a gift, and that that was the adventure that life was, was just ordinary family life. And so I was just blessed by a very stable, very beautiful family life.
- [03:24]
Sister Miriam
Did you have siblings?
- [03:25]
Sister Mary Dominic
I do have siblings, so I'm the oldest of five.
- [03:28]
Sister Miriam
Okay.
- [03:28]
Sister Mary Dominic
So I have two brothers and two sisters. And so growing up, it was. Obviously, no family is perfect, but it was a very beautiful family to grow up in.
- [03:39]
Sister Miriam
What kind of things did your fam. Your parents do to nurture your love of God?
- [03:45]
Sister Mary Dominic
You know, it was really ordinary things. We prayed together every night before we went to bed. We prayed before meals. We always went to mass on Sunday. We went to confession when my mom made us, you know, and so it was nothing extraordinary. But just like that, daily fidelity. And also seeing my parents grow in their faith as I got older, recognizing that they really were living a life of discipleship with Jesus and recognizing how that changed them and how that.
- [04:19]
Sister Miriam
So you could see that even I
- [04:20]
Sister Mary Dominic
could see their own parents. Yes. Their own conversion, their own growth in the faith as I got older, and that made an impact on me as well. Probably the thing that impacted me most was my mom. Being the oldest girl in the family, I had similar gifts to my mom. And so I always wanted to be doing whatever she was doing, helping around the house with cooking or cleaning or taking care of the kids.
- [04:44]
Sister Miriam
I bet she appreciated you.
- [04:46]
Sister Mary Dominic
Yes, I think she did.
- [04:48]
Sister Miriam
As the oldest daughter, jumping in and helping out.
- [04:51]
Sister Mary Dominic
Yes.
- [04:52]
Sister Miriam
That's such a beautiful spirit.
- [04:54]
Sister Mary Dominic
Yeah, I just. I just really enjoyed it. And so when I envisioned my future, I always envisioned it being like my mom getting married and having kids, and just because I saw her so fulfilled in her vocation as a wife and a mother. And I thought, well, that's the path to happiness, you know, into holiness is. Is. Is through marriage, through being a wife and a mother. And so. So that really was this deep desire that I had.
- [05:21]
Sister Miriam
Sister, were you also in that time learning about the faith?
- [05:25]
Sister Mary Dominic
Yes.
- [05:26]
Sister Miriam
Or in what way were you being taught?
- [05:29]
Sister Mary Dominic
So catechism. I went to Cathol some of my elementary school, and we also homeschooled for a little while.
- [05:35]
Sister Miriam
Okay.
- [05:37]
Sister Mary Dominic
And so my parents were the main way that I learned the faith. Like, I still had religion class in school and that sort of thing, and sacramental prep, as, you know, as those sacraments came along. But really my parents made it a point of. Of. Of teaching the faith to us, whether that was like, through direct instruction when we were homeschooled or just like, talking about things of the f. Especially as we got older, having conversations about things.
- [06:07]
Sister Miriam
Do you remember having experiences of God in your years growing up? I think kids can be open to our Lord in. In a special way.
- [06:18]
Sister Mary Dominic
They can be. They can be. I don't know if I remember any, like, specific Moments from when I was very young. But I do remember being a sophomore in high school and going on a retreat with my class. I was at a Catholic high school and I had been to Eucharistic Adoration before. Like, I had gone with my family. I knew what it was and. But there was Eucharistic adoration as part of this retreat. And I was just so captivated by Jesus in the Eucharist at that particular retreat. And I just had this sense of, like, Jesus loves me and I. And that requires a decision on my part. Like this. This love is so real that I can't remain indifferent to it. Like, I either have to accept him or reject him. Like, it wasn't something I could be like, wishy washy about. And I remember going to my locker after the retreat and taking out an index card and writing, Jesus loves you and you need to love him too, you know? And I, like, I wanted to. I wanted to return the love that he had.
- [07:26]
Sister Miriam
Did you put that somewhere where you would see?
- [07:28]
Sister Mary Dominic
I think I, like, stuck it in the top drawer of my dresser. I would love to tell you that my life changed from that moment on, but it didn't. You know, I was very much a typical high schooler and kind of like moved on to the next thing.
