Marinating in our Notre Dame Charism

Throughout the past two weeks I have marinated in the spirit of the Sisters of Notre Dame. Well, since I am a Sister of Notre, I am surrounded by the Notre Dame spirit all the time, but I mean the events of the past two weeks have left me supersaturated, drenched. First on July 3 we celebrated our sisters’ jubilees with prayer, photo ops, meal, and program. The spirit of ND is celebratory of one another. (“You aren’t going to put our Mardi Gras parade on Facebook, are you?”) Then on the next day we gathered for our annual Fourth of July picnic. The spirit of ND is loud. (“Bingo!” “Put a few more burgers on the grill!” “Last one to the pool!”) Following quickly was our annual province assembly, a time to look over the past year and look to the future, a time to share wisdom. The ND spirit was reflective, open, unifying. (“Thank you for sharing that.” “Let’s look at it another way.”) Then I was one of 20 participating in a Notre Dame spirituality retreat of six full days prepared by our own sisters. It was a time to look at our  founding and our charism. It was a time to examine under a microscope our DNA. And what did we see?  Whether 1850 or 2016 we saw these characteristics in our day to day living: obedience, humility, charity. We saw courage during the time of war and economic depression. We noted how the Cross of Christ has inspired us and been with us in every decade and continent. We proclaimed anew “How good is our good God!” And we deepened our trust in God’s provident care.