The Virtuous Life with Sr. John Dominic, OP of Disciple of Christ-Education in Virtue
God had a virtuous plan for Sr. John Dominic Rasmussen, OP.
Sr. John Dominic grew up in a non-religious household. Her life transformed when she began attending a Christian school and reading the Bible as a child.
Eventually, Sr. John Dominic converted to Catholicism and joined the Nashville Dominicans. Fifteen years later, she and three other Sisters established the Dominican Sisters of Mary, Mother of the Eucharist in Ann Arbor, Michigan.
Join us for the inaugural episode of the Mamas in Spirit “Women of Wisdom” series! Be inspired by Sr. John Dominic as she explores themes such as conversion, prayer, patience, trust in the slow work of God, and ultimately, how to lead a virtuous life.
St. Gregory of Nyssa said, “The goal of living a virtuous life is to become more like God.” May we—by the grace of God—do just this!
"Disciple of Christ, Education in Virtue” provides easy-to-use resources and materials developed by the Dominican Sisters of Mary Mother of the Eucharist, and based on St. Thomas Aquinas' teaching on the virtues and gifts of the Holy Spirit. These resources provide a framework that helps all ages understand how to live a more virtuous life. Learn more at https://openlightmedia.com.
Transcript:
Lindy Wynne (00:01.418)
Welcome to Mamas in Spirit, a podcast pointing you towards God in everything you are and everything you do. I'm Lindy Wynne and it's a blessing to be with you. Hello everyone. Welcome to this mini retreat and a podcast. And sometimes I feel like my smile is so big that it's going to like come off of me because I am just delighted today. My heart is just filled with hope.
and gratitude to God to be here with Sister John Dominic. Sister John Dominic thank you for joining us. Well, and we are in a series, women of wisdom, and I am just so excited about our time together today because I just know that God has generous wisdom to pour out on us through you, Sister John Dominic. And I was just praying for us before we started, and I said in our prayer that I am a convert.
Sr. John Dominic (00:33.058)
Thank you. It's my pleasure.
Lindy Wynne (00:54.359)
to Catholicism and really to the faith. I was not raised in a religious home. And so the opportunity to be with someone like you, Sister John Dominic, and to learn from you is just such a blessing.
Sr. John Dominic (01:05.89)
Thank you.
Lindy Wynne (01:07.521)
And I would like to take a moment to recognize that you are a Nashville Dominican.
Sr. John Dominic (01:12.014)
No, actually Ann Arbor, Mary Mother of the Eucharist. Dominican Sisters, the Mary Mother of the Eucharist. Yes. That's all right. But I started out as a national Dominican, so you are correct. And that, yes, that's all right. That's a whole other story behind how our community came into existence, yes.
Lindy Wynne (01:16.223)
Well, good thing I made a mistake so that you could correct me.
Lindy Wynne (01:24.71)
I'm half correct.
Lindy Wynne (01:32.959)
Okay, because you were telling me what is it called because I kind of joked around and said like a campus, a satellite campus.
Sr. John Dominic (01:38.657)
Oh, there's mission locations, right. So, so they have different locations where they are. But I started out as a Nashville Dominican, happily entered there right after high school. But then there were four of us that were there and we started a new community under John Cardinal Connor in New York in 1997. And then we were led here to Ann Arbor, Michigan, where we've
There were four of us in 1997 and there's over 130 of us now. So we have great roots there with the National Dominicans. It's a beautiful community and they do such wonderful work for the church. So I'm so happy that you able to interact with them because they're fantastic. Yeah. Well, me too. As you're starting there, me too. I mean, I went to St. Cecilia. I went to St. Cecilia Academy. So I'm all with you. Yes.
Lindy Wynne (02:22.257)
yeah, it's been one of the greatest blessings to my heart and my life, moving to the Nashville area. Yeah, you especially.
Lindy Wynne (02:33.012)
Yes, the word that comes to mind for me though is a word from scripture that refers to the Lord, which is way maker and we are called to follow in God's hopefully Jesus's footprints. And that's what I think of you as a way maker by the grace of God, how beautiful and to think how this community has grown. So Sister John Dominic in that spirit and the Holy Spirit, I would love for you to start us in prayer.
Sr. John Dominic (02:53.848)
Thank you so much. Okay, name of the Father and Son and the Holy Spirit, amen. Heavenly Father, we thank you for bringing us together today using this means of technology that we can have this conversation where your Holy Spirit will unite us to bring us together and unite all those who may be joining, listening to this conversation. We ask that you send forth your Holy Spirit upon.
both of us that our words that we may speak may be words that may touch the hearts of those that are here that are seeking to know you, to love you more fully. And we entrust all of this to our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. And in His name we pray, amen.
Lindy Wynne (03:39.426)
Amen. In the the Father, Son, Holy Spirit, Amen. Sister John Dominic, that's so beautiful. And I love how you use the word seeking because that's also in scripture about us seeking God with all of our hearts. And I think that so much that I see and women of wisdom is that they continue to seek God with all of their hearts throughout their lifetime. So in that spirit, I'd love for you to start at the beginning of your story.
Sr. John Dominic (03:42.99)
Yeah.
Sr. John Dominic (04:04.292)
goodness. Okay, you're ready for this? You mentioned that you're from California and you talk about being a way maker. So I'm going to give you the short version as best I can. So I was born in Berkeley, California into, I'd say the typical like yourself, unchurched, secular family. And we live, I grew up in the Walnut Creek Bay, actually in the Bay Area, Lafayette, Walnut Creek area.