- [07:39]
Sister Miriam
Did you share with anyone about your experience?
- [07:43]
Sister Mary Dominic
I don't think I did. I don't think I did. I kept that card in my dresser and yeah, I don't know where it ever ended up. And I don't remember telling anyone about it at the time.
- [07:52]
Sister Miriam
I think when I don't. I don't know, maybe this was just my experience, but sometimes I think it's hard to put into words what your spiritual experience is. And so when you even to try to explain it, it's like, how. How do you explain. Yes, receiving God's love in a deeper way? How do you put that into words?
- [08:15]
Sister Mary Dominic
Exactly. Even telling it now, it sounds so, like, superficial almost. But at, you know, at the time, that was a very pivotal moment. I mean, I remember it all these years later.
- [08:27]
Sister Miriam
Did you have an openness to the possibility of a religious vocation? You said you, you saw your mom and it was beautiful to you. The things that your mom did for your family and her sacrifices. And you could surely see yourself in that role. Had you thought about religious life at all at that point?
- [08:50]
Sister Mary Dominic
Not seriously. I remember my mom, actually. She was the one who suggested it to me when I was a senior in high school. You know, she said, have you ever thought about religious life? And I, I said, yeah, y. Yeah, I thought about it, but I really hadn't because my perception of a sister was a woman who did good things for other people, who did good things for the church. And I thought, that is so great that there are people that do that. But I just don't see how that could fulfill me and make me happy for the rest of my life. I imagine getting old and being alone and yeah, it just didn't seem fulfilling at all.
- [09:27]
Sister Miriam
So I wonder if you can name now what is the deficiency in that perspective. What were you, what piece were you missing? Right. Because you didn't fully understand at that moment.
- [09:36]
Sister Mary Dominic
Yeah, well, it was a relationship with Christ. I didn't, you know, I didn't know him. And so, and, and I did not have a proper understanding of religious life, of this self donation to Christ. I didn't, I didn't understand that. And I didn't, you know, I didn't know what religious life really was. Even so. So without that understanding, it was.
- [10:00]
Sister Miriam
Didn't seem appealing.
- [10:00]
Sister Mary Dominic
Yeah, it didn't seem appealing at all.
- [10:02]
Sister Miriam
So you were, you just said, oh, no, mom, that's not for me.
- [10:05]
Sister Mary Dominic
Yes, but at the same time, there was something in my gut of thinking, gosh, I think that really is what God wants for me. And saying, no, like, I won't do that. I don't think that that can make me happy. No, God, I won't do that.
- [10:25]
Sister Miriam
You were saying that.
- [10:26]
Sister Mary Dominic
Yes, because I really, you know, I didn't even want to open the door. I didn't even want to ask the question because I didn't think it could
- [10:37]
Sister Miriam
make me happy, so. But our Lord, he grabbed ahold of you.
- [10:42]
Sister Mary Dominic
Yes, he did.
- [10:44]
Sister Miriam
Did you meet sisters along the way?
- [10:46]
Sister Mary Dominic
I did meet sisters along the way. The thing that really helped me, though, I went to college and I got involved with a campus ministry and I'm. And I just met these young people who were so on fire with love for Jesus. And I remember thinking, I don't know what they have, but whatever they have, I want that, you know, and recognizing that something was missing in my life, in my practice of the faith, because the faith was something I just kind of took for granted growing up. And so meeting young people who, like, knew Jesus and spent time in prayer with him every day, I was just, I was just so astonished by them. And so I started doing what they did. And so I started going to adoration almost daily. There was a holy hour at the Newman Sound, Newman center every day. And so I would go to that and, and I loved that. And then I met these two young women who were discerning religious life. And I remember thinking, why are they discerning religious life? And they are so normal, you know, and, and. But the more I just talked with them and became friends with them, the way they spoke about religious life was a way I'd never heard of it talked before. And they, you know, they talked about a sister as a bride of Christ and a spiritual mother. And those two words were so, like, really caught my ear because those were the two things that I wanted so deeply was to be a wife and to be a mother. And when I realized that and remembering that, like, sinking feeling I had had in high school of, like, oh, gosh, I really think this is what God might be asking of me, and then realizing this is the reality of what is being proposed.
