Fall/Winter 2023 · Vol. XXIV
Open our hearts, this we pray
Thankful for God’s Creation
Prayer of Thanksgiving O, God of the Universe, expand our hearts in Thanksgiving for loving us into being and for sharing your love in total gift of self poured out in Jesus Christ. Thank you for the beauty of all creation in nature and for our sisters and brothers around the world from every nation, color, and creed. Teach us to pour out our lives for others in Eucharistic thanksgiving for a better world of justice, equality, and peace. May all creation experience fullness of life in our common Earth home now and into the future. We pray this with deep gratitude in Jesus name. Amen. Sister Tereska Wozniak OP
Table of Contents: 2 | From the Prioress 3 | Rebuild my House 5 | Seeding a Land Legacy Our 9 | Celebrating 2023 Jubilarians
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11 | Dominican Center Marywood 13 | Foundation News 14 | Veritas Society
On the Cover:
Sister Kathi Sleziak and Ian Todd are managing the reforesting and prairie expansion at Marywood.
A Letter from the Prioress
Sister Sandra Delgado OP Prioress
Dear Friends,
Hardly a week goes by that I don’t hear the question: What is happening at Marywood? We are evolving. Aren’t we always? That “state” is inherent in the gift of life. In this season, as fall gives way to winter, we are in a state of anticipation. We soon will welcome new neighbors: seniors moving into new apartments, after mid-2024 say the owners of Academy Manor, formerly the Marywood motherhouse. We also look forward to the return of offices and employees currently housed off campus to the east wing of Academy Manor. In the midst of the challenges we face with newness on our campus, we are reminded in Sr. Tereska’s Thanksgiving prayer that we have so much to be grateful for even as our world and our church face so much division. We can be grateful for the words shared at the Synod on Synodality this fall. As Sr. Megan reminds us in her preaching on the feast of St. Francis, “As a people of faith, we are not exempt from rebuilding the house” [of God]. At the Dominican Sisters – Grand Rapids General Assembly 2021, the Congregation studied and renewed its commitment to our “Relationship with Earth” direction statement: “We commit ourselves to seek right relationships with Earth, through ecological conversion of mind and heart, understanding that the Universe is sacred and interconnected.” We also affirmed the Congregation’s commitment to study and implement strategies inspired by Pope Francis’ Encyclical, Laudato Si’, Caring for our Common Home. Those who drive past or walk through campus will note changes in our front yard. This past spring and summer, trees, beset either by strong winds or earth movers, were felled. Yet more trees were planted. Also planted were native grasses and wildflowers, extending our Prairie Habitat. Some of these changes are part of a new landscape master planning process underway. “We all belong”. As I contemplate the words in the poem Bear Heart by Sr. Dolorita Martinez OP, I am reminded that this land where our Community of Sisters lives has also been home to other communities: indigenous peoples, animals, trees and plant life. We praise and thank you, Creator God. We re-commit to steward your Creation, walking with Your community, preaching love.
Sr. Sandra Delgado OP, Prioress grdominicans.org 2
Rebuild My House by Megan McElroy OP
In the early 13th century, St. Francis of Assisi sat in front of the cross at San Damiano church and heard Jesus say to him, “Rebuild my house, which you can see is in ruins.” Thinking Jesus was talking about the old, nearly collapsing church in which he was praying, Francis set about to rebuild its walls. In time Francis realized God was asking him to rebuild the spirit of the whole Church, and he did so through the witness of prayer, poverty, and peace. Since his election to the papacy, Pope Francis has taken up the mantle of “rebuilding the house” in countless ways – with the curia and the priesthood, with Earth itself in his encyclical Laudato Si’, and with the Synod on the Synod. Pope Francis has prayed that “the synod be a ‘kairos’ (moment) of fraternity, a place where the Holy Spirit will purify the church from gossip, ideologies and polarization.”
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St. Francis of Assisi
Our Dominican brother, Timothy Radcliffe, echoed the pope’s sentiments in the meditations he gave to the participants on retreat in anticipation of the opening of the Synod. With his classic humor, humility, and honesty, Timothy challenged the Synod participants, and the whole church by extension, to rebuild the walls of the church through such topics as hope, home, and friendship. And now the work of the Synod has begun! By virtue of our baptism, the People of God have been commissioned. As a people of faith, we are not exempt from rebuilding the house. The divisions of our church and our world, the destruction of our home planet, and the sufferings of our brothers and sisters near and far ought to cause us much sadness of heart. Such sadness should drive us to want to do something to bring healing and wholeness. We can’t save the whole world, but we can consider our own corners of the world. We are invited to reflect on our own role in the breakdown of community.