Lindy Wynne (04:06.592)
I'm ready.
Sr. John Dominic (04:31.186)
And we lived, I lived there until I was about five years old and then my dad was transferred. So you can imagine 1960s, California, Berkeley, everything that's going on. And my dad was transferred to Nashville, Tennessee. So we go from Berkeley to the Bible Belt in the South and we land in Nashville. And I, you know, as I look back in my, as I look back, I'm sure that it was a huge transition for my parents to
to go from kind of having that culture of the California culture, which actually I love. I love that spirit. mean, all of my relatives are very much free-spirited, and I think my family, we've kind of carried that on. And so we land here into the Bible Belt, and for me, myself, you know,
I had a great, beautiful relationship with my grandparents and my relatives. So I know that I must have experienced a little bit of separation anxiety as a young girl. I can remember going to kindergarten and being upset and crying and getting homesick really easy. But at that time, when it came time for me, my younger sister was born in Nashville. So my dad was beginning his job as he was transferred there. He worked in the garment industry, which is kind of an important tidbit to remember.
Lindy Wynne (05:30.017)
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Sr. John Dominic (05:53.038)
And it came time to put me into school and had a couple of years in public education, but then things were transitioning at that time in the early 70s. And in Nashville, as you may know, there's a lot of private Christian schools that kind of popped up. So they enrolled me at St. Paul Christian Academy in Green Hills. And I remember that, you know, going there,
And every Friday we would have assembly. And so remember, I wasn't going to church. We didn't have any faith background. But they put me there for the education and also because our neighbors were going there, so it was easy to carpool from West Nashville over to St. Paul. But every Friday, they would have, as I mentioned, they'd have an assembly and they would be singing songs when we have the
Lindy Wynne (06:29.329)
you
Sr. John Dominic (06:50.574)
a little teaching, and we do read Bible verses and things like that. So over time, my mom was noticing that I was like following her around the house and I wasn't leaving her alone. I was sticking to her side and she was like, what is going on here? You know, and she just, she's like, something is not right. So after a while she sat down and talked to me and what we discovered is that I was having this anxiety and all this fear.
because the songs that we were singing were all about the end times or about being left behind. And so I was afraid that mom was going to disappear and that I was going to be left alone. So you imagine moving there, being left alone. So she didn't know what to do. And she took me, she talked to the neighbors and they suggested that I go talk to their pastor at a Presbyterian church, which was near, Hillwood Presbyterian Church actually. And
Lindy Wynne (07:26.624)
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Lindy Wynne (07:30.808)
You
Sr. John Dominic (07:48.736)
So she took over, she made arrangements for me to talk to the pastor. And I remember walking in as a little girl, it was a very plain church and sitting down and talking to him and he was so gentle, you know, and he'd listened and I'm sure they prepped him and told him everything that was going on in my heart and the fears I was experiencing. And he he listened very carefully and I came out with the words and he said, this is what I'd like for you to do. I'd like for you to get a Bible.
Lindy Wynne (07:56.704)
you
Sr. John Dominic (08:18.314)
And then when you start experiencing that fear, just open the Bible and read the of God, matter where it is. So I was like, okay, so he explained the same thing to my mom and we didn't have a Bible in the home. So she goes out and she gets me a children's living Bible and gives it to me. And I can still see it. You know, it was small. had like, you know, green on the outside.
and it had a good shepherd on the front and it was the living Bible. just, you know, could still know what it looks like. And so I started doing that and when I read, I just had this tremendous peace, you know, and over time that fear would go away. And I admire my mom, you know, and so grateful for her that even though she didn't know to tell me to do that, she did what
the pastor had recommended and followed through with that. So that was a beautiful sign of her love for me. so that was the beginning of me being a little bit of a way maker. I like how you said that at the beginning, right? There's a praise and worship song about that too, which I'm kind of singing in my head as I'm talking. Anyway, so we go forward and I finished at St. Paul.
Lindy Wynne (09:25.951)
Okay.
Sr. John Dominic (09:43.274)
And again, once again, it's like, where are you going to go to high school? know, so it's like Carpital or St. Cecilia. At that time, St. Bernard's was an all girls high school. You had an option to go to, again, the same neighbors who had me go to the church. Their daughter had gone to St. Cecilia. I'd loved playing basketball. So they enrolled me in St. Cecilia. Now remember, you know,
We didn't go to church on Sundays except for that experience. Easter Sunday was Easter bunny and all of those things, Christmas is such. So when I walked in at St. Tessia and I saw the sisters for the first time, I was like, whoa, what are they? Who are they? What's going on here? And kind of like watching them. And at that time they put us in Catholic and non-Catholic religion classes.
Lindy Wynne (10:20.715)
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Sr. John Dominic (10:36.366)
I was in the non-Catholic class, so the dear sister that was with us who taught us was very sensitive to the fact that we didn't have the Catholic background, we didn't really understand. And she kind of really just taught us more New Testament or just a little bit of Scripture. I don't even remember what we had. But, you know, it's just a gradual, my freshman year, a gradual exposure to, because the school had a Catholic culture, you know, and the exposure to that and the mass and
Lindy Wynne (10:53.462)
you
Sr. John Dominic (11:06.338)
and kind of just being intrigued by what is this all about. But it didn't, I didn't start, well we didn't start, well we didn't go to church. I can remember asking my mom once, you know, should we go to church? She said, well no, we would, we don't want to be hypocrites because we don't go. And my dad felt the same way at that time. So anyway, my sophomore year, we were put into the non-Catholic class and we had the sister that had a lot of charisma.
and she began to challenge us and ask us questions because it was morality. So we would have lots of debates and the more I would argue and push back, the more I realized that what she was teaching was the truth. And my dad was a very, still to this day, is a very principled man, know, right and wrong and such, you know. And so that really forced me to be a deep thinker.
