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To Love & Companion on the Journey Our Transportation Ministry · Guiding College Students at Notre Dame · Fall 2017 · Vol. XVI
Table of Contents: 2
From the Prioress
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Sistering at Notre Dame with Mary Donnelly, OP
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Because of Dominicans I am... Paula Meehan
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Transportation Ministry at Marywood
11 Announcements 13 Jubilarians Advent & Christmas 14 at Marywood
Featured Painting: Grand Rapids artist Robyn Bomhof robynbomhof.com Poem: Wide Open by Dawna Markova, Ph.D. dawnamarkova@ptpinc.org
Let us swing wide all the doors and windows Of our hearts on their rusty hinges So we may learn how to open in love.
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Let us see the light in the other and honor it So we may lift one another on our shoulders And carry each other along.
Front Cover: Julia Nellett, OP Marilyn Holmes, OP and Monica Meyer, OP are a joyful presence in the Dominican Sisters Community at Marywood. 1 mission
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Let holiness move in us So that we may pay attention to its small voice And give ourselves fully with both hands.
~ Dawna Markova, Ph.D.
To Love and Companion on the Journey...
As Dominicans when we say “We preach with our lives”, we are offering our presence in ways that are leaven for transformative moments in the lives of others. Accompaniment is preaching. Inside this issue of Mission & Ministry, Sister Mary Donnelly says that she stands in awe of young women she accompanies at Notre Dame, in awe of who they are and of their dreams and aspirations for the world. In walking with them, she helps them open to God’s call in their lives. Accompaniment can be physical and silent; vocal and virtual (electronic); written and personal; or emotional and visceral. It may be all the above. It may be sporadic or constant, and it could be one of those kinds of presence with which you can take up effortlessly from wherever you left off, even with a span of considerable time and space in between. Whatever its specific qualities, accompaniment is presence, and presence communicates love. Paula Meehan, featured in this edition, testifies to the
The experiences that our Sisters reflect upon in the article “Our Transportation Ministry”, demonstrate the enriching duality of community-mindedness. Being available to take each other out into the world—for health, for ministry and service—these are the moments that inspire and teach us. I invite you to a reflective stance during your presence with others today. Notice what moments, amidst your interactions, open your heart. What words or actions, your own or another’s, help to “lift another”? Being companions on this journey of life allows unity of spirit to flourish. It’s where love begins. We are sent forth to accompany. Sent forth to preach. Simple presence conveys the reality of God’s abiding love for us.
We preach with our lives.
Peace be with you today and every day.
Sister Maureen Geary Prioress
from the prioress
Dominicans strive to embody the spirit of these words. It is in accompaniment that we become more of who we are called to be. Our Dominican Center strives “to foster transformation and growth” through connection—encounter—accompaniment.
difference that encounter with Grand Rapids Dominicans made in her career of service at Aquinas College.
Johnny “Q” Photography
“Let us swing wide all the doors and windows of our hearts … so we may learn how to open in love.” The words in Dawna Markova’s poem on the opposite page invite us to open our hearts, embrace encounter and “lift one another”.
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Notre Dame
sistering at notre dame
Sistering at Notre Dame Mary Donnelly, OP is in her tenth year leading and supporting a community of women. As rector at the University of Notre Dame, she has served eight years in Pangborn Hall and is beginning her second year in Flaherty Hall. The young women with whom Sister Mary lives in community are searching for identity: answers to Who am I? Who do I want to be? “Part of my role and presence in these young women’s lives is to see them and to listen. I do a lot of listening.” She is grateful for her years as formation director for the Dominican Sisters on the Marywood campus— experience that taught her to meet each young woman where she is at this moment. “I provide support as they come a little more fully into the person God has created them to be. Sometimes
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my support is sought and sometimes I am the one initiating the support. I strive to embrace the totality of the women entrusted to my care." Notre Dame is well known to be deep into traditions. "Flaherty Hall, a new women's residence hall was formed last year after construction of a new building. Women from multiple communities came together." It is a challenge trying to help the women of one hall to understand that yes, in many ways, we’re still the women of our former hall, but that we’re creating something new. And the women who join us from other halls on campus also bring their traditions. The work of helping them come to understand who are we now, in community… That’s probably a three or four-year process—year one has been intense!”
