Spring 2019 · Vol. XIX
Healing God’s Precious People In this Issue: • Peace
& Justice: Here I am, Lord
• Foundations
in
Wisdom at Dominican Center • God
is Present
Truth &
Transformation
Table of Contents: 2
From the Prioress
3
Peace & Justice: Here I am, Lord
5
God is Present
6
Foundations in Wisdom at Dominican Center
7
Because of the Dominicans I am... Transformed
9
Veritas Society: A Plan & a Promise with a Purpose
10
Personal Prayer Ministries
2019
Jubilarians
80 Years – 1939 Aurora Valerio Judis Elaine Mitchell Camilla Usakowski Karen Thoreson Eileen Popp Antonita Vigil Stephen Barilla Faith Mahoney Emeliana
75 Years – 1944 Adrienne
Adelman Abeyta Villana Van Mullekom Evelyn Schoenborn Mary Aquinas Weber Maurita Reynolds Angelina
Brian Esler
70 Years – 1949
Front Cover: In a time of crisis, Sister Francetta McCann welcomed Nick’s broken heart and showed him that healing and transformation could be his in the house of the Lord. Here, Sister and Nick Fish stand on the threshold of the home Nick shares with his wife and daughters.
Edith Kahler Mary Catherine Brechting Marie Michael Jacobs Jean Paul Tilmann Suzanne Eichhorn Marciana Danielski Jean Marie Birkman Reparata Faubert Marie Kathleen McCrackin
Marjorie Ann Kendall Rose Mary Belanger Charlotte Schaub Nancy Coyne Lydia Korson Nancy Ann Flumerfelt Rosemary Homrich Ann Frederick Heiskell
60 Years – 1959
Mary Louise Stauder Joan Foley Marie Rachael Guevara Stephanie Heintz Mary Katharine Courtright Ann Mason Irene Mary McDonnell Janet Marie Heitz June Martin Agnes Mary Wojtkowiak Irene Chrusciel Joan Pichette Darlene Sikorski Judith Ann Barber Kateri Schrems
50 Years – 1969 Rose Marie Martin Maribeth Holst
God counts the stars and calls them all by name.
-Psalm 147:4 More about each of our Jubilarians can be seen at grdominicans.org.
Sister Sandra Delgado, OP Prioress
Greetings... In this issue of Mission and Ministry, we celebrate our 2019 Jubilarians. Our celebrants are contemplative, hope-filled women who are committed to the Word of God and the Holy Preaching, the living out of the Gospel in all we do. They live with a passion for truth and justice following in the footsteps of our Savior, Jesus Christ.
Practicing deep listening is something our Sisters who minister as counselors, psychologists, and social workers all have in common. They agree that it is one of the richest gifts we have to offer to another human being. This gift has helped bring about the transformation of the hurting and fragile women and men our Sisters have served.
As Dominicans, we strive to live contemplatively. For it is from within this deep listening that we hear the whisper of God’s voice and feel God’s love. We believe that just as our relationship with God grows through prayer and contemplation, deep listening and dialogue enriches relationships among all people. It is during the times of deep listening that we come to know the love that God has for us personally and for each human being. This is when transformation happens in the very core of our being.
We invite you to stay on this journey with us as together we continue our search for the Christ within us and in each person we encounter. Join us, as Sister or friend. Together we can be the transforming presence that our world is searching for. All this because God called us from the beginning.
Join us!
Before I formed you in the womb I knew you, before you were born I dedicated you, a prophet to the nations I appointed you.
-Jeremiah 1.5
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from the prioress
Scripture tells us that each human being is precious in the eyes of God; named before we were even born. Seeing one another through Christ’s eyes and treating each other as Christ would is our precious gift back to God and to one another.
Sister Francetta with her dad, Francis McCann.
I, the Lord of sea and sky, I have heard my people cry. Who will bear my light to them? Whom shall I send?