Lindy Wynne (11:45.887)
.
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Sr. John Dominic (12:03.23)
And so what we had done, you and I, you we were chatting before this, but I had gone since I was on the basketball team. And also the other thing they had, they would do is we would have like a sophomore retreat, but the retreat we'd be held at the mother house. So we went to the mother house for the retreat, my sophomore year, and my friends, or I decided to bring in my little TV so we could make sure we watch Saturday Night Live that night. You know, this shows you, shows you the depth of myself, you know, at the time.
I got it in, we didn't miss it. However, I did have some time of adoration in the chapel. And in the adoration before the bus of sacrament, I wrote down in my journal, you know, dear Lord, as I'm sitting here in your presence. And I looked at that and I thought, oh, I believe that Jesus is here present. And since I believe that, then I need to become a Catholic.
Lindy Wynne (12:45.181)
.
Sr. John Dominic (13:03.106)
know, I need to pursue this. So I talked to Sister. Of course, she could already have seen it in me. The Sisters probably saw about it before I did. They quickly arranged for me to start instructions. At that time, they didn't have like RCA or anything like that. So I started taking instructions. Fast forward in May. May is a great, I love the month of May because that's when I was baptized. They did a conditional baptism.
First Holy Communion, which I made at St. Cecilia at the Motherhouse. I made my first communion at the Motherhouse. And I was confirmed in that month as well. So I received those sacraments of initiation that very first year, my sophomore year. And that was really the beginning of a long life. We probably don't have enough time to go into all that. But I would say that when I made the decision,
It was my decision to get myself to mass every Sunday, which I did because my family didn't practice. I mean, I was so blessed with the Paris that I have. But right at the end, so they were pretty much, this is when the California background was like, okay, great. Whatever makes you happy, as long as you stick to it, we're with you. Up until I announced at the end.
towards the end of my senior year that I was going to enter the convent, and that's when things turned totally upside down. And it was a good test of my faith and a test of how the Lord was calling me to Himself, to a deeper life. And when you live religious life and you begin to do that, that's a day-to-day ongoing conversion. So I can kind of stop there. That's where I first became a Catholic, and if
you want me to continue, I can. There's a lot more to it, but it's a little bit of a cliffhanger. But I would say, you know, the Eucharist and coming to know the truth of the faith is what really withdrew me. And I would say it's just from that first moment as a little girl opening the word of God. can't tell you a single verse I read, but I know encountering the word comforted and brought me peace and interior peace. Definitely.
Lindy Wynne (15:20.826)
Well, Sister John Dominic, you are speaking to my heart and I feel like I could listen to you forever. And I do want to hear and we want to hear so much more. I just want to start by saying I'm so touched to think of you as a little girl. There's so many layers to it. The preciousness of the pastor that you went to, your mom and your parents openness to the faith and the fact that your mom bought you the Bible that has had such a really eternal impact on you and your heart.
So Sister John Dominic, you don't know this, but this year I decided to do tea parties and Bible studies in my house for my daughter and her girlfriends. They're 10 years old. Because it was so much on my heart. Like I want my daughter to know the living God. And that's not something I can give her. Like it's like a retreat. This is a mini retreat, a podcast. It's like I can hopefully by the grace of God create opportunity and then just let go and hope, you know.
Sr. John Dominic (15:59.709)
wow.
Lindy Wynne (16:15.835)
And God is so faithful, that's also in scripture. Like God do God's work. And it was so on my heart, like I felt drawn by God to have this Bible study. So on many Sunday afternoons during this last year, I have had a number of nine and 10 year old girls in my home, surrounding our little sunroom table or outdoor table if it's warm enough, eating way too much sugar. I mean, it's like have a little bit of tea with your sugar.
Sr. John Dominic (16:18.872)
Yes.
Lindy Wynne (16:45.51)
hilarious and especially because most of them aren't my own kids, but it's very funny and kind of it's delightful. And then they crack their Bibles open. They all have their own and they use all these different colored markers and they highlight what they're reading. They popcorn read. We do instruction on the scripture passage, special words for them to learn. How is God speaking to their heart, prayer intentions, all the things.
because the hope is the seeds planted, the muster seeds planted for a lifelong relationship and really that whisper of God into each of their own hearts. So I bring all this up because that's what I hear in you. And I'm so deeply moved by that because I discovered God as a nine-year-old girl and it's the whisper. It's the whisper into each soul. And so to hear that whisper into your soul is so deeply moving. And then to know
how that has now unfolded in this story in some way that not only did you sit in front of the Eucharist and know that in your being that that was real to you, that you then chose to become Catholic and then eventually you entered religious life as well. And I love the wording you used because speaking of women of wisdom, I am not nearly as mature as you because you said that you're like the unsupport.
you can correct me if I'm wrong, or maybe the lack of enthusiasm from family, you said it was a good test of my faith. That was such a graceful thing to say. I'm like, I am not that mature because there were many people in my family that were not supportive of me choosing to become Catholic and friends. And I think to this day that for lack of a better way to put it, that people think I'm crazy that I became Catholic.