- [12:35]
Sister Miriam
And at that point, was it more exciting of a thing?
- [12:37]
Sister Mary Dominic
It was much more exciting, like, more beautiful.
- [12:40]
Sister Miriam
And, oh, it was so freeing.
- [12:42]
Sister Mary Dominic
And, yeah, I had fallen so in love with Jesus and the idea of belonging to him as his bride my whole life into heaven was just so extraordinarily exciting to me that I. I was. I was all in, you know, I was. I was ready just to discern religious life and to be open to it.
- [13:04]
Sister Miriam
How did you figure out where God wanted you to go? There's a lot of different religious communities. Many of them have beautiful apostolates. They all we in. In all those religious communities, you. You have the idea of being consecrated, being a spouse of Christ, being his bride. So how did you narrow in on Dominican? Were you thinking about being a teacher at all? Was that a part of it?
- [13:33]
Sister Mary Dominic
So I was studying elementary education at the time. And so. But that didn't. It didn't really occur to me to, like, put that into part of my research, I guess, of religious life. Yeah, I just kind of looked at who was in front of me, and there was a congregation of Franciscan sisters near where I went to college, and a group of us made a retreat with them. And, and it was a silent retreat. And we each met with one of the sisters who was leading the retreat. And in my conversation with her, she said, you know, you just strike me as Dominican. I think you should look at Dominican communities. And I, I don't even know if I knew what a Dominican was at that point, but just trusting that. That she knew more about religious life than I did, and, and taking her suggestion, and so I ended up just googling Dominican sisters and coming on retreat with our community and, and the Rest is history. I. I entered the next summer, so.
- [14:37]
Sister Miriam
I bet your mom was happy.
- [14:39]
Sister Mary Dominic
You know, I think I. She was. She was excited to see me embrace God's will. But there's a lot of unknowns when your daughter enters religious life. You know, there's no religious in my family. You know, it was a lot of unknowns, but it's been such a blessing for. For them and for my family, for my siblings. So.
- [15:01]
Sister Miriam
So the idea of spiritual motherhood, I'd like to go a little bit more into that topic. I think some people might think that we're not. Well, we. We forego marriage and married life. We don't. We don't have children of our own that. That we've completely given up on or turned away from motherhood. And I think it's so natural in us, in the sisters, that in our community, that growing up, we did desire to be mothers. And I can remember for myself, when I was in second grade, we'd have to journal, what do you want to be when you grow up? And other people would put jobs down. I want to be a firefighter. I want to be a teacher. I want to be a nurse. And I would always say, I want to be a mom.
- [16:00]
Sister Mary Dominic
Yes, yes.
- [16:03]
Sister Miriam
And to me, the other things seemed very secondary to what motherhood would be and how motherhood would fulfill me. So the idea of motherhood was always very beautiful to me. And I had the same feeling toward my mom of gratitude, of seeing the sacrifices that she made for our family and seeing her motherhood and being inspired by that and thinking, that's beautiful, and I want that. So our sisters, we have this desire for motherhood, but we don't actually end up having biological children, but we still practice a spiritual motherhood. And so could you explain a little bit about what spiritual motherhood is?
- [16:59]
Sister Mary Dominic
For sure, for sure. I always, you know, you think of a beautiful marriage between a man and a woman, and motherhood and fatherhood comes from that union. So our spiritual motherhood really comes from our union with Christ and being rooted in that relationship with him and knowing yourself to be loved and cherished and known by him first and being grounded in who you are as a daughter of the father, but as the bride of Christ. And then spiritual motherhood can flow out of that because we can't give what we don't have. You know, you think of the best mothers are not just physical mothers. They don't just take care of the physical needs of their children. Even physical mothers are spiritual mothers.
- [17:53]
Sister Miriam
That's right.