Notre Dame
“I stand in awe of who they are and what their dreams and aspirations are for themselves and the world." ~ Sister Mary Donnelly Thankfully, Sister Mary has help. Two assistant rectors and six resident assistants all share duties. That transition into college can be difficult. “For some of these young women, they’ve gone to school with the same group of people K-12… so how do they make friends? What do you do when you’re homesick? What do you do when your roommate is behaving in a way that makes you uncomfortable? How do you talk with somebody?” The women’s needs are wide-ranging. “Last year I got a phone call from the parent of one of my RAs, a senior. She told me that she was going to call her daughter to tell her that her father had died. It can be something as dramatic and intense as that… or it can be comforting a student, for whom getting a B on a chemistry test is devastating. “I’m present to help women, with whom I share a life, to grow and become more fully the person who God
created them to be, whether that is supporting them in a moment of crisis or being there to help them celebrate something that’s gone extremely well.” Interestingly, some of the most profound conversations that Sister Mary recalls have been around discipline. “In those instances, when a woman has done something that’s harmful to herself or the community, part of my role is to explore that with them. I say, ‘Help me understand how you got to this point on this particular day?’ And then I help her understand that she is more than her mistake. ‘It’s a moment in time. It doesn’t need to define you unless you allow it to. How can we help you make different choices in the future? What can you learn from this? How will you integrate it into your life?’” Uncomfortable as these conversations can be, particularly for the young women, Sister Mary says they often lead to her deepest relationships with students.
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“It’s more than just what you know; it’s who you are. It’s how you offer your gifts to the world. Because the gifts you’ve received are just that, gifts, and they are meant to be given away. And it is amazing to see when later they come back to you a hundred-fold.” Her willingness to embed herself in the lives of these young women bespeaks a role of nurturer, of counselor, even of parent. “I remember when I first started, the senior rector said that each graduation is special. But the ones that will make the deepest impression on you are the folks who graduate that were freshmen when you started. And it is true. It is kind of like letting go of your children. I don’t know, I’m not a parent. But I know I am absolutely amazed at how they grow, and how more fully they are who they are meant to be upon graduating than when they entered. “I’m a piece, certainly not all, of those women and their amazing lives. I stand in awe of who they are and what their dreams and aspirations are for themselves and the world. That’s what keeps me coming back. There is something very life-giving that happens to me when I am with this age group.” Sister Mary is moved and guided in her ministry by the preaching and teaching of Congregation of Holy Cross founder, Blessed Basil Moreau. He wrote: “How we educate the mind will change with the times; how we cultivate the heart is and will remain timeless.” The congruency, the comfortableness, of the bond between two orders of the Church, born and bred seven centuries apart, is not lost on Dominican Sister Mary Donnelly. “It’s amazing when I look at the charism of the Dominicans and how well it blends with the charism and mission of Notre Dame and Holy Cross. Just as Dominic went to where the need and the people were, so did Blessed Basil Moreau. Just as Dominic founded a family with friars, 5 mission
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Notre Dame
“Notre Dame espouses that we help students with the integration of mind and heart; support their formation. I am here to help students reflectively and prayerfully discern their future. Helping students receive not only an academic education but to also understand that what they have is a gift that needs to be shared with the broader world. It’s not just about the sheepskin you get at the end.
Sister Mary Donnelly (back row, center) with the residence hall team that guides the community of women at Flaherty Hall at Notre Dame. At least two of them are on duty 24 hours a day, seven days a week.
brothers, and nuns, so too with Moreau. Moreau based his congregation on the Holy Family.” There are five other Sisters from five different Congregations of women religious heading up residence halls at Notre Dame. In this day and age, there is much that bonds Catholic congregations of women religious. “We are still being called to be love, to be compassion, to spread hope,” says Sister Mary. Sister Mary’s own study and ministry path led her to this place. “My thesis for my doctorate of ministry was to look at the reality of the world when Dominic founded the Dominican order, at what the pressing worldly needs and needs within the church were – and then compare that with late 20th century US and young adults. The question I was asking is what did Dominic and the Order of Preachers have to say to Gen X?” The question and theory behind Sister Mary’s study then and her ministry today is still relevant. The trends and truths of each generation, and the melding of generations, must be discovered, studied, lived. Sister Mary notes the intentional design features of her new residence hall. “The new halls were designed to encourage encounter. We need to encounter one another, talk with one another.” Encounter, as St. Dominic showed us, is meeting people where they are. “I do not have all the answers or wisdom. I can, and do, learn from these amazing women,” says Sister Mary.
Because of Dominicans I Am:
Paula Meehan
“I was standing there thinking, ok, now this really significant chapter of my life has closed, here are all these people congratulating me on my professional accomplishments and I saw the Sisters come in and I thought, I would not be standing here today were it not for these women.”
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But, as Paula tells the story, “When the Sisters walked in—that’s when I got emotional.”
