The Trinity is community... we are created in the image of this community.

We exist to be in relationship - with God and with others.

Me :)

So, here I am. Over one month after my last post. No excuses... unless, of course you read my last post. *smile* 

Tonight I am brought to a reflection on relationships. But before I launch into that, let me tell you a little about what I'm up to these days...

First, the ministry for which I'm paid. What some people would call a "job", but I hesitate to say that. But, I digress. I am a campus minister in a residence hall at the Univ. of Dayton. It's the largest residence hall on campus - 1,100 residents to be exact, most of them first year students. I think I explained how that works in my last post. Anyway, needless to say, it keeps me fairly busy. My days are filled with building relationships, participating in planning meetings, running programs and praying with students. It's a great! It seems to be a good fit for my personality....

Second, I serve on a vocations committee for the Marianists. The committee has Marianist brothers, priests, sisters and members of the Lay Marianist community. We meet once a month to discuss efforts on campus to "get the word out" about Marianist life and provide opportunities for people to discern with us.

Then, there are opportunities for my personal formation/discernment. Yes, discernment. I professed first vows in June, this is true. However, until I profess final vows, I am still in initial formation and this continues to be a time of formation and discernment. So, there are formation retreats, meetings etc. This continues to be good for me also. 

In fact, last weekend I had the opportunity to attend an intercommunity formation weekend in Pennsylvania. This was a gathering of religious in formation with various congregations in the area - both male and female. There were Franciscans, Sisters of Notre Dame, Sisters of Charity, the Congregation of Saint Joseph... and MANY others. It was a WONDERFUL weekend. Our speaker for the weekend was Sr. Mary McCormick, OSU. She's a professor at a seminary in Cleveland. Our topic for the weekend? God.

Yep. You can't get more all-encompassing than that. 

It would be difficult to put all of what we did into a paragraph or two, but let's just say that we had time to reflect on what it means to be a people who believes in a Trinitarian God... how does that belief affect the way we live, pray, "do theology,"... everything, really.

And this is what brings me to relationship. 

Our lives... my life... is about right relationship - with God, with myself, with others. My ministry... it's about relationships. The vocation efforts? It's about relationships. My formation & discernment? You guessed it. It's about relationship.

With relationships being so key, I'm challenging myself to pay attention to them... nurture them and allow them to nurture me. 

Now... if I could just figure out how to make a day about 12-hours longer...

Many blessings to all who read this!!!

~Sr. N