- [17:54]
Sister Mary Dominic
They're caring for the needs of the whole person that's in front of them, you know, and you think about the best women, they care for all of, of the person that's in front of them, not just their physical needs, not just their emotional needs or whatever it is. And so, and so I think sometimes we have to widen our understanding of like what is motherhood, especially in a society that's so busy, you know, where motherhood can be reduced to these children and making sure that they have all the things they need to succeed in the world. And that's certainly part of it.
- [18:32]
Sister Miriam
Something I've been struck by as I'm living the religious life is seeing women who are married and have children of their own actually also practicing spiritual motherhood, not just for their own children, but in a wider sense, spiritual motherhood. I'll see it happening. And we're both teachers, we have colleagues and I'll. And some, some people really have a special gift for, for embracing a large number of people and assisting them along in a motherly way in the spiritual life. And I'll see that. And I think, wow, that's a spiritual mother. Even though it's, it's not necessarily a sister. But, but all different states could practice spiritual motherhood. And it's beautiful to see different examples of that.
- [19:26]
Sister Mary Dominic
Yes. And we're supposed to, you know, that's how God created us. To be is to be able to welcome the person that's in front of us. And we get to do that on a more universal level. Right. Because we're consecrated to Christ and so our self donation to him and love is going to bear fruit for many people, you know, people that we will never meet are going to be impacted by the graces, you know, of our surrender to Christ, of our sacrifices that we make. And so, and so it's like this spiritual motherhood that all women are called to, but ours is almost kind of stretched to a universal dimension.
- [20:12]
Sister Miriam
And we have a great role model in our lady in being able to ask her to help us to be spiritual mothers.
- [20:22]
Sister Mary Dominic
Yes.
- [20:23]
Sister Miriam
And she of course is always interceding for us, us and leading us towards her son. And I wonder how, what part does Mary play in your life and as a guide and how, how do you, how do you turn to her? In what ways do you, do you seek her help?
- [20:43]
Sister Mary Dominic
You know, Mary is so uncomplicated and we are
- [20:51]
Sister Miriam
sister. Yes.
- [20:52]
Sister Mary Dominic
And so I, you know, we, through our consecration to Mary that our community makes. I think it's just so simple and so beautiful to Be able to just hand her all of who I am, everything that I earn, everything that I am, and allow her to make it something beautiful for Jesus. And I think that that encourages me and my own spiritual motherhood of, you know, especially with children, you know, that you're teaching in the classroom, you're like, sometimes they are a mess, you know, it's just like I'm a sometimes, you know, and. And to be able to. To accept and welcome that. That messiness that they are and realize that something beautiful can be brought out of. And something beautiful is there in the messiness, you know, and Our lady isn't afraid of it. And we don't need to be afraid of our own mess or the messes in front of us either.
- [21:54]
Sister Miriam
Sister, you mentioned the consecration, and I think it's a beautiful practice and devotion for anyone who would love to grow in love of Our lady, in love of our Lord, and to grow in spiritual motherhood. Maybe could you just give a little rundown about what the consecration to Our lady is? Because anyone can do it. It's not just for sisters. And maybe some of our listeners would be interested to do it.
- [22:21]
Sister Mary Dominic
Yes, they might be. So the consecration that we make is according to St. Louis de Montfort. And so he has a preparation that he wrote and envisioned for how to entrust yourself to Jesus through the hands of Mary. Making your own life a gift to Mary and allowing her to give it to Jesus because she is the only one who can come before God without any pretenses. And she can. And she can make our. Our life beautiful for God. So there are lots of ways to prepare yourself for that consecration and, and to make it and. And then it's a way to live your life really with freedom. Knowing that. Knowing that I've given everything and I don't need to be like, white knuckling my way through things, you know, like trying to practice virtue more and more and more. Like I. Obviously we still have to work on things, but realizing that I've given everything to Mary. But then also she's going to be my special advocate. She's going to be my special help on my way to heaven.
- [23:39]
Sister Miriam
Thank you, Sister. So you're a teacher, and I'd like to hear some reflections on how does your spiritual motherhood play out in the classroom with your fresh, your fourth graders. What is your greatest desire for your students?
