Gathered at the Mayfair Farms Restaurant in West Orange, New Jersey, over 500 Dominican Sisters and Associates from the northeast heard Suzanne Noffke, OP, speak about looking at the future through Catherine's eyes.

"Looking at a Dominican Future through Catherine's Eyes" was the title of Sister Suzanne's presentation. Not surprisingly, she used the imagery of the bridge and the river as starting points. While she was initially referring to the Ponte Vecchio, a bridge in Florence, Italy familiar to Catherine of Siena, and to the River Arno that flows beneath it, it was a visual image participants at the reflection day could easily identify with since most had crossed at least one bridge to get to West Orange.

Sister Suzanne invited those present to look at what the "river" might be for us, as Dominicans, in facing the future. "Have we become so accustomed to navigating this river, as we have come to know it, that we cling unreasonably to what the current is carrying away?" What is the goal, the "other shore" to which we have to cross over, and what is the work we have to do there?" "If we let go os what is racing away, who and what will we be as we climb out of the river and onto the bridge? These, and several other questions, challenged participants to reflect on what really constitutes who we are as Dominicans and what is indispensable as we move forward into the future.

A member of the Sisters of Saint Dominic of Racine, Wisconsin, Sister Suzanne Noffke, OP, has been researching, translating, and interpreting the works of Catherine of Siena since 1976. Besides numerous articles, papers, and lectures in this field, her publications include several annotated translations of the works of Catherine of Siena. Nearing completion is a comprehensive thematic anthology of texts from Catherine's writings.