Sinsinawa
Spectrum
A Congregation News Magazine
New Life in Spokane
by Betty Kugi, OP
From left: Srs. Marie Celeste Gatti, Mary Rathert, Marilyn Kruse, and Helen Martin at the Dominican Center in Spokane.
Marie Celeste Gatti, OP, captured wonderful pictures of the Dominican Center, Spokane, in the snow. We were buried this winter and had over 75 inches of white stuff in less than a month! It was beautiful, but by the New Year we were climbing the walls with cabin fever!
The Sisters from Siena House joined us for Sunday liturgies and dinner. On Jan. 13 we had a breath of fresh air! Three Sisters came from the Mound to join us in community. Ruth Roland, OP; Marie Celeste; and Mary Pat Marcos, OP, came to what they described as a “winter wonderland.” They were enchanted with the beauty and entertained by the wildlife. This winter, we were encouraged to feed deer because there was so much snow. We had a small herd which included two three-legged deer. Many times the deer would join us for prayer.
In mid-April, the tulips and daffodils began to bloom as well as the magnolia trees outside the library. On April 13, we greeted Helen Martin, OP, who came to be our coordinator.
Sheila Fitzgerald, OP, who works with Transitions ministries, opened the New Leaf Bakery Café at the new Catholic Charities building. It is a job-training venture for women sponsored by Transitions. As the name suggests, it is hoped that this experience will help these women learn new work skills so that they will be able to find employment in the food industry.
May also brings the Bloomsday Race, which this year had over 51,000 participants, among them our own Barbara Baehr, OP; Maisie Bauer Marshall and her daughter Abby; and staff and friends from the Women’s Hearth. They stopped to say “hello” along with relatives of Mary Jane Para, OP; and our deceased Consuelo Fissler, OP; and friends of the Sisters from Montana, Spokane, Colville, Chewelah, and even Dubuque! Those who were out to cheer them on shared some cookies and encouraging words. This is a long tradition at the Dominican Center and many racers tell us they look for us before tackling “Doom’s Day Hill!”
This year, Mary Pat Marcos and Patricia Sullivan, OP, joined us for our spring regional in Glacier National Park. Fifteen of us were able to share our reflections on the Scriptures and the book Quest for the Living God. We took in the beauty of the park and McDonald Lake, shared dinner, celebrated Sheila and Pat’s jubilees, responded to the governance form, and planned for our next regional.
On June 7, as the diamond jubilarians at the Mound celebrated, we gathered our jubilarians and friends at the Dominican Center in Spokane. K C Young, OP; and Mary Rathert, OP, led us in praising and giving thanks with organ and voice while we honored Mary Esther Becker, OP; Alberta Nett, OP; and Fidelis Weber, OP. The chapel was full. Sheila Fitzgerald was our golden jubilarian. The day was a blessing in so many ways. It was a day when our last three Sisters from Germany were all able to be present to celebrate. It was a reunion of family and so many old friends. It was a time of storytelling and a celebration planned and executed by our “Spokanawa” community.
We are looking forward to the summer and hope that others will come to visit Spokane. It is a wonderful opportunity to see the beautiful Northwest and to get to know our Sisters in Spokane and learn the truth of our image for our ministry. It is also an opportunity to be among those who bring new life to the Dominican Center.