- [24:01]
Sister Mary Dominic
Yeah, I want each and every one of my students to know and love Jesus Christ for all their life, to know him well now, to form a friendship with him. So that they have that for the rest of their lives, because at the end of the day, that's all that matters, is that they know him and love Him. And so I love having conversation with. With them about the faith. I love praying with them. One of my favorite ways to watch the Lord work in their lives is to take them to adoration. We go once a week, and we just spend time in quiet, so teaching them, like, the postures of prayer, like how to kneel, how to sit, how to do the Fatima prostration. Children love that. To make themselves small before God and. And then to give them just little tools to be able to start to have a conversation with Jesus. Some of them have very vibrant relationships with him already. You know, we're. We're made for God. And so if they haven't had things put in the way of their relationship with him, it's very natural for them to want to talk with him and be with Him. You know, it gets more complicated as we get older. But when you're nine and ten, like, it's still. They're open. They're still innocent, and they're still open.
- [25:27]
Sister Miriam
Do you give them certain guidance of their prayer time that you're taking them down to adoration?
- [25:33]
Sister Mary Dominic
Yeah.
- [25:33]
Sister Miriam
What do you. What do you ask them to do or teach them to do while they're in the chapel before our Lord?
- [25:39]
Sister Mary Dominic
Yeah, I usually give them a question to ask Jesus. And so it will usually be related to like. Like the liturgical season that we're in or maybe a feast, feast day that we're going to celebrate soon. And I just have them ask that question to Jesus, and I say and listen for his answer. So some of the questions might be like, Jesus, what is. Like, what was your favorite part of being a boy, you know, when you were my age?
- [26:06]
Sister Miriam
Like, so they go to the chapel and they. And they ask.
- [26:08]
Sister Mary Dominic
And they ask that question just quietly in their heart. Or sometimes I'll have them ask questions like, Jesus, what's your favorite thing about me? You know, Or Jesus, what's your favorite thing about Mary or Jesus, what is heaven gonna be like? Just teaching them to kind of open that door to Christ and to make conversation with him normal. And then at the same time, to have reverence before what God is doing in their own soul. So a lot of times I won't ask. Ask them what Jesus said.
- [26:41]
Sister Miriam
Okay.
- [26:42]
Sister Mary Dominic
So sometimes they'll want to share. Sometimes they'll be really eager to share what Jesus said. Sometimes I'll ask them, especially if I think that they're Goofing around or things like that. But, but most of the time I just, I don't, I don't ask, I don't pry. Just because children have a real spiritual life, they have a real relationship with God. And just like you and I don't want to be forced into sharing that. I never force them to share either. You know, like if we do journaling exercises, like, they'll always ask, sister, are you going to look at these or not? You know, like some things they do want to keep just between them, between them and Jesus. And so just to have reverence for what God is doing in, in their souls and that very real relationship that they have with him.
- [27:33]
Sister Miriam
And I think it's very motherly. You're observing them and you're seeing God work in them and you know that he is and that he's transforming their hearts. And you're praying for them.
- [27:47]
Sister Mary Dominic
Yes.
- [27:48]
Sister Miriam
And you're doing what you can to facilitate it. But ultimately it's God's work and they're in his hands. I think sometimes we get the feeling like, ah, like this needs to change now in our spiritual children or our children or ourselves.
- [28:08]
Sister Mary Dominic
Yes. We get so used to having proof of things, especially in the world that we live in, where you can have answers to a question so quickly, to just allow it to be slow and allow it to be hidden. It's nice when you get the glimpses of what God is doing in their soul.
- [28:27]
Sister Miriam
Do you have any stories?
- [28:28]
Sister Mary Dominic
Yeah, I have many.
- [28:30]
Sister Miriam
You have tons of stories.