Here I am, Lord
peace & justice
Here I am, Lord, is Sister Francetta’s favorite hymn. For a time, as she lay in her bed at Marywood contemplating ministry, this song woke her night after night. “That’s when I knew I was being called to work with people with addictions.” “You never know the life that you can change by really seeing a person and starting a conversation,” says Francetta McCann, OP. A nurse by training, care-taking has long been a part of Sister Francetta’s ministries. She transitioned from healthcare to social services in 1991. For the next nine years, she provided pregnancy support and advised people in recovery from addictions. In 2000, she became a liaison for Heartside Ministries. The people she saw in her ministries overlapped at times: homeless, prostituted, addict, runaway. “So many are on the streets because of abusive circumstances. Many of the lost have undiagnosed or untreated mental health issues or developmental delays. They’ve ended up on the street because they haven’t received needed health care or support services.”
3 mission3 mission ministry • Fall 2017• Spring 2019 ministry
You never know the life that you can change by really seeing a person and starting a conversation. – Francetta McCann, OP
What Helped Form Her View of the World? Memories of her parents helping others are vivid. “They believed God helped them in their time of need and they would respond in kind their entire lives,” says Sister Francetta. “People used to line up at our house to see my mom. Each night at dinner, my siblings and I would ask her, ‘Mom, who did you counsel today?’” recalls Sister. “My dad saw pregnant single women waiting for help at The Salvation Army. He went and got $5 bills and gave one to each at Christmas.”
See the Person Before You "It is a mistake to stereotype women who are at risk, addicted to drugs, prostituted, or living on the street," cautions Catholic Chaplain Dorothy Ederer, OP. Sister Dorothy counsels women as young as 18 up to age 65. Lately the majority at Holy Cross Services in Lansing and Corcoran House near Saginaw are in their 20s to mid-30s. For the past three years she has encountered 200 women or more each year at three different sites. “It doesn’t matter if they are from wealthy families or raised in homeless shelters, the sense of worthlessness is devastating to our society and debilitating to the human being. It is resulting in mental and physical health crisis and addictions.” “Too many girls and women have this conviction that they are broken beyond repair,” says Sister Dorothy. “The words they hear and the ways they are treated have taught them that they aren’t good enough; smart enough; worthy enough. I teach them that neither me nor my God believes any of those things.”
She smiles warmly as she recalls how they taught her about being available to people. "People knew where to come when they needed help: a meal, clothes, a bed to sleep in, a place to sober up. Friends, family, strangers; if they needed support, my parents opened the doors to our home."
“I had one young woman who told me she was a devil-worshipper. I told her, well, he may have gotten you here, but my guy is going to get you out!”
Sister Francetta knows she learned to say, "Here I am, Lord" from the example shown by her mom and dad.
“We must see the people before us, really see them. Where would any of us be if Jesus ignored us, if God believed we were damaged beyond repair?”
“A few weeks later she came back and said, “I’ve been reading. I want what you have; and I said, ‘You can have what I have.’ Some of these days are so heartwarming. Some days are harder. But what I’ve learned is that every one of these women is looking for forgiveness and hope.” "Often my words are these: ‘Be honest and true to yourself. Don’t waste your God-given gifts; learn how you can use them to change the world.’”
I pray for all women who are abused and suffering from drug addiction; and for all who are homeless.
Francis & Mabel Martendale McCann
~ Dorothy Ederer, OP
I pray that they continue to seek a relationship with Jesus so they can be at peace and find hope, in some hopeless situations. I pray that my heart will not become hardened or give up on these women who are seeking sobriety, hope and God.
