SSJ Women's Leadership Retreat

On Thursday, October 25, members of the Sisters of Saint Joseph Woman’s Leadership Program at Aquinas Institute traveled to the SSJ Motherhouse to learn what it is to be a hero. For the entire day, each young woman compared her own life’s history and aspirations with that of classic hero, Dorothy Gayle, from the Wizard of Oz.

Sister Carol Cimino, SSJ worked with the young women to examine Dorothy’s experience as she is transported to Oz from her home in Kansas, accompanied by her faithful dog, Toto. Once she arrives, Dorothy is asked to perform a heroic task: capture the broomstick from the Wicked Witch of the West.

 

As they followed Dorothy’s travels through Oz, the young women took some time to reflect and asked themselves: If I were asked to do something extraordinary, something heroic, could I? Then they looked at their own history in light of the classic journey of the hero, which was outlined by Joseph Campbell, in The Hero with 1,000 Faces, an in-depth examination of the creation of heroic characters in literature and myth.

 

Dorothy picks up companions on the way, goes through some frightening experiences, and completes her mission, but having done so, she is changed forever. The young women came to the realization that, in the words of Mother Teresa, they can “do small things in a great way” to be heroes, and that heroic experiences will change them so that they will not be able to look at their lives in quite the same way again.

 

The women shared their reflections and thoughts throughout the day, and expressed their appreciation for the experience. Perhaps, best of all, they got to experience the SSJ Motherhouse firsthand, as they met some heroes who live there – the Sisters and priests who know heroic deeds themselves.