- [28:31]
Sister Mary Dominic
Have a lot of stories. There was one time we went to adoration and it must have been close to Thanksgiving time or like the virtue of the week was gratitude or something like that. I had asked them just thank Jesus for as many things as you can think of. And it was so sweet. In the Adoration chapel, they're all like staring at the monstrance and their fingers are going like this. They're counting all the things that they can think of to be grateful. And afterwards they were like, sister, I thought of 25 things. Sister, I thought of 70. Sister, I thought of 105, you know, all these different numbers. And so they were so excited about it. And later on in the day we were lining up to go somewhere and the boy who was in the front of the line, he said, sister, I thought of 73 things that I was grateful for in adoration today. I said, that's great. Out of all of those things, which one is your favorite gift that Jesus has given you? And he just looked at me and he said him. And I just. Tears sprung to my eyes because I thought, he gets it. You know, he gets it. He has this relationship with Christ, and he. You know, I never would have said that. He was the most prayerful boy in my class, you know, but, yeah, those little glimpses are so powerful. And that answer from him was spot on, you know, Mine was. Mine was such a superficial question of, like, which one of those things is your favorite? It's like, well, Jesus, this is the
- [29:59]
Sister Miriam
best gift, obviously, you know,
- [30:03]
Sister Mary Dominic
so to get. Yeah. To get glimpses of what God is doing, their soul is really powerful. I remember one time we were talking about St. Joseph and going through the life. It was. Must have been his feast day. And we were going through the life of St. Joseph and just talking about him. And we got to the part where, you know, he marries Mary, and we talked about how in Jewish custom, they. A man and woman got married, and then that they didn't live together. The man went and, like, built the house and got it ready, and then when it was all ready, then the wife would come and they would make a home together. So we were talking about that, and one of the girls said, sister, it's so interesting that they did it that way. I said, yeah, it is really interesting. But isn't it kind of beautiful that the man would, like, prepare this beautiful home for his wife and then welcome her into it? And one of the boys, he raised his hand, he goes, yeah, Sister, just like, Jesus is getting heaven ready for us. And I thought, oh, my gosh, that's so true. You know, I thought it was such a beautiful revelation.
- [31:03]
Sister Miriam
Very scriptural.
- [31:04]
Sister Mary Dominic
Yes.
- [31:05]
Sister Miriam
He's going to prepare a place for you.
- [31:07]
Sister Mary Dominic
Exactly. He says it in John's Gospel, you know, that I go to prepare a place for you, and I will come and take you to myself. That where I am, you will also be. Yes. And such. Yeah. Like, you can't say that and not know who Jesus is, you know? You know, talking about heaven with children, you know, sometimes we get wrapped up on the question of, like, oh, what is heaven gonna be like? And, like, is. Is this gonna be there and is
- [31:36]
Sister Miriam
my dog gonna be there?
- [31:37]
Sister Mary Dominic
Exactly. All these questions. But the more that they grow in relationship with Christ, the less those questions kind of occupy them. And the idea of being with Jesus is actually enough for them. They're like, it's actually. That sounds amazing.
- [31:53]
Sister Miriam
Wow.
- [31:54]
Sister Mary Dominic
And they. They. They know that Jesus can make them happy, you know?
- [31:59]
Sister Miriam
Yeah. Sister, I have to admit, I'd love to see you in Action. I'm a high school teacher, so I.
- [32:05]
Sister Mary Dominic
It's a little different. It's a little different.
- [32:08]
Sister Miriam
And we do spiritual motherhood there, too. It's. It's. It's different than for the younger ones, but it is. It's such a blessing to accompany people in the spiritual life. And I love just meeting people where they're at. And if you're teaching in a big high school, I was at one. There was 1200 kids, and they're all at different places, and some of them are not close to God or have rejected God, and some of them are open to God, and some of them are very faithfully practicing their faith and just discovering who they are. I love discovering who they are, where they're at, and how can I accompany them towards greater love of God. And I. And I love being able to do that. I'd love to see you in action with the little ones.
- [33:05]
Sister Mary Dominic
They're a lot of fun. They're a lot of fun, Sister.
- [33:09]
Sister Miriam
Now we're gonna end off with. Oh, actually, can you. We are going to do the speed round.
- [33:15]
Sister Mary Dominic
Okay, great.
- [33:16]
Sister Miriam
We are. But I want you to just think about. What spiritual advice do you want to tell our listeners today? What would be something that you want to say for their encouragement in the spiritual life?
