MELISSA INTRODUCES her orchestra students
(left) to the Springfield Dominicans during a
tour of the motherhouse in Springfield, Illinois.
She said that when she first began her candidacy it was hard to be away from teaching and
that she needed a “kid fix.”
AFTER HER RITE OF INITIATION into the novitiate, Melissa found a stream of sisters ready to
welcome her (below).
ment process as a time of growing
into that invitation. Melissa says she
gave her “yes” to religious life when
she walked through the motherhouse
door, but she has to recommit herself
daily.
She also said “yes” to the Springfield Dominican community. They welcomed Melissa as a candidate because
they thought she would be a good fit
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for their congregation, and they continued to prayerfully assess the relationship, just as Melissa did in a spirit of
mutual, communal discernment.
Take a walk on the water
One Bible passage that has inspired
Melissa throughout her transition is
the story from Matthew 14 in which
Jesus invites Peter to walk on water.
She feels that God is persistently calling her to have courage, to get out
of the boat. In order to get to Jesus,
she, like Peter, has to leave behind a
secure and familiar environment. For
Melissa, this meant giving up her job
and career path and accepting a new,
undefined identity. “When you make
a big change like I did, all the labels,
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