Meehan arrived at Aquinas as a student in the 1970s. She came from an all-girls Catholic high school on the other side of the state and says the Sisters were influential everywhere on campus. Sisters like Marybride Ryan, Wanda Ezop, and Ann Mason struck Meehan as "more than just very bright women. They were outspoken advocates for care of the poor and brought the Dominican charisms to life at Aquinas." “Everything we did was around the charisms,” recalls Meehan, going on to describe how the Sisters’ influence also touched her personally. “Sister Rosemary O’Donnell was my greatest mentor during college. I would look at her and think, I can be like her. I can do that.” Meehan rose in her profession at a time when women were just beginning to step into
leadership roles. She learned her strength from witnessing theirs. More than just great professors, the Sisters developed great leaders by their example: how they conducted themselves in the classroom, in meetings, out in the community.
because of the dominicans I am...
By all accounts, it was a pretty big party held for Paula Meehan when, after 42 years, she retired from Aquinas College last spring. The departing vice president of enrollment and strategic planning, was celebrated by dozens of colleagues, friends, students, and community members gathered to wish her well and congratulate her on so many years of truly laudable achievement.
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Sister Aquinas Weber delights in staying in touch with Aquinas faculty and staff from her office at the college and at events at co-hosted by Aquinas and the Dominican Sisters to welcome faculty and staff back to college for the new academic year.
Says Meehan, “I’m not a Dominican Sister, but I feel Dominican.”
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Marywood like the fall Welcome Back Picnic
“breakfast” held for students cramming before exams, the Sisters show up to offer support.
As fewer Sisters now teach in the classroom, Meehan The Sisters’ strength and wisdom brought Meehan says it’s up to all those who work for the College to through difficult times too, helping to build her “be Dominican too” and help carry on the tradition. back up in her weakest moments. While struggling Everyone has a role in with the illness of both making sure students parents, Meehan recalls know what the Dominican saying to Sister Aquinas tradition is about and Weber, “I don’t know what “The Sisters are very articulating to them the to pray for anymore.” forthright in their convictions, importance of the Sisters’ “Sister Aquinas said, ‘you heritage and legacy— yet eminently hospitable. need to pray for yourself.’ what Aquinas College They are strong, yet deeply Her wisdom was profound was founded on. Meehan for me, because I had been is adamant that these compassionate. I had to do so deeply preoccupied messages never get diluted some tough things in my work thinking of and caring so that the heritage is for others.” preserved. and I knew how to be that For the students arriving kind of leader because I saw “You have to look at what at Aquinas in 2017, the it took for those women to that in the Sisters. I pulled my presence of the Sisters get this campus going. You remains strong. As Meehan strength from them.” can’t put a dollar sign on describes it, “They get in what the Sisters have given with both feet! They are ~ Paula Meehan to Aquinas College.” there.” Whether helping As Meehan considers her build houses for Habitat, next chapter, she is very attending sports events, or much aware of the Sisters’ value on campus, in the just being on campus during move-in week, Sisters take community, and to her personally. She believes their every opportunity to be there for students and the wider impact made her the person she is today and they Aquinas community. continue to be a significant part of her life. Meehan has noticed Sisters, like Mary Ann Barrett for “I think about the Sisters often. I love them. They example, in the cafeteria or strolling the residence halls, helped me get to who and where I am today.” eating with students, talking with them, reaching out in small but visible ways. Even at late-night 7 mission
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"Making a difference in the lives of people who need you."
Our Transportation Ministry Heading out from their Marywood home on Fulton Street for nearly a century, the Dominican Sisters ~ Grand Rapids embark on ministries that carry them out in the wider world to serve, bless, preach, and pray. It is their community-minded spirit that paves their way. The Sisters believe, as Prioress Maureen Geary describes, “we make ourselves available through service. When you know you can make a difference for someone, that there are people in the world who need you… you make yourself available.” It is something to ponder. We ask each other all the time, are you available? But through their ministries, the Sisters teach us that availability isn’t passive. Available isn’t a state of being or something you become.