Sr. John Dominic (18:17.282)
Yeah, yes.
Sr. John Dominic (18:22.606)
Ha
Sr. John Dominic (18:36.438)
Right, right, right. Yeah, so that was, mean, and it is true. mean, it continued and yeah, go ahead. Yeah, I hear totally what you're saying. Yes. Thank you. Thank you.
Lindy Wynne (18:50.616)
I was just so touched by that because it shows God's grace in your heart and clearly I need to go sit in silence. This is why I do this so I can grow to be more like the beautiful humans that I record with. So I'm just so touched by your your really your pilgrimage of your heart and the pilgrimage of your soul and your life. So I would love for you to share more because I know that we are going to talk more about the ministry that you do now as well. But I would love to hear more of your story.
Sr. John Dominic (18:56.844)
Hahaha!
Sr. John Dominic (19:02.87)
Yeah.
Sr. John Dominic (19:09.773)
Yes.
Sr. John Dominic (19:20.579)
Sure.
Lindy Wynne (19:20.612)
first, like, and that, how that deep draw continued.
Sr. John Dominic (19:24.718)
Absolutely. right. So after when I entered, know, so just a little bit of background, as my dad was continued in his line of work, my mom got involved in the country music industry. So she worked in the music business there and she worked for Warner Brothers at Capitol Records and she was a publicist and had a great career.
know, career in the music industry, and my dad and his work. And again, a lot of that I know now was really to be able to provide for my sister and I to be able to have the education that we had at the private schools. you think, you know, they're not cheap. It costs a lot. So when I was my second year in religious life, during that time, it was kind of a year when you
spend more time in prayer, you don't go out. And we visit, really, we'd only visit our families like twice a year. So you can imagine having my family live in Nashville, not understanding my vocation. Now, first of all, accepting that I became a Catholic, but then not understanding my vocation of living religious life, because their only frame of reference was a second cousin that was a Hare Krishna, you know. So it looked a little...
similar to what they had seen in California where there's this cultish type of life where there's restrictions. And what they had to become to see gradually over time is that I still, their daughter, I was still my sister's sister because as we know, as we follow our Lord and we live in that relationship, we become more and more the person he's created us to be.
And that's they began to see is that who I am, my personality didn't change. But in my second year, my parents came out and told me that they had made the decision to get a divorce. And that was very, very much a very difficult time for me. was a real darkness of trial because not only could I
Sr. John Dominic (21:41.23)
not kind of be there and watch. I had a great concern for my younger sister because we were very close. You can imagine with both my parents working, I was watching her and we had a very beautiful bond with one another. And I was afraid for her and the fear of not knowing how it would impact her. But also at that time, since I came from a Catholic, I mean, I I'm a Catholic family and a lot of the other women that were in a religious life,
came from like good Catholic families or Catholic families that pretty much it was kind of like a taboo to talk about divorce or to have that experience. mean, it's more, sadly, it's more common today, but it was less so, this was already early 1980s, that it was not so much. And so I really didn't have a forum to talk about it freely. So you just kind of like stuff it, right?
However, I will say, and I go back to that moment when I knew that Jesus was present in the Blessed Sacrament. So I found that comfort as a young girl reading the Word of God. I found the conviction to become a Catholic before the Blessed Sacrament. And at this period in my life when my parents were divorcing and I was faced with this decision, do I continue?
to follow the call that I felt, or do I leave to go take care of my sister and the family. And that decision before the Blessed Sacrament was like, Lord, I will stay faithful to this vocation. I will stay faithful to how you're calling me. And I will trust that you will take care of my sister, whatever may come through the trials and such that are gonna come in life. So that was a real act of faith that
that I had to make at that time. And I will say that probably every day for years, I continue to renew that because having, know, if anyone, know, anyone's listening, if you've experienced the impact of divorce, it tears apart at the very foundation of who you are. And it doesn't matter the age. You could be little or you could be older.
Sr. John Dominic (24:03.956)
it's still a very, very difficult trial to go through. But that experience has shaped me in education or as a 20 years, I as a principal, you know, because there's nothing that's more comforting to a young child in your school when you can look at a little boy or a little girl whose parents may be divorcing and say, as a sister, like, I understand what you're feeling.
And oftentimes I can see their little eyes filling up with tears and I just say, you know, I'm praying for you because my parents got divorced and I know that that's difficult, you know. So, you know, that's just to say my sister, she did for a period of time, she did really well, but then as she moved, got older, she went through, she herself went through a very difficult time.
in her life struggles. And I can remember many times, you know, going before the bus of sacrament and literally going up to the tabernacle and saying, are you in there? You know, do you hear me? You know, like I gave you my word that I was going to stay. Why are you not taking care of her? Why is she going through this? You know, are you taking care of her? And I keep thinking, you know, there's that line,
about the Good Shepherd, where Jesus says, you hear my voice, but he says that you cannot snatch them out of my hand or out of my Father's hand. You can't take them out of... And so I have to really believe in that and hold on and hope that she is in the hands of the Father, you know, and the evil one will try to snatch her. But through my faithfulness and my prayer, he will continue to take care of her.
And I will tell you that he has remained faithful and she's moved through that period of time in her life and is doing wonderfully well now and responding to Grace and has since, she herself has become a Christian. My dad has become a Christian. And then I'll end this with just telling one story about my mom, if you don't mind.
