I had mixed feelings about attending the Dominican Sisters Conference Futuring Cohort Gathering, held July 9–15, 2026, in St. Catharine, Kentucky.  The program allowed for Dominican Sisters, member of the Dominican Sisters Conference to gather, pray and celebrate our Dominican Heritage. I was looking forward to reconnecting with sisters from Peace and sisters from some other Dominican congregations.  I was not looking forward to Kentucky weather in July.

Fortunately, the weather wasn’t as hot as the forecast predicted.  I had a wonderful, prayerful time full of learning, synodal conversation, reconnection, relaxation, and tons of laughs. 

I also had mixed feelings about writing a blog about my experience, as I had jettisoned many of my notes to make my travel home lighter. So you'll get a look at the things that stayed with me without notes - mental snapshots of our beautiful Kentucky motherhouse and the people whose company I enjoyed.

Sr. Patricia Connick, OP helped me appreciate the origin of the universe, protons and neutrons, and the periodic table of the elements.  I think I missed that day in high school and would have loved to have had her as a science teacher.  She shared her research with us and connected all this science talk to religious life and the formation of something new.

The Dominican Sisters of Peace in Kentucky graciously welcomed our group into their home.  Shadow, a feral kitty that lives on the grounds of the mother house, who I am told is very particular with her affections, allowed me to pet her. 

The land was so green and beautiful on the grounds of the Kentucky Mother House and around the Farm… I felt myself comparing Kentucky to my home state of Vermont.  Both are equally rural and equally lovely.  I was thrilled to be out of a city and into an area with two-lane roads and no traffic jams, save those caused by road construction.

The real point of the gathering was to allow younger sisters from different Dominican congregations precious time to connect, to establish relationships, and to talk about our ideas for the future of Dominican Life.  Spoiler alert: we all think there will be a future Dominican life.

The organizing team came up with great questions for table discussion.

• What keeps your candle burning?

• What’s your why?

• What motivates you?

• What inspires you? Call, Joy, Potential for Growth, Drawing Nearer to God.  Jousting with Windmills, or a passion for how things should be but are not.

I was asked to define what my hope for the week was… and it was wide.  To laugh, to bring laughter, to enjoy respite from the Dumpster Fires that sometimes come about from being human and alive. 

I learned a few things about myself at one of our table discussions by defining for others at my table how I view the world. I minister as an accountant at our founded college in Connecticut, Albertus Magnus College.  Accountants earn a living categorizing things like expenses.  Because that's how I spend my workday, I sometimes put things in boxes in my personal life too…

Animals, good. Kentucky in July…well, I covered that earlier. 

As one wise friend of mine is known to say…God’s middle name is “Surprise.”

Just look at the picture of two of the four farm donkeys.  Turns out donkeys make great guard animals for cattle - who knew? We were supposed to get two and oops …we have four.

I also stepped away from the meetings one day, signed out a car, and drove to Louisville to visit the Kentucky Derby Museum at Churchill Downs. I found myself in this place that I never dreamed I would see in person. I have been around trail horses, and I used to volunteer with a therapy horse organization, so if I was going to Kentucky, I absolutely had to see the place where Golden Tempo’s Trainer, Cherie Devaux, made history.

The St. Catharine Motherhouse is in the heart of the Kentucky Holy Land. We share that fertile ground with other congregations of Catholic Sisters who, like the Dominican Sisters of Peace, helped to launch the Catholic faith across the entire American frontier. This rich history provides some wonderful places to visit as well.

Some of us were blessed to have the chance to visit the Trappist Monastery where Thomas Merton is buried.

Others attended morning mass at St. Rose Church, the cradle of the first congregation of Dominican Sisters in the United States (formed in 1822.) I lit a couple of candles in prayer and memory of some of my relatives who have “gone to God,” as some sisters in my house refer to their beloved dead. 

As I said before, I did not expect to write about my experience in Kentucky.  I did save some notes that I thought particularly inspiring…

• We are called to be something new. 

• We need to be brave.  When we are together, we are not afraid. 

• We are “Sisters” no matter the congregation. 

• We are co-creators with God. It will be messy. When has anything God has done not been messy?  Example: The Cross.  That was messy. 

• Every voice is important. 

• It is about our lives. 

• We all entered religious life saying, “Yes to Whatever.”

My trip to Kentucky was such an enriching experience for me. I am grateful for the opportunity to have been there, and to be one of the women forming the future of the Dominican Order.

My first contact with the Dominican Sisters of Peace was a retreat at the Dominican Retreat and Conference Center in Niskayuna, NY. If you think you might be hearing a call to religious life and would like to create a time to reflect on the goodness of God’s presence in your life, we are offering a Come and See Discernment Retreat, October 2-4, 2026, at our Kentucky Motherhouse, the subject of this blog. For more information, contact my friend Sr. Ana Gonzalez, OP, at [email protected] or call or text her at 614-416-1922 or 475-224-0519.