Sister Sarah Sharkey Speaks to Sisters
on Adrian Dominican Life in 21st Century
The Adrian Dominican Sisters on campus for the Congregation’s 125th anniversary celebration spent much of their Saturday listening and responding to an address about living and serving as Adrian Dominican Sisters in the 21st Century. The address was the culmination of the two-year Mother Camilla Madden Symposium on Religious Life in the 21st Century.
The Sisters gathered in Francoeur Theater at Siena Heights University after beginning the day with a welcome by Sister Donna Markham, OP, Prioress of the Congregation, and Morning Prayer with Adrian Dominican Associates and guests. Sister Donna introduced the speaker, Sister Sarah Ann Sharkey, OP, an Adrian Dominican Sister and professor of Biblical Studies at the Oblate School of Theology in San Antonio, Texas.
“This is a precious and grace-filled moment,” Sister Sarah said, outlining the foundation of the Adrian Dominican Congregation and the women who had been instrumental in bringing it to this point in its history. As beautiful as the past was, however, women religious today are facing a “profound paradigm shift” that challenges long and deeply-held assumptions on nearly every aspect of life. She compared the current situation of the Church to the Israelites who were exiled in Babylon, with all of the depth, intensity, massiveness and urgency of that ancient time of exile. However, Sister Sarah added, exile is also a time of profound hope and possibility.
Sister Sarah encouraged her Sisters to take on the challenge of this period of history. “We are the ones we’ve been waiting for,” she said, quoting the elders of the Hopi of Arizona. “This is our time. This is the time given to us, the only time you and I can make a difference. This is our time. How grateful we should be!” Sister Sarah urged the Sisters, in their response to the needs of the time, not to take anything personally and to act communally. “The time of the lone wolf is over.”
She noted the call of women religious to take on the prophetic dimension of religious life, to “hear the word of God and act on it.” The biblical prophets did not ask for this role, and most tried to decline it, but ultimately they responded to God’s call, glimpsed God’s vision of the world, and spoke out on behalf of justice. Women religious must also take on this risky role, relying on God’s promise to the prophets to be with them and help them.
Sister Sarah noted the two-fold message of prophets. Biblical prophets issued challenges and critiques to the people of their day: revealing the idols, the false gods, that their society served instead of the real God; confronting people with the truth; reminding the people of how their ways differed from God’s ways, God’s call for justice. Prophets are also called to bring the people a message of hope: hope for God’s promise of a better future.
During the afternoon session, Sister Sarah focused on two examples of courageous and pious prophetesses: Mary of Nazareth and her kinswoman, Elizabeth. She spoke with pride and appreciation of the statue of a young Mary setting off “in haste” to visit her cousin Elizabeth. The statue, dedicated in 2007 and situated at the entrance to Madden Hall, depicts Mary “on mission” to visit her cousin Elizabeth.
Taking Mary “off her pedestal,” Sister Sarah introduced her audience to a young woman from a small village in Palestine, an occupied territory of the Roman Empire. The world would have considered Mary to be an “insignificant woman,” the wife of a village craftsman and mother of an itinerant preacher – and finally, a widow, the very symbol of powerlessness. Yet, “God stepped into the ordinariness of Mary’s life” and invited her to take a very risky step: to be an unwed mother in a society that did not accept such women. Mary had “courage to make an incredible act of faith” in responding to God’s call to be the mother of the Savior, Jesus.
Sister Sarah noted that Elizabeth, the mother of John the Baptist, follows in a long line of strong biblical women – such as Sarah, Hannah, Judith and Esther – who responded to God’s call. Elizabeth, filled with “quiet joy,” gives her own fiats to Mary, proclaiming her blessed twice. In response, Mary sings out her Magnificat, her “song of vindication” for those who are oppressed. But, Sister Sarah explained, Mary’s view of justice is not a “reversal of the status quo” in which those who have been on top in society are brought down, but a vision of inclusion. “God wants everybody at the table.”
After a short break, the Sisters reassembled to give their response to Sister Sarah’s talk and to give their own views on the way they envision their lives as Adrian Dominican Sisters in the 21st Century. Many viewed Sister Sarah’s talk and the discussion that followed as an initial preparation for the next General Chapter, scheduled for February 2010. During General Chapter, Adrian Dominican Sisters assemble to set the direction for the next six years and to elect a new Prioress and General Council.