www.grdominicans.org grdominicans.org 4 4
Ralph Land
God is Present By Eva Silva, OP
Vocatus atque non vocatus deus aderit. Bidden or not, God is present. CG Jung had these words inscribed over the entrance to his house in Kusnacht. It is the same knowing that I have, as I welcome a client into my office. Bidden or not, God is present. It is bolstered by the knowledge that my Dominican community is with me and that we do this work together. Our shared vision, shared life, shared resources, and shared prayer is the weaving that holds us together in our ministry, wherever we may be. Storytelling is the umbrella I like to use in sharing thoughts about psychotherapy and how it can change lives, change narratives, change perceptions for the good. I enjoy telling a good story, but my primary role in my ministry is to be the listener and privileged witness to the stories that are told, in large part, stories of trauma, little and big trauma.
god is present
Rachael Naomi Remen, a storyteller and writer of renown says: “When you listen generously to people, they can hear the truth in themselves, often for the first time,” and when truth emerges, it illuminates unknown places in the heart and soul. Hope takes hold and healing is possible. Narrative Therapy has a saying; “We can either be host or be held hostage by our story.” Most often we do not realize we are being “held hostage” by the betrayals, the anger, the grief, the abuse and the false narratives that have been learned. There are ways to facilitate healing in the midst of even the most difficult times. The telling of our story in a therapeutic setting is a process that can help position us to be in the best place for healing and wholeness. It is “work.” Honesty and courage are required to name the darkness and our own complicity, mostly unknowingly. It is sitting with the unknown. “Learning arises from working at the edges between knowing and not knowing,” wrote 5 mission
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Wilfred Bion, DSO. He said that psychotherapy is about “minding the inside things.” The poet and writer John O’Donohue conveys this truth, I think, so beautifully and poetically. Light cannot see inside things, That is what the dark is for, Minding the interior, Nurturing the draw of growth Through places where death In its own way turns into life. Does that not speak of healing? Truth is often found in pain and suffering. Suffering and struggle are often the very things that draw us out of fear and into new life. The ability to recognize and hold more of joy and light follows. The therapeutic process is about truth and transformation, healing and wholeness. It is soul work. In time, it is even possible for the struggle to become a blessing. Again, God is the unseen guest as the therapist is welcomed into the intimacy of another’s life. It is a privilege to witness and accompany another in their healing. “The human soul doesn’t want to be advised or fixed or saved. It simply wants to be witnessed—to be seen, heard and companioned exactly as it is. When we make that kind of deep bow to the soul of a suffering person, our respect reinforces the soul’s healing resources, the only resources that can help the sufferer make it through.” Parker Palmer Vocatus atque non vocatus deus aderit. Bidden or not, God is present. Eva Silva, OP is a licensed psychotherapist in private practice in Albuquerque, New Mexico.
Foundations in Wisdom at Dominican Center By Margarita Solis-Deal
Now Israel loved Joseph more than all his children, because he was the son of his old age: and he made him a coat of many colors. This is the Old Testament Bible story of 17-year-old Joseph. His father loved him very much that he gifted him a coat of many colors that symbolized this great love. As Joseph’s brothers looked on, they did so with envy and hatred. A gift given in love was seen as a gift of favoritism that was unjustly given. A gift given in love turned others to hatred. Yet, the receiver of this gift, Joseph, transformed hatred to love by responding with compassion and mercy toward his brothers. He was guided by sacred wisdom. The coat of many colors is a great symbol for Foundations in Wisdom, the new spiritual formation program at Dominican Center. Each time we gather we weave another color through the coat of sacred wisdom that strengthens our resolve to live with compassion and commit our lives to justice that is always guided by God’s love. In September 2019, a group of 26 committed to this intensive 9-month formation in sacred wisdom. Through contemplation and prayer, study and dialog, the participants make room for their own transformation as they move from understanding wisdom from the head space to the heart space. Wisdom walkers like Martin Luther King, Jr., Brother David Steindl-Rast, OSB, Malala Yousafzai, and Saint Oscar Romero guide our new "wisdom seekers" by example and lived experiences; deepening their understanding of justice and mercy; gratitude and gratefulness; humility and surrender; reverence and trust; woundedness and suffering; compassion and empathy; joy and generosity; perseverance and devotion; and community and solidarity. By embracing these elements of wisdom, the wisdom seekers are strengthening their spiritual foundation.