We can take as our examen some of the questions Timothy put forth to the Synod participants: • Though my hopes may differ from others, what is our shared hope? How might I open my heart to the hopes of those I see as my antagonists? • The Church is meant to be a home. How can I enlarge the pegs of my tent (of my thoughts and attitudes), so that others who think differently than I do might be at home with me? • Do I dare to make friends with the other in my midst whom I wouldn’t claim as a natural companion? Do I have the courage to share my questions and doubts with another and to hear the same from them and then search together for the truth?
Let us all consider these questions so that we, like St. Francis, can then begin to pick up the pieces of the relationships, situations, and hearts broken and scattered around us and help to rebuild the house, the home, of God.
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“Coldbrook Creek Protectors” have been working together on varied fronts to improve this watershed that flows from the Grand River through nearby residential neighborhoods and Aquinas College and Marywood campuses.
Seeding A Land Legacy by Kathi Sleziak OP On an early September morning, the teachers, the gardeners, and the curious came with trowels in hand to plant native grasses, sedges, and wildflowers, expanding the Prairie Habitat at Marywood. These hardy volunteers included Aquinas College Professor Amy Dunham Strand and her class of young environmentalists, ecology-committed Sisters and Associates, Coldbrook Creek Watershed members, neighbors, and Wild Ones River City. Coldbrook Creek originates at West, Mid, and Church Lakes, and from there flows through the Floodplain Forest at Marywood, is buried underground in concrete culverts, gets ‘daylighted’ back to the surface as a visible creek just before leading into the Grand River in downtown Grand Rapids. Last fall a group of volunteer urban foresters, guided by Friends of Grand Rapids Parks, planted 22 trees on the front lawn. Each native tree was given its own special spot and planted to one day contribute to a ‘mini forest’. With
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help from the Plaster Creek Stewards, this past spring, the Dominican Sisters were gifted with another 20 trees. We are expanding the Prairie footprint by planting native plants and grasses to act as a buffer designed to filter sediment and pollutants found in the stormwater runoff that flows from our parking lot. This large scale “green infrastructure” practice helps improve water quality of both Coldbrook Creek and the Grand River which flows into Lake Michigan. “Reducing lawns is more cost-effective and sustainable,” says Ian Todd, Grounds Team Leader for the Dominican Sisters Grand Rapids. “Last year we collected and hauled away 40 tons of leaves. We are planning to retain those leaves and compost them for use on campus. As the new forest matures, fewer leaves will be collected and instead will be left to naturally decay and nourish the plant and animal life on the Marywood campus.”
“Tree roots form a beautiful community. Quietly and gently, they care for, communicate with and nourish each other. We could learn from them.” ~ Francis Dutil CSJ
Rebecca Marquardt, landscape architect and member of Wild Ones River City, is creating a Marywood campus landscape master plan which will be a mechanism to study and guide development of our 34-acre campus. It will be a tool to engage, problem solve, and inspire. Rebecca is the owner of ‘Revery’, a landscape architecture studio which specializes in native and restorative ecology.
“The Dominican Sisters are in a good position for modeling what strong and solid ecological landscaping might look like in urban and neighborhood setting,” said Rebecca. “This is an opportunity to do something most area homeowners are not able to do: return some of the regional character that the landscape of this unique place once had.” “Prairies, or more accurately, Oak Savannas, were historically found throughout southern Michigan. Now, more than 99% of these natural communities are gone or “extirpated” due to development,” said Rebecca. The majority of the Marywood campus was likely more of an Oak Hickory Forest, which would have shifted into Oak Savanna with populations of grasses and wildflowers, depending on indigenous occupancy and practices of using fire to manage vegetation.” The Prairie Habitat at Marywood, an eco-justice initiative of the Dominican Sisters, was established nearly 20 years ago. Sister Lucille Janowiak OP and teams of dedicated volunteers from the community, including Wild Ones River City, cared for the prairie by planting native and removing invasive species. “A prairie habitat in an urban setting is a rare but valuable resource that provides a key habitat for many species of wildlife, serving as important breeding, feeding, nesting, and brood-rearing centers,” explains Rebecca.