Sr. John Dominic (26:24.846)
So she died, she passed away two years ago, three years ago, three years ago. And I've always had a deep concern about where she was on her face journey. I didn't know. she had gone in, she had been suffering from spinal stenosis and she had had surgery, but then
the surge, she didn't recover and she ended up becoming septic. And we are right there in the hospital in Nashville and she got to where she couldn't really speak, but she could be a little bit responsive. And I just so much wanted, I put the divine mercy image in front of her and I was so much wanted just to hear her say, know, Jesus, I trust in you, Jesus, I trust in you. But I just never really knew where she was on that journey.
As I mentioned, my mom worked in the music industry and one of our close friends of our family are Vincent, Amy Grant, so I had asked Amy to come over and visit my mom. So she came over and my mom always loved her. So Amy and my sister and I gathered around my mom's bed and prayed. that was one of the, the second time was another incident, but her response
to that prayer and the joy in my mom's heart as we lifted her up brought me so much comfort even to this day, you know, and that's just, you know, where two or three are gathered in your name, God is in their midst. And we take that experience just a few days or later when we were all gathered in the room where...
my sister, my mom was able to witness my sister being reunited with her two sons for the first time in 11 years. And we were there at my mom's bedside. My mom, that was the second smile after that prayer with Amy two days prior, was when my daughter was, my sister was there, her daughter was there with her two sons. And as we all gathered, people all in the room were different walks of life. Some of her friends from the music industry, some of her
Sr. John Dominic (28:44.142)
closest dear family friends were there. And I had gone down into the chapel there and before the tabernacle, I was like, okay, Lord, if she's ready, we're ready. So I walked up and I said, okay, y'all, we need to pray. I feel like we need to pray. So I went over and I picked up the Bible and one of my nephews is really involved in young life. I was like, okay, I'm going to read, I'll just read a passage from scripture. So I opened it and I said, okay.
The safest thing to read is Psalm 23. So as I was reading Psalm 23, she started flat-lying. And just when I got finished, she passed away. And if you can remember when I described that Bible to you a little bit earlier on, what was on the cover of the Bible was the Good Shepherd and holding the lamb. And when we think of
Psalm 23 is that, Lord is my shepherd, I shall not want. For me, that was a huge, even though it was a very heart wrenching moment of her passing, it was kind of like the Lord saying, I've got her, I've got her and just trust, trust in me in that moment. So I didn't make that connection between the cover of that Bible till somebody told me one time discovered, but
she did that and then as she left, you know, after. And I often think about her and her goodness that even though she never really understood my vocation, she accepted it. And over time she accepted it and she embraced it. And that again is a sign and testimony to her love and who she, you know, was as a person. So that's it in a nutshell for you.
Lindy Wynne (30:15.604)
you
Lindy Wynne (30:38.6)
Sister John Dominic, my goodness, you just keep pouring out endless wisdom and these stories are just, they're filled with the depth of the Lord, really. And two things that come so much to heart for me is first, being a sister, and then second, being a mother. And you are a spiritual mother. And so it is so deeply moving to hear you talk about your sister. And just so everybody knows,
Sr. John Dominic (30:42.158)
you
Sr. John Dominic (30:59.811)
Yeah.
Lindy Wynne (31:08.293)
I can relate. My parents were divorced when I was in my late, late teens and it was devastating. And you talked about basically it like rips the foundation out from under you and kind of like the fabric of our families. And that was my experience and has been my experience. And I'm almost 50 years old and I feel disappointed in society how often times it's minimized so much, but having someone that's lived through it.
And I love how you didn't differentiate between if a child is young or a child is old. So many times we like to try to box things in and say, it's easier for these people or it's harder for these people. But the reality is that we each have experience of the soul and experience of life that's genuine and real. And this can carry with it great grief and great trauma and sadness and sorrow or difficulty that really in some way, lasts a lifetime but is always being redeemed by the glory and the goodness of God.
And so to think about your care and your concern for your younger sister, I have a younger brother and I carried so much concern for him because I left for college right after the divorce was announced, like within a month or two. And I love my brother so dearly and we were so, close. And it's layered. There are so many different layers to it. And so to think about your love for your sister, which to me, what I'm hearing from you, and I think I feel myself.
Sr. John Dominic (32:16.11)
you
Lindy Wynne (32:31.759)
It also carries a maternal love with it. It's like a deeply intertwined dynamic. And to think of all that prayer, which is really like your heart and your love for her being poured out in front of the Lord, in front of the tabernacle, in front of Jesus, is so touching. And to think of you choosing, regardless of what your feelings were, because the act of a will, the act of the will is really love.
It's not our feelings, it's the act of our will and that choice there and that choice in free will. And so for you to continue to choose to pray and to trust in the Lord, regardless of your feelings and to see how the Lord has been faithful over time, yet sometimes that can feel like a very, very long time.
Sr. John Dominic (33:13.079)
yeah, I can guarantee you, yes, yes, a very, long time it seems like. Yeah, it's definitely.
Lindy Wynne (33:20.338)
Yeah, it touches on the agony of life, the agonies of life. Yes. And then to think about your mom, because what I'm hearing in your story, correct me if I'm wrong, is this beautiful gift of motherhood that your mom gave you as embodied too in the Bible with a good shepherd on the Bible. And I just want to give a little side note as someone who was not raised Catholic, I still, it's like the little girl in me still takes all of these things in and so.