Zahabia Ahmed-Usmani, program coordinator at the Kaufman Interfaith Institute, shared how her own faith as a devout Muslim guides her work in building interfaith understanding and community; Debra Gutowski, director of Native American Ministry for the Diocese of Grand Rapids, guided us through humility and respect for all God’s creation and people; Sisters Maureen Geary, OP and Joan Williams, OP imparted their wisdom of being in right relationship as they shared their own lived experiences in ministry. Sister Maureen spoke of her work advocating for fair housing in Grand Rapids. Bishop Oswaldo Escobar Aguilar, OCD of Chalatenango, El Salvador reminded us that a church that is awake is a church that feeds the poor, welcomes the immigrant, and visits the prisoner. Foundations in Wisdom has guided the 26 wisdom seekers to a deeper relationship with God. They, like Joseph who wore the coat of many colors, are strengthening themselves with the coat of wisdom, so to guide them in their own service to others, so that when they face discrimination they respond with mercy, when they face injustice they respond with humility and when they face hatred they respond with love.
Margarita Solis-Deal is director of Dominican Center at Marywood, a ministry of the Dominican Sisters~Grand Rapids.
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Bryan Esler
Because of the Dominican I am...
It’s the moments shared that warm the spirit: Sister Francetta McCann spent a lively afternoon with Nick and Katharine Fish, and their daughters Riley and Sofia.
Transformed He was 19 when he awoke one morning, was handed a garbage bag, and told to pack his things. The funds for an adult foster care placement were delayed and the providers carelessly drove from Rockford to downtown Grand Rapids and dropped him on a corner. A man, you might think. Old enough to be able to take care of himself, some would say. “I was so scared; I’d never been in Grand Rapids before. I thought, oh no, it’s happening again. I have no one, and I’ll be hungry.” He describes the fear as paralyzing. A lifetime of abuse and neglect, sadness, fear, and anger can do that to a person. From the street, Nick found his way inside the door of Guiding Light Mission. He hadn’t eaten for several days at his foster home; not until they got their money, they told him. A man in recovery, Tim, approached and showed him Dégagé and God’s Kitchen where he could eat. “Tim stayed by me all that weekend. He kept telling me, ‘Just wait for Monday; I’ll take you to somebody who can help; I’ll take you to see The Little Nun,’” said Nick. 7 mission
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Tim took Nick to see Francetta McCann, OP, at Heartside Ministry that Monday. She listened to his story. For days, weeks, months, Sister Francetta listened and walked with him. Painful memories can be debilitating; Nick’s prolonged trauma and current circumstances had caused mental stress and disorder. What follows is a condensed version of Nick’s early years. When he was nine years old, a private adoption arrangement pulled him from an orphanage, a home he had known since he was three years old. That year, 9-year-old Kosta of Bulgaria became 9-year-old Nick from Michigan in the United States. In Bulgaria “I had a bed, kids I played with, my ‘Pita’ or grandmother,” he says. “They were my family. Everybody told me that I was going to the U.S. and I would have a new family, a new life. But when I got here, I had nothing.” Five months after his arrival in the U.S., his adoptive mother put him on a plane back to Bulgaria where the man who had transported him, drugged his Pepsi, and left him alone, asleep in a hotel room. When he awoke, he waited and then walked out the hotel doors and into the streets. Within days he was back on a
plane to the United States, where he entered the foster care system.
remember she took me to Goodwill to buy clothes because I had none—someone stole my two bags of clothing.”
He was a child struggling with enormous life transitions and not getting the support he needed. Eventually Nick was adopted by another family. Unfortunately, severe abuse and neglect were part of his life for the next few years.
“She heard me sing and said I had a nice voice, and she invited me to be in the choir at Marywood. It was in these everyday moments, time away from being alone and downtown, and time with her being safe and sound, that I finally felt comfort.”
