Reassignment

On Friday, I received a piece of bittersweet news from Sr. Mary Madeline Todd, O.P., the Dominican sister who works at the University of Sydney's Catholic Chaplaincy and has been my main contact in Australia and constant source of advice and reassurance throughout this whole preparation process. I had originally thought that Sr. Mary Madeline would be home in the United States to celebrate the 150th jubilee of her community in Nashville during early July and would return to Sydney about a week after I arrived. Unfortunately, she recently learned that she will be reassigned for the next year, so she will not be returning to Sydney in July. Instead, she will be going to Rome to study theology at the Angelicum (a pontifical university run by the Dominicans). Although I am sad to know that I will not get to meet the one who has been so great a help to me all these months, I am happy to know that she has such wonderful things ahead of her.

As is characteristic of her wonderfulness, Sr. Mary Madeline is letting everyone that she is leaving behind in Sydney know that I am coming and why I am coming. She tells me that they are ready for me and will be happy to work with me. There are two new Dominican sisters coming to Sydney to take the place of Srs. Mary Madeline and Mary Sarah who are there now, but there is a possibility that they will not arrive until a few weeks into my visit. If they are delayed, Sr. Mary Madeline has arranged for another woman to mentor me and oversee my work at USyd. Of course, I will also be spending a great deal of my time with my host, Jessica Langrell, so things are looking good, I think, despite this "occupational hazard of planning ahead," as Sr. Mary Madeline so aptly termed it in her most recent e-mail.