Springfield Dominicans Welcome Sister Kelly Moline During 800^th Anniversary Year of the Order of Preachers

Sister Kelly Moline professed her first vows during the Eucharistic liturgy today at Sacred Heart Convent during the 800^th jubilee year for the Order of Preachers. Her pronunciation of vows came in response to the question asked her by Sister Rebecca Ann Gemma, prioress general: “In your desire to follow Christ, are you resolved to live in chastity for the sake of the Reign of God, to choose a life of poverty, and to offer the sacrifice of obedience?”

Sister Kelly’s first profession marks the end of one journey and the beginning of another. She has completed three years of initial formation in Dominican consecrated life, learned about a life of religious consecration, deepened her prayer, and grown in appreciation of and comfort with a Dominican life centered on prayer, study, and community life for the sake of the preaching of the Gospel of Jesus Christ. She begins the next step in her continuing discernment during the three years of temporary profession to which she has committed herself. Perpetual vows—should that be Kelly’s ultimate desire and agreed to by the congregation—may be requested after five years of temporary profession.

Moving to Chicago

Soon Sister Kelly will join her new community at St. Martin DePorres Convent on the south side of Chicago and delve more deeply into the Dominican charism of study as she begins a Master of Arts degree in Pastoral Studies at Catholic Theological Union.

She is, characteristically, enthusiastic about every aspect of her new life. “I’m excited about how my mind and heart for God will continue to be stretched and expanded and deepened through relationships with neighbors, my new community, classmates, professors, and the random people I meet on public transportation,” she muses.

Sister Kelly’s parents, Kevin and Cindy Moline, Glendale, Ariz., raised Sister Kelly and her brother Jay in Minnesota, Florida, Iowa, and Missouri. “I was itinerant before I knew what that was,” Sister Kelly quipped, referring to the Dominican’s need to be willing to move anywhere to fulfill the preaching mission of the order.

A wandering life…

After completing a bachelor’s degree in gerontology from Missouri State University, Springfield, Mo., in 2005 Sister Kelly worked in continuing care retirement communities in St. Louis and Southbury, Conn., before taking the position that synced her coordinates with several Springfield Dominican Sisters.

“I moved to Springfield for work in 2009 and kept bumping into Springfield Dominicans at the retirement community where I worked, the Springfield Area Young Adult Mass, and at Cursillo in Quincy,” she recalls. “I’d been thinking about religious life already. The joy I saw in those first three sisters I met—Sister Maxine, Sister Concepta, and Sister Loyola—made me want to learn more about Dominican life. Now here I am!”

Sister Kelly on the Dominican Pillars

“Dominicans talk a lot about “the four pillars” of our lives: Prayer. Study. Preaching. Common life. Here’s how Sister Kelly has come to think about them.

“Prayer is what grounds me.  During my time of formation I experienced many different local communities and ministries. I lived in different regions of the US and the world. Without the intimate time I spent with God AND the prayers of my sisters I think my experiences would have been very different.”

 

“I love to quote my formation director. Sister Joye Gros, who is the co-director of the Collaborative Dominican Novitiate in St. Louis, was famous for repeating ‘we study for the sake of transformation.’ I think she was right!”

 

“So much of preaching [bringing the Gospel to life in the world] is relational. Sometimes preaching is as simple as allowing someone else to be heard.”

“Community, or common life, is about being who you are and being ok with that! Community has allowed me to develop this recognition, and has led to a deep sense of knowing that I belong in religious life, and in religious life as a Dominican Sister of Springfield. I have experienced community as a way to pray, play, and serve God TOGETHER in a way that just fills me with life!”