There were many people who didn’t hear or understand Nick’s cries for help; they didn’t notice or chose to ignore the bruises, the weight loss, and the misbehavior of a troubled child in the classroom and on the playground. By age 14, Nick was so filled with mistrust and fear that the safest place for him was a residential care facility. There, Nick began to heal. He began to trust. Medication helped, as did the consistent support of a caring case team and mentor. They all helped, until they couldn’t. In the U.S. foster care system, kids age out at 18 years of age, ready or not, to face the challenges of providing for themselves. Nick was given a one-year extension but due to changes in his case manager, his transition was rushed. The day Nick was dropped off on the corner in Grand Rapids, he had no money, no information about where to go for help, and no way to contact anybody. Too many bad memories crashed down on him. That first weekend in the shelter was traumatic for Nick. But Tim took Nick to meet Sister Francetta and things began to turn around. She found Nick a room and met with him every day. She filled his prescriptions and passed him his pills to keep him safe from the suicide he threatened. She counseled and guided. During the next couple of years, Sister Francetta and a team of people showed Nick that he was worthy of love and more. “I remember how much it meant to me when Sister gave me my first ever Christmas tree. I cried because, receiving this from a woman so close to God, it felt as if Jesus was giving me a blessing. It was a profound moment for me because I’d never been given any gift.” “Sister took me out every night to eat with her. I just was always happy to be with her because I felt safe and happy; and because I knew she wouldn’t hurt me like everyone else, I trusted her, and she never broke that trust.” Nick missed out on the nurturing that every child deserves and at 19 found a nurturer, a supporter in Sister Francetta. “Sister gave me bus tickets to go find a job, she fed me. I
Sister and friends accompanied Nick in every area of his life. They celebrated his first job at Burger King, which paid for his room. They found out he liked baseball and, together, game after game, ate hot dogs and cheered the Whitecaps. Nick’s mentor continued to meet with him. He enrolled in college. A new friend, Remy, took him home for dinner one day. Remy’s parents, John and Emily Steed, became the parents Nick never had. Nick healed with the support of a non-traditional family. Today he is a husband and father to two daughters. His faith is strong, as are his relationships with friends and family. People are drawn to his warmth and openness. As he recounts his life experiences, then and now, one hears a story of a man who has grown into himself, full of love and generosity. He has the gift of truly seeing what is really there, of observing even the small details, very like The Little Nun that nurtured him with love and kindness.
“Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days of my life and I will dwell in the house of the Lord forever. I have experienced every word of
Psalm 23. And Christ sent the right people to help me, to comfort me, to love me, to feed me, to clothe me, to provide love and safety… people like Sister Francetta and Keith and Ray and John and Shelly. I speak of all of my blessings: my kids, my wife, my friends; God has given me a house… and the blessings keep coming because of my faith and devotion to God and my trust in His Word.” “I hope that by sharing my story people will realize there are so many kids out there crying out, hoping someone will love them, listen to them, and be their rock. I want people who read this to hear and be aware of what’s going on around them and to help where and when they can.” Sister Francetta McCann helped teens like Nick, and men and women, some with mental illness, some with addictions, by being a compassionate listener and by connecting them with services. They know her as one who walked among them, without judgment.
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A Plan & a Promise with a Purpose We caught up with Jeanne Mayan, a Veritas Society member and devoted friend of the Dominican Sisters. Jeanne, tell us about your history with the Dominican Sisters. For all 12 years of school at Sacred Heart Academy in Merrill, Michigan, the Dominican Sisters were my teachers and administrators. I loved them all.
I went on to study business, law, and accounting at Aquinas College where once again, my educators were Dominican Sisters.
veritas society
Our parents both went to Sacred Heart and had great respect for the Sisters. Their love and generosity with the Sisters were great examples to us kids. Is there a memory that you especially treasure? The Sisters who taught me were firm and commanded respect, but I loved them for it—I could be naughty! I remember all through high school having Sister Thomas Edward Kennedy, Sister Michaelene Hylen, and Sister Clarice Quinlan—they were so much fun! Sisters would find some misdemeanor to keep me after school to help out. I didn’t even mind staying after. Really, we had developed a wonderful relationship.