Sr. John Dominic (33:22.466)
Yes.
Lindy Wynne (33:48.186)
when I was a volunteer in Catechesis of the Good Shepherd with beloved Miss Pam, may she rest in peace, my littlest Sunday school teacher, her Catechesis of the Good Shepherd teacher for a couple of years, I was taking in the Good Shepherd. It was new to me in a sense, like I had never internalized Jesus in all the images in the classroom, even though they don't call it a classroom. What do they call it? I'm trying to remember, an atrium, in the atrium, yes, the quiet of the atrium.
and all of the images of Jesus as the good shepherd, it was so moving to me and it really touched my heart. And to see Jesus carrying the sheep and things of the sort, it was just so, so, so moving to my, young heart still within me that longs so fully, just like all of us to be close to the Lord. And so to think of your mom giving you that Bible and then to think,
that not only did she share that beautiful gift of motherhood with you, but that your experience of motherhood also expanded profoundly and eternally as you became a sister yourself and also with our blessed mother. And then it sounds to me like you were also in a sense like mothering your mother, sharing with her the mothering that you had received from our blessed mother and from the Lord.
Sr. John Dominic (35:00.802)
Sr. John Dominic (35:04.974)
Right, right, right, right. I never really thought of it that way, but that's a really beautiful way to say that because it's trying to nurture and trying to find a way to bring out where is that relationship and where does she stand in that. definitely in those last, you know, it was a long lint for me. She actually, and the amazing thing is she passed away on March 25th, which was the Annunciation.
which I understood the significance of that feast day, but the word became flesh, but she would have never understood that feast, but she does now.
Lindy Wynne (35:45.713)
Amen. And I want to take a moment just to read Psalm 23.
You set a table before me in front of my enemies. You anoint my head with oil. My cup overflows. Indeed, goodness and mercy will pursue me all the days of my life. I will dwell in the house of the Lord for endless days." My goodness, I could almost tear up and it's like we could say a million things, but then we read scripture and it's like, the word of the Lord. But I think about that image of the good shepherd. It's like from life to death.
Sr. John Dominic (36:36.47)
Right, exactly, exactly. Yes.
Lindy Wynne (36:44.549)
to eternal life, like your little life receiving that Bible with that image, and then your mother's death, her passing, reading that Psalm to her eternal life, which we believe in.
Sr. John Dominic (36:54.862)
Right, exactly. yeah, and just, mean, even if we had tried to plan it, we couldn't have. mean, because she, right when we finish is when she breathes her last. And I can still see my nephew is just watching the monitor as she was flatlining as we were doing it. So that, that in and of itself was a testimony to everybody gathered in the room. I mean, like, there's no way you could not.
carry that experience with you no matter where you are in your faith for the rest of your life. There are people that were present there who I don't know where they believe, where their face is with God.
Lindy Wynne (37:37.102)
Yes, but kind of beautiful to what you're saying, and maybe this is also a segue into the ministerial work that you do, is that you met your mom exactly where she was at. You loved her as she was. You accepted her where she was. You did not ask her to change a thing. When you asked Amy Grant to come sing for her because she knew her, that was something that delighted your mom's heart and something she could receive, which is just so beautiful to ponder, to think of you all.
Sr. John Dominic (37:59.51)
Mm-hmm. Right.
Lindy Wynne (38:05.284)
sitting there in the intimacy of the Ramir mother was to pass away and that song and that Psalm and the prayer and all of it together, there's just such glorious revelation of the Lord in it.
Sr. John Dominic (38:15.661)
Right.
Sr. John Dominic (38:19.982)
Right, right, exactly. And she, yeah, mean, there was a beautiful response from her at that moment. So, So, go ahead.
Lindy Wynne (38:32.865)
Yeah, so I would love actually because you've done, I know a lot of ministerial work with virtue and I'd love for you to talk about that. I, the disciple of Christ education and virtue. And I love how it says the disciple of Christ education and virtue is more than a curriculum, it's a way of life. And this means, and it's a way to a happy life. I'd love for you to talk about this because if we could tie it all the way back to Berkeley and freedom.
Sr. John Dominic (39:00.43)
Another type of freedom, right?
Lindy Wynne (39:02.927)
I heard you're y'all and I heard you're Californian and I got both those in me. So, okay. So here's deep thoughts. Let me see if I can get this out. It seemed like there was fear when you were becoming Catholic that you would lose your freedom rather than this deep understanding and experience that really it is when we surrender to the will of God and you talked about the enunciation, when we give our yes and we embrace ourselves as being
Sr. John Dominic (39:07.373)
Yeah.
Lindy Wynne (39:31.705)
fearfully and wonderfully made by the Lord and each called and created to be in his will and to hopefully glorify him in our works in our lifetime, that that's where interior freedom comes from. It comes from being who God created us to be and on this spiritual pilgrimage, hopefully by the grace of God with him. And so considering that, unless I mess that up, very deep thought.
Sr. John Dominic (39:59.916)
No, no, I love that. I love everything you said.
Lindy Wynne (40:03.163)
Praise God. All glory and praise be to God. Okay, so I have experienced this so I can identify with this and yet I think that whether or not we are raised Catholic or in another denomination or in no religion, like this is the grace of God and also the openness of the heart to allow God to love us exactly where we are, to receive the in-point of God, the God's mercy and love as we are, not changing a thing.
