Motivated by Enthusiasm
by Sister Mary Rathert, OP
Professed in 1963
Whenever I am asked the question, “Why did you enter religious life," I have to think long and hard to remember. I was 18 and had just graduated from high school. That was a common age for women to begin religious life “way back then.” I have come to know over many years that 18 is a pretty immature age. So my motivation was based on the youthful enthusiasm of wanting to give my total self to God and to the work of God. I also experienced our Sisters as happy, joyful women, who liked being together, laughed a lot, studied hard, and were absolutely in love with God. However, I’m sure that I had many mixed motives and some not so noble. As an only child, I think I was drawn to community where I knew I would have a built-in family. Did this life present a security that I longed for? I will never be able to unearth all my reasons for entering the community, but I do know it has been the right decision for more than 40 years.
For me, the more significant question is “Why do you stay?” I have had many good friends leave, and I’ve known the sadness of saying good-bye to people with whom I thought I’d share the rest of my life in this community. But I stay because this life has brought me love, life, fulfillment, joy, and so many opportunities to pour my heart and energy into what our mission statement says: building a holy and just society. I have been mentored by wonderful prayerful, intelligent, radical, fun-loving women. My mind and my heart continue to be stretched every day. The Sisters with whom I share community and who I call friends continue to be companions in the ongoing search and discovery of who our gracious God is. The many people that I have been privileged to work with across the United States have also been companions in this lifelong search and have taught me so much.
My ministries have taken me in a number of directions—high school teaching, pastoral ministry, vocation work, province leadership, and now most recently, a director of a day center for homeless and low-income women in Spokane, Washington. This present ministry has been and is both the most challenging and the most rewarding. Every day I am so aware of seeing the face of Christ in those who are most forgotten, the most vulnerable, and the most abused in our society. The women have taught me about compassion, patience, forgiveness, and community. I have also come to realize more deeply how we are all so connected to one another. We have so much more in common that we have differences. We all long for love, acceptance, peace, friendship, and most importantly, a relationship with God/Higher Power/Creator or whatever name individuals use to speak of this Presence in their lives. And God’s abundant love embraces us all no matter who we are or where we have come from.
I am grateful every day for my Sinsinawa Dominican life and the Sisters with whom I have shared this life for over 40 years.