At Aquinas, I worked in the cafeteria with Sister Angus Black. She was a sweetheart—a tiny little
Sister Thomas Edward Kennedy with one of her students.
thing, always scurrying—and she never slowed down. She fussed over making sure the priests were eating enough—she didn’t want them getting too thin! How has your life been impacted by your history with the Sisters? My father died suddenly, leaving me to take over the family insurance business at age 20. I ran it for more than 30 years and absolutely credit the example of the Sisters and all they instilled in me for my ability to keep the business alive and successful all that time. Jeanne, why did you choose a planned gift as a way to support the Sisters? The Sisters always took a personal interest in me—in all their students. They were so determined to direct and guide us.
I made these plans in thanksgiving for them and as a way of celebrating the influence they had on my life. I believe it’s so important to acknowledge their work—in the community, in the parishes, and for peace and justice—work they’ve done over the years and that continues. Look at what they have done at Marywood, it’s so much more than just the Sisters’ home. They contribute to the community in a significant way.
Come learn more about how your legacy may align with the Dominican Sisters. Join us for Pair Up on September 17, 2019. Would you like an invitation? Let us know! Alyssa Morillo Scheidt, Director of Mission Advancement 616.514.3110 | amorilloscheidt@grdominicans.org Visit www.grdominicans.org/support-us to learn more. 9 mission
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Personal Prayer Ministries Then you will call on me and come and pray to me, and I will listen to you. You will seek me and find me when you seek me with all your heart.
-Jeremiah 29:12-13
Petitioning for transformation and healing, Sisters open our hearts to God through our personal prayer ministries. Through our prayers, and yours, God promises the fullness of a love that knows no boundaries.
I pray for the children of the world.
I pray for people who are homeless.
I pray for an end to violence in the world.
Children in our world are in crisis, struggling for basic human needs— water, food, shelter, education. They are migrants and refugees, the targets of sex traffickers. But also, children fight for climate justice and gun control, calling us all to action. I train young people becoming teachers and they give me hope. I pray that the world’s children know God’s mercy and strength.
Many years ago, I heard of a need for a hairdresser for people who are homeless. I volunteered downtown at Dégagé Ministries. I spent 10 years serving the men and women who needed hair care. I found people who were so grateful for the little that they had; often an individual would tell me how blessed he or she felt. When I see a person on the street corner asking for help I say a little prayer for them. I thank God for the wonderful opportunity I had serving at Dégagé Ministries.
When I pray, it isn’t just to end violence people to people. Even our precious mother Earth is mistreated by waste and pollution caused by lack of awareness or greed. I pray that humans will change our stony hearts to hearts of flesh, acting with compassion and realizing that all of creation is sacred.
~ Justine Kane, OP
~ Tereska Wozniak, OP
~ Marge Stein, OP
As you contemplate truth and transformation, how will your prayers bring about healing of God’s precious people?
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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 praising, blessing, and preaching God’s love through all we do.
Ministries • Prayer • • • • • • • • • • • • •
Dominican Chapel/Marywood Dominican Center at Marywood Marywood Campus Justice Health Care & Spiritual Companioning Aquinata Assisted Living Marywood Health Center Care Resources WORD – ESL Partners in Parenting Aquinas College Maternidad de Maria, Chimbote, Peru Centro de Obras Sociales, Chimbote, Peru
Mission & Ministry Editorial Team • Sandra Delgado, OP – Prioress • Danny Lynn – Art Director • Stacy Spitler – Editor/Contributor • Alyssa Morillo Scheidt, Contributor
All photos are from the Archives of the Dominican Sisters~Grand Rapids (DSGR) unless otherwise noted.
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