I, in my own experience, like that's where the freedom kind of begins. Like that is the glorious kind of, what's it called when you light a fire? Like the ignition or the, yeah, in kindle at night. Yeah, so we want this to happen in children too and in virtue because when we are growing in virtue, we are growing in this glorious freedom and joy, this interior freedom.
Sr. John Dominic (40:45.814)
Ignite, ignite, yeah, ignite and kindle it,
Lindy Wynne (41:01.807)
So I would love for you to speak to that if you can, and then to the ministerial work that you do.
Sr. John Dominic (41:09.002)
Exactly. Well, you've given me lots of little ways to jump off of, but I'll say, so you're right. You know, we talk about virtue as a way of life, and this has kind of, it's become a passion for me. And I'm so blessed that my community, Dominican Sisters of Mary and Mother of the Eucharist, that they've assigned me. You this is what I do full time. I mentioned I was a principal for 20 years. And that's really where this understanding of what it means to live virtue
How do we raise up a generation that understands virtue? But as I'm talking to you, I see in the background, know, mama's in the spirit and I see the bird right there. And I'd like to frame this understanding of virtue and freedom around, you know, the mama, our real mama, which is the bus of mother. But I often, guess a way to think about it is, you know, what is it that we were called to live
Lindy Wynne (41:48.366)
.
Sr. John Dominic (42:08.28)
How do we live like our lady? How do we live this freedom? How do we live virtue? And I've often used this phrase, I call it like a fiat of love. know, like fiat is let it be done to me according to your will. And this understanding of acceptance, this openness to what God is calling us to do. And I think when I was, as I mentioned, was principal of the school, I watched
the mothers and the grandmothers and those that are raising children and I would try to encourage them in this is that if we can embrace these little moments of every day and we'd look at them as like I said like a fiat of love, you know, this where we open ourselves up to the Holy Spirit and and it's it's kind of like
Lindy Wynne (42:50.594)
.
Sr. John Dominic (42:58.732)
really with the Spirit, it's like, know, how we like blowing in the wind, you know, I'm sure we're thinking of a song with that as I say it, right? Like we blow in the wind, right? But we want this interior docility, this interior openness to God. And women, mothers, grandmothers have these moments all the time. And how do we embrace them? Okay, it's, finally have a day to go to lunch with my friends and I wake up
and my child has a stomach virus, so I need to stay home. And that's a moment where it's a fiat of love. Lord, I have to, I can't get upset with the child. I may get upset with them. I may get impatient with them. It's not their fault they're sick, but now I can't go have this mom's day lunch, this time to go finally talk to my best friend about something because my child is sick. Or all those little things, those moments of,
when they melt down, the moments of patience, know, how do you, you know, I admire, you know, parents or grandparents as they pick them up and you drive all over the place and you're taking them here and dropping them off. And how do we embrace all of these moments? And that's really what this understanding of virtue, what virtue enables us to do, okay? Because virtue is this interior habit, this interior disposition towards goodness.
And the way I like to describe it to people is that we look to the person of Jesus Christ, and we can also look to Our Lady, but Jesus embodied all the virtues. He's a perfectly virtuous man. He's humble, He was courteous, He was kind, He was forgiving, He was merciful. And the virtues are what it looks like and sounds like to live as a Christian.
All of us want to know what it means to live as a Christian. What does it mean to live as a disciple of Christ? The Blessed Mother showed that because she was the first disciple. She showed us that with her fiat, know, of saying yes and humility. My soul proclaims the greatness of the Lord, you know. And if we look at the whole of Christ's life, we look at the whole of Mary's life.
Sr. John Dominic (45:27.982)
That's our roadmap, right? That's how we've come this way maker, like the way in which we're following it. it's responding to the Spirit in all of those moments. And the virtues is what keeps our response malleable, docile, free. And it keeps us always in this response of being ready to say yes. And that's a freedom.
And it isn't, they're not like this, the virtues are not like this like white knuckled, know, like straight jacket way, you know, like, I mean, it may feel like it, but you know, they, the, the virtues help us with our feelings and our emotions. You know, we can take these feelings and emotions up with virtue, you know, the virtues of temperance, of fortitude.
or the ones that intellectual ones are once related to prudence, which includes foresight, circumspection, docility, or justice, which are numerous of those, know, affability, courtesy, know, gratitude, generosity, know, St. Thomas Aquinas gave us this whole corpus of words, you know, it's like it's learning a whole new vocabulary. And it's a vocabulary that helps us to live in freedom as a disciple of Christ.
helps us live in freedom as a Christian, an imitation of the person of Jesus Christ. And I hope that wasn't too theoretical. I'm trying to make it as concrete as I can, but that's really what it comes down to. Yeah.
Lindy Wynne (47:08.149)
I love what you said and you said it like something about being malleable, docile and free. And that really struck me because like you said, we're not white knuckling it, we're not controlling it. There's an openness to the Holy Spirit. And you talked much earlier in our mini retreat in a podcast about
Sr. John Dominic (47:15.234)
Yeah. Yep.
Lindy Wynne (47:34.825)
that daily conversion or that daily reversion to the Lord. And I want to learn this whole new vocabulary because you threw out virtues that I am not aware of. So don't worry everybody, you're joining me.