“You make
yourself Transportation Coordinator Sister Marilyn If a journey of a thousand miles begins Holmes explains how very much this available.” with a single step, today ministry is needed. Her work is a dizzying This is what the Sisters quite often that first step road map of schedules, appointments, show us, by their example. starts with the Sisters on varying locations, and always, availability. What is important, for the transportation team. living in community, is Giving people rides may “being with”. seem straightforward, but the dozen or more Maxine Plamondon, OP often fills up her car with Sisters who comprise the team will tell you there is Sisters who want to head up north to visit family. much, much more to their ministry than one sees at Just a few weeks ago, she and three passengers first glance. stopped in Acme, Williamsburg, Mancelona, and Lake Leelanau before the weekend was over. These Transportation Coordinator Marilyn Holmes, OP trips are precious to Sisters who otherwise couldn't explains how very much this ministry is needed. Her travel to see loved ones. And Sister Maxine notices work is a dizzying road map of schedules, appointments, that Sisters appreciate the social time and the varying locations, and always, availability.
our transportation ministry
Whether here at Marywood or far across town, their example of communal life and giving of self, provides a clear view of how one’s journey can pursue and prioritize compassion, dialogue, and accompaniment.
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Of course, not all Sisters’ ministries take them off site. Always there have been those Sisters who nurtured community life right here at home, with one another. It is here at home, after all, where each Dominican Sister learns what it means to live in community, to care for one another through all life stages.
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DSGR Archives
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Carol Ann Nowak, and Teresita Garcia. They are Sister Maxine Plamondon prepares for a "wild ride" with Sisters Antonita Vigil, her turn with Sister Bernice Garcia. setting off on a nature tour of the Marywood grounds. Sister Gail Ann Martin waits
chance to spend a few hours away. Sister Maxine grew up a farm girl and has been driving since she was twelve years old. It helps explain how transportation became her ministry. She calls it, “taking care of family.” Besides road trips up north, Sister Maxine also provides unique and hyper-local transportation for Sisters who are less mobile. On weekends, you’ll find her in the driver’s seat of a golf cart, escorting Sisters around Marywood’s beautiful grounds. They’ll explore the Instruments of Hope St. Francis Sculpture Garden, round the long drive to admire the prairie, and circle back through the property that is flush with gorgeous color—the trees, plants, and flowers so lovingly tended by Sisters, staff, and volunteers are especially breath-taking when seen up close.
delights in sharing how her own heart is filled because of the time spent together. “They tell me things about their ministries—things I never knew! I get to know them in a very deep and personal way.”
Appreciation. "It gives me such appreciation for them, for all they have done—and great sympathy for the health issues they are living with." ~ Sister Doris Faber
Sister Maxine lights up when describing how much fun they have, when she takes Sisters—one, Sister Rose Seraphine Sagorski, is 100 years of age—out and about in the golf cart. “They just love it,” she says. “These really are the graced moments: the moments we’re given, really. These are moments of, ‘what can we do for one another?’”
Sister Marilyn explains, the transportation ministry is more than just driving; it is accompaniment. It would be a mistake to trivialize it. “In the lives of the Sisters being helped, it is a very big deal.”
Doris Faber, OP makes herself available in service to her Sisters by driving them to medical appointments. She
Sister Maxine echoes this, “We’re there as another set of ears when Sisters meet with their doctors.” Often, she says
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her role is to support Sisters, particularly in those times when they must hear difficult news. The transportation ministry team also builds Sisters’ capacity to continue their individual ministries. Helping Sisters for whom transportation is a barrier by driving them to school, to work, or to an event, further extends their outreach and service in and for the community. And of course, all of this transportation means having the appropriate vehicles at the ready. Availability is core to Sister Julia Nellett’s role in the transportation ministry. Sister Julia serves all team members by ensuring a small fleet of cars, buses, and vans are kept in good condition and on hand for those who need them, when they need them. Despite the complexities that are often involved, these Sisters and all of the Sisters who comprise the Transportation Team view their ministry quite simply—they see the need and try to meet it. In Sister Maxine’s words, “We have committed our lives to each other and we are there for one another.” This is availability and the journey that is living in community.
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Pat Kennedy, OP ac com Sisters Dorena Gon panying zalez and Joan Alflen to an appo intment.
Julia Nellett, OP serves the team community of Sisters and all fleet all members by ensuring a sm t kep of cars, buses, and vans are for nd ha in good condition and on o wh , OP those, like Lynne Hansen, m. the d need them, when they nee
Sisters Jean Williams and Susan Ridley are off for a drive.