Aquinas College students Angela Cutts and Lauren Mezeske are learning how planting now can improve the natural ecosystem far into the future.
Prairie habitat efforts include: - Enhancing ecological function through lawn reduction - Planting high carbon-dioxide storing low-maintenance native grasses, plants and wildflowers - Reforesting with native trees - Improving trails, pathways and gathering spaces for contemplation and education
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Collaboration is Key One of the gifts of this project has been the networking and support of the environmental community. We learn, share, and volunteer with each other’s projects. We advocate for and promote each other’s programs. Because of these relationships, our Congregation was gifted trees; urged to apply for the National Wildlife Foundation’s Sacred Ground grant (which we received); and encouraged to apply for a Wildflower Association of Michigan grant. The timing and collaborative approach is particularly enriching because it aligns with the Dominican Sisters’ conviction of our responsibility to care for God’s Creation. “Sisters, Associates, and employees have been collaborating through contemplative study and ongoing pursuit of seven interlocking Laudato Si’ goals. The goals focus on such areas as responsible stewardship and the adoption of simple, sustainable lifestyles. We believe these can be instrumental in bringing about a better world for all,” said Prioress Sister Sandra Delgado OP.
Celebrating God’s Creation “How amazing this place we call home is. We want to continue improving trails, pathways, and gathering spaces for the purpose of contemplation and education,” said Sister Sandra. In September we gathered in Chapel of the Word and in the Saint Francis Sculpture Garden on the banks of Coldbrook Creek for a prayer service. We prayed: Let Justice and Peace Flow from the waters of baptism into our hearts and out through our actions. Send us forth with a common purpose in this Season of Creation. May our Community efforts, our Camaraderie as we work together caring for Mother Earth, find us walking gently on this holy ground, treating all our kin with reverence and as pure gifts from you, our Gracious God. Our Dominican Sisters and Associates will continue to join our voices, actions, and prayerful intentions in calling for justice not only for human beings, but for all creation. We are called to protect creation, to change our attitudes, and to share our sacred spaces with all who are open to study, prayer, community, and service.
“Our 34-acre Marywood Campus has the potential to transform some of its spacious lawns into beautiful woods or a tiny forest. Trees are critical to the overall quality of our environment. They offset development impacts, significantly diminish noise pollution, lower air temperature, remove pollutants from the air, and decrease topsoil erosion. Trees are a critical component of numerous ecosystems and provide habitats for songbirds, small forest animals, wildflowers, and smaller understory trees.” ~ Kathi Sleziak OP
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Just as Sisters and Associates are studying Care of Creation, improving the Prairie, trails, pathways and gathering spaces for contemplation and education will serve as foundational experiences for many in the community including Aquinas College and Whistlestop Child Care students. Ian Todd, Sr. Kathi Sleziak, and Rebecca Marquardt Michael Bearrs and Haley Weesies helped prepare us for our September planting session. Betty Kliewer, of Plaster Creek Stewards, and friends observe a nightcrawler.
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Celebrating our 2023 Jubilarians “ You are my companion and must walk with me. For if we hold together no earthly power can withstand us.”
“Clear a space in your mind; Make silence in your heart for God to speak.” ~ Jesus Calling Verona Wangler OP, 80 Years
- Saint Dominic de Guzman
Their lives are a testimony to the Pillars of Dominican Life and Mission: Prayer. Community. Study. Service.
Michael Ellen Carling OP, 70 Years “I have loved you and you are Mine.” Mary Courtade OP, 75 Years
Let us celebrate the faithful service of these women.
“In stillness and in quiet confidence is my strength.” Emma Kulhanek OP, 75 Years
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I dreamt a vow last night and its name was Chastity — frightening in its solitude until I awoke to Love I dreamt a vow last night and its name was Obedience — frightening in its consequents until I awoke to Liberty”
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.
“I dreamt a vow last night and its name was Poverty — frightening in its austerity until I woke to Plenitude
“I will give thanks to you, O Lord my God, with all my heart and I will glorify your name forever. Great has been your kindness to me.” ~ Psalm 86: 12-13 Donna Jean Thelen OP, 70 Years
“I rejoice and proclaim the goodness of God’s steadfast love forever.”
“In the shadow of your wings. I cling to you: Your right hand upholds me.”
“I came that you may have life and have it abundantly.”
~ Psalm 92
~ Psalm 63:7-8
Orlanda Leyba OP, 60 Years
Jean Karen Woloszyk OP, 60 Years
Mario Pavoni OP, 60 Years
“All will be well. And all manner of things will be well.”