- [33:38]
Sister Mary Dominic
Yeah, I would say carve out space for silence in your life so that you can learn how to know his voice and then learn how to speak with Jesus as a friend. And, you know, all three persons of the Trinity. Learn how to talk with God, your father, Learn how to speak with the Holy Spirit. And there's a lot. I mean, there's multitudinous resources out there of how to do that, but it really is a matter of. Of. Of carving out that time and space for silence so that you can learn how to hear his voice and. And hear him speak to you.
- [34:18]
Sister Miriam
And he wants to, and he will.
- [34:19]
Sister Mary Dominic
Yes. He's always speaking to us, and. And. And to realize that we can't live without that. We can't live without that.
- [34:27]
Sister Miriam
Thank you, Sister. Okay, speed round time.
- [34:30]
Sister Mary Dominic
Okay, I'm ready.
- [34:31]
Sister Miriam
Okay, here we go. What is your favorite liturgical season and why?
- [34:37]
Sister Mary Dominic
I love Advent because I love. I just love waiting for Jesus. The whole life of a religious is waiting for Jesus. And so it's just like all of the waiting for Jesus that I do, my whole life is concentrated into a liturgical season. So I love it.
- [34:55]
Sister Miriam
Do you have a hobby?
- [34:57]
Sister Mary Dominic
I love to cook. It's one of my favorite things. Yeah.
- [35:01]
Sister Miriam
I am grateful for people like you. What is Your favorite game at the moment?
- [35:08]
Sister Mary Dominic
My favorite game at the moment is a card game called Hand and Foot. Have you played before?
- [35:14]
Sister Miriam
I have, yes. I like that one. We should play later.
- [35:17]
Sister Mary Dominic
Do you want to?
- [35:17]
Sister Miriam
We should. What's a book that has impacted your spiritual life that you would recommend besides the Bible?
- [35:24]
Sister Mary Dominic
Okay. I. I think the one that comes to my mind is a book called Swift Victory by Father Walter. Walter Farrell, and it's about the gifts of the Holy Spirit, and it really helped me see how the gifts of the Holy Spirit were active in my own life. Great.
- [35:42]
Sister Miriam
What is your favorite title of Our lady and why?
- [35:47]
Sister Mary Dominic
I love her title, Gate of Heaven. And just realizing that heaven is our home and that she's the one who. Who opens the gate for us by welcoming Jesus.
- [35:58]
Sister Miriam
What age group do you most enjoy teaching and why?
- [36:02]
Sister Mary Dominic
I've enjoyed every. Every age that I've taught, but fourth grade is really the best.
- [36:06]
Sister Miriam
That's the sweet spot.
- [36:07]
Sister Mary Dominic
Yeah, it's the sweet spot.
- [36:10]
Sister Miriam
If you could have dinner with any saint, who would it be and what would you ask them?
- [36:17]
Sister Mary Dominic
It would be St. Dominic, of course. And I would ask him a lot of things, but I think I would ask how he. How he learned to love God the way that he did. I would just love to know, like, his spiritual journey, because we don't. We don't know so much about his interior life, so I would just love to know more about that name an
- [36:43]
Sister Miriam
activity that brings you peace and refreshes your spirit.
- [36:49]
Sister Mary Dominic
I play the piano, so I really enjoy playing piano.
- [36:52]
Sister Miriam
Sister, how did I not know this?
- [36:55]
Sister Mary Dominic
I do enjoy playing the piano.
- [36:58]
Sister Miriam
Wow. Okay.
- [37:00]
Sister Mary Dominic
Learned something new. I did.
- [37:01]
Sister Miriam
I learned some things in the speed round and beyond. Sister, thank you so much for coming and sharing with us your reflections, and it's so beautiful. I feel inspired to hear your love of. Of spiritual motherhood. So thank you so much, and we want to encourage all of our listeners today. If you think of somebody in your family or your friends who might benefit from hearing our conversation hearing this podcast, please, please. We encourage you to pass it along, and our greatest hope would be that we can help people love and know our Lord. Please be assured of the sister's prayers for you and for your family and for your intentions. God bless you and have a great Sam.