Sr. John Dominic (47:49.057)
Now there's, we've got, we have 28, there's like anywhere, there's like 28 of them. Yeah, it's a whole list. have a whole, what I did because I'm a teacher is we color coded everything and we took everything, you know, Thomas Aquinas is the one that gave us this great way in which he, they call him like the daughter virtues, which I call him related virtues because it's,
You know, daughter kind of sounds like a little bit of archaic word, know. But with fortitude, it's words like, know, magnanimity, patience, industriousness. I mean, it's just, you know, I tell teachers, because I go all the time into schools and I tell them, like, you know, like we have a vocabulary for math, we have a vocabulary for grammar, we have a vocabulary in science. And
But the virtues is the vocabulary of what it means to live this way of life, to live an imitation of Jesus Christ and his blessed mother. And the thing about it is, is that we say all the time, you know, we want people to be saints, right? Saints are anyone who is in heaven. And in order for someone to be a saint, you have to be able to practice virtue heroically. And if we don't know what the virtues are and we don't know how to practice them, how are we going to do that heroically, you know?
And the whole purpose, the goal, St. Gregory of Nicaea said it, the goal of the virtuous life is to become like God. So that's the purpose of it, is that we become each day more and more Christ-like, more and more that the image of Christ, that he lives in me, and how we act and how we interact with people, how we respond to things.
I I feel like, you know, I say this to teachers and I say this to moms and grandparents, you you have all these opportunities in the day, you know, how you embrace those. Sometimes you're I mean, I think sometimes my life is even easier because I can I say it to them like, don't really feel like I should tell you this, but I'll tell you, you know, like in my house, if we're having
Sr. John Dominic (50:10.412)
you know, we have a certain period of time and then they ring a bell and then everyone goes silent. I mean, like, imagine what it'd be like in the most chaotic home if they could ring a bell and everyone is silent, you know? It's like, like, shh. And then you have that. mean, or I say, you know, I get up in the morning and I have a holy hour and I have mass. Well, you get up in the morning and you don't know what you're greeting.
You know, you could be a sick child. It could be your daughter, a daughter calling and asking you to come and take care of her children because she's sick. So your your whole day gets changed. And how do we embrace those moments? And the more we cultivate and live the virtues, we're able to respond to those in freedom and joy. But in love, you know, there's no mother or grandmother that doesn't want to respond and love.
to the situations, but sometimes we get impatient or we get angry. But we always have the next moment to start over again, which is awesome. Every day is a new day. Yep, yep, yep, yep.
Lindy Wynne (51:18.852)
Amen. is, Amen. Every moment's a new moment. Amen. Sister John Dominic, you are amazing. How can we all learn more and find more about you and about this specific program?
Sr. John Dominic (51:34.586)
Thank you. Thank you for asking. So yes, so Disciple for Christ Education and Virtue, we've kind of put it under what we call, it's called Open Light Media. So it's openlightmedia.com and we're currently totally revising the website so by the time you check it, it'll be like looking great and you'll be able to find it. And we have resources, we divided it up of what we have for parents, for educators.
you know, and help really just to bring this understanding of virtue, a deep Christian understanding of virtue. How it enables us to live freely and to become the person God's created us to be. So we're there on the website. also have, we have so many courses. We have a YouTube channel, Open Eye Media, where we have interviews and different podcasts. We have a really fun.
Lindy Wynne (52:12.521)
Okay.
Sr. John Dominic (52:30.272)
series that we do called Manners Monday where we've got two sisters that are just giving two minute little videos on manners, know, just bringing that back. they have a lot of fun with each other. They're really good. And so really that's where we are. And openlightmedia.com and Disciple Christ Education Averge You is what you'd want to click on. And you have enough resources to keep you busy for the rest of your life.
Lindy Wynne (52:42.153)
I'm looking at it now and it definitely looks that way and I love how stage three is witness and I love how you talked about the manners because I'm gonna have to share that with my little because she is starting a manners club with her best friend.
Sr. John Dominic (52:58.894)
You
Sr. John Dominic (53:10.402)
There you go. So they can show that. the other work we've done too is called Race and Grace, where I work with a woman, Dr. Karen Villa. She's a clinical neuropsychologist. And we bring the neuroscience and bring that with virtue to provide Catholic social-emotional learning. So that could be a whole other topic and show that we could do, yes.
Lindy Wynne (53:12.082)
I know, it's so cute.
Lindy Wynne (53:32.822)
Amazing. Sounds amazing. You have been such a blessing. Thank you, Sister John Dominic. And will you please close us in prayer?
Sr. John Dominic (53:41.678)
Certainly. Name of the Father and Son of the Holy Spirit, amen. Heavenly Father, we thank you for this graced time together. We ask that all of us may continue to listen and hear the voice of our shepherd, the good shepherd who leads us, leads us to those green pastures, leads us to the home, our heavenly home, the home in which you sent your son.
to restore us, to bring us back to your household so that we may live and dwell there with you forever, ever in heaven. And we give all glory and honor to you, Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. Amen. In the of the Father Son, Holy Spirit, amen.
Lindy Wynne (54:29.56)
Amen. Thank you, Sister John Dominic for blessing us by being here with us today. And thank you everyone for being here. You can find many more mini retreats in a podcast on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, YouTube, mamasenspirit.com, wherever you like to watch or listen. And cannot wait to be together next time. There are many podcasts also in this Woman of Grace series and Woman of Wisdom series.
Sr. John Dominic (54:58.904)
you
Lindy Wynne (54:59.139)
And so by the grace of God, may his wisdom be poured out into all of us. This is Lindy Wynne with Mamas in Spirit. May God bless you and yours always.