Extensions of the Transportation Ministry: Our Rotation Team members stay with a Sister until she is dismissed from the emergency room or is hospitalized. These Sisters are: Irene Chrusciel, Roxane Dansereau, Lynne Hansen, Joyce Ann Hertzig, Lucille Janowiak, Pat Kennedy, Jean Kramer, Elaine LaBell, Mario Pavoni, and Maxine Plamondon. Sisters Helen Bueche, Lydia Korson, Regina Mary Goeldel, Marjorie Stein, and Donna Jean Thelen are on the Companion Team. They attend appointments with those with hearing, vision, or memory challenges. They are calming and listening companions. The Transportation Team S. Catherine Anderson S. Irene Chrusciel S. Roxane Dansereau S. Doris Faber S. Mary Catherine Fodrocy S. Lynne Hansen S. Janet Heitz S. Pat Kennedy
S. Ellen Mary Lopez S. Pat Mapes (Racine) S. Julia Nellett S. Rosemary O’Donnell S. Mario Pavoni S. Mary Lee Pitre S. Maxine Plamondon S. Susan Ridley
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...And a New CFO. We welcomed Greg Jaroch to our team in July, just in time to launch into planning and budgeting for the new fiscal year. Greg is a CPA and accomplished CFO and business advisor with operations management, audit and tax compliance, financial planning and management, strategic planning, treasury, supply chain, and risk management experience. We are fortunate to have Greg’s expertise and collaborative spirit guiding our Finance Department.
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Welcoming Greg Jaroch to the Team
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Celebrating
Sister Jubilarians Our celebrants are contemplative, hope-filled women committed to the Word of God and the Holy Preaching. They live with a passion for Truth and Justice following in the footsteps of Jesus Christ.
70 Years – 1947 Monica Meyer Theresa Bray Margaret Thomas Marie Benedict O’Toole Lupe Silva 60 Years – 1957 Barbara Hansen Cecilia Faber Vera Ann Tilmann Maureen Sheahan Joan Thomas Marjorie Stein Mary Catherine Fodrocy Susan Ridley Lillian Bockheim Judith Kirt Paula Mierle, SJ 50 Years – 1966 Phyllis Klonowski
Celebrate the faithful service of these women. 13 mission
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Please Join Us for Advent
A Season of Hope & Anticipation Mass on Sundays of Advent: December 3, 10, 17, 24 at 10:00 am
A Blessing for You May the God of Awe bless you with a profound sense of the sacred in your life. May you be overwhelmed by the power of God's love and compassion. May your sense of awe free others to love and may you glimpse God in the wonder of each one you meet. May the God of Awe be with you.
Advent Penance Service: December 3 at 3:30 pm Advent O Antiphons*: December 17-23 at 7:00 pm Christmas Eve Mass: Dominican Chapel Marywood at 8:00 pm Christmas Morning Mass: Chapel of the Word, Marywood Health Center at 10:00 am
~ Maxine Shonk, OP
*O Antiphons is a seven-day prayer, an ancient Christian ritual in preparation for the coming of the Savior of the World. Each evening we pray with candlelight, sing hymns and psalms; proclaim scripture, and reflect on “O” names referring to the coming Savior: O Wisdom, O Adonai, O Root of Jesse, O Key of David, O Dawn, O Ruler, O Emmanuel.
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A Prayer for Advent
Vocations 616.514.3202
Let us open our hearts to receive the grace of this Advent season, which is Christ himself, whom God our Father has revealed to the entire world. Where God is born, hope is born. Where God is born, peace is born. And where peace is born, there is no longer room for hatred and for war. God alone can save us and free us from the many forms of evil and selfishness in our midst. Let us welcome into our lives God’s mercy, which Jesus Christ has bestowed on us, so that we in turn can show mercy to our brothers and sisters. In this way, we will make peace grow!
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Mission & Ministry Editorial Team • Maureen Geary, OP – Prioress • Danny Lynn – Art Director • Stacy Spitler – Editor/Contributor • Alyssa Morillo Scheidt – Contributor • Lucianne Siers, OP – Advisor
~ Pope Francis
Prefer a digital copy? Request to be added to our electronic mailing list for the next issue of Mission & Ministry at rmgoeldel@grdominicans.org.
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About Us The Dominican Sisters ~ Grand Rapids are a community of vowed women religious and Associates who follow the Catholic traditions of St. Dominic and St. Catherine of Siena. Since 1877, we have been leading efforts to educate children and adults, care for people who are sick, and advocate for vulnerable populations. We have established and staffed schools, a college, and missions in Michigan, New Mexico, and abroad. Today we are teachers, caregivers, spiritual companions, advocates for peace and justice, artists, musicians, authors, and poets. Together we praise, bless, and preach God’s love through all we do.
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In 2018, it will be 25 years since we opened the doors of Dominican Center at Marywood to welcome friends to be with us in prayer, study, community, and service. How fortunate we are to learn in the presence of one another about swinging wide the doors and windows of our hearts to learn how to open in love.
Celebrating 25 Years In 2018, our mission continues: To foster transformation and growth of persons, communities, and organizations through prayer, learning, and collaboration in an inclusive, hospitable environment. dominicancenter.com
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