By Jenny Beatrice, Director of Communications
Sister Kristina DeNeve was formally accepted into the novitiate at a ceremony on July 3 at the motherhouse. For the next part of her journey, she will attend the Federation Novitiate in Rochester, New York, from July 31, 2019 to May 31, 2020.
S. Kristina is excited about the experience and looks forward to the opportunity to live in community with four other CSJ novices, spend time in prayer and “shovel much, much snow.”
She says, “I am looking forward to the ways God might grow me during this next year, even though that means I am likely to experience the pain of change … Inner work is good, but challenging.”
Another challenge for S. Kristina is saying goodbye to the sisters, associates and staff she has come to know and love during her six-month stay at the motherhouse in St. Louis. “I hope and pray for joyful reunions this December and next June,” she says.
However, the miles cannot separate S. Kristina from the support of the CSJ community, and she asks that all hold her in prayer during this “intense, awesome life period.”
There may be many unknowns ahead for her in the novitiate, but S. Kristina is confident she is headed in the right direction. “One sister recently told me that the novitiate is where I belong right now. She is so right. There is nowhere else I ‘belong’ more than Rochester at this point in my life's journey.”