How beautiful are the feet of those who bring good news.”
Yesterday is history, tomorrow is mystery.
~ Julian of Norwich
~ Isaiah 52:7
Mary Patricia Beatty OP, 60 Years
Mary Ann Barrett OP, 60 Years
Marie Carla Moeggenborg OP, 60 Years
~ John 10:10
~ John 15:15
Thankful for a Life of Blessings
Joellen Barkwell OP, 60 Years
Anne Breitag OP, 60 Years
“I have called you friends.”
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Dominican Center Marywood at Aquinas College At Dominican Center, people come to explore the interconnectedness of Creation and humanity and the boundlessness of God’s love. Thank you for your prayers and support as we share this ministry with people who return again and again to our spiritual community for prayer, study, and contemplative space in the natural world. If you find yourself in a position to support Dominican Center Marywood with a financial gift, we thank you for your generosity. Always remember, you can also support this ministry by sharing news of our programs with friends and family.
Compassionate Kinship Circle
February 6 & 20, March 5 & 19, April 9 & 23 Tuesdays from 6:00- to 8:00 pm Compassion is a heart to heart encounter. Through compassion, we are immersed in the reality of life, suffering, and goodness. Our compassionate thoughts, words and actions ripple out as a balm of peace, joy, love bringing healing into the brokenness of our world. This in-person retreat-style experience is open to people of all faith traditions and spiritualities. Over the six sessions we will explore the meaning of compassion and discover how we are like pebbles thrown into the pond of reality causing ripples of compassion to flow out into the world. Through reading, review, reflection, and response, experience this time as a catalyst for a renewed commitment in being a compassionate presence, both to yourself and to others who are amid pain and struggle. Our time together will include presentations, communal prayer, small group dialog, and quiet times for reflection. 11 mission ministry • Fall/Winter 2023
“Compassion asks us to go where it hurts, to enter places of pain, to share in brokenness, fear, confusion, and anguish. Compassion challenges us to cry out with those in misery, to mourn with those who are lonely, to weep with those in tears. Compassion requires us to be weak with the weak, vulnerable with the vulnerable, and powerless with the powerless. Compassion means full immersion in the condition of being human.” ~ Donald McNeill, Douglas Morrison and Henri Nouwen in Compassion, by Joyce Rupp
BEAR HEART’S PRAYER OF PRAISE, LAMENTATION & HOPE Sr. Dolorita Martinez OP Majestic Forest, Peace, Tranquility and Beauty, Diversity and Oneness; We all belong We call this Mountain our Land, our Home We praise and thank you, Creator God. Timber, Timber, Timber, they shout Profit, Profit, Profit, all is free Greed, Greed, Greed, take all, no one is responsible or cares. Fire, Fire, Pollution, Pollution Erosion, Destruction, Displacement No one can survive here. Move on. Migrate, Migrate, move on to a safer terrain and even to foreign lands. Move on, move on, not here, not there. My Bear Heart in anguish weeps and pains, I share the anguish my sisters and brother carry. Climate Change, Climate Change, Why? Who is to blame? Surely not you, Creator God; You created all creatures great and small You have given us life and all we need. Forgive, forgive us all, deliver us from Greed That makes us forget our sisters and brothers in need. Open our ear and eyes to see and hear The cries of those displaced, migrating in pain. My Bear Heart unites as one with You, Creator God. May the anguish and pain we all share Bring forth New Hope, New Life and a New Home. Canticle of Brother Sun by Mic Carlson, Founder and Sculptor, Saint Francis Sculpture Garden
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Since 1877 when Dominican Sisters arrived in Michigan, the Word of God has inspired and called us to respond to the needs of the world through ministry. To further this legacy of ministry, we established the Grand Rapids Dominican Sisters Foundation. The Foundation will support efforts that continue or expand our ministries, extending the impact beyond our lifetimes. Our legacy of ministry: • Care of Earth • Education of children and adults • Helping alleviate the stresses of poverty • Peace and justice endeavors • Quality health care • Spiritual formation and pastoral ministry
The Foundation is the fulfillment of the Sisters’ vision for continued mission and is deeply rooted in their identity as preachers, educators, caregivers, peacemakers, and justice-seekers. The Foundation will make grants to organizations whose missions align with the Sisters’ values and with the tenets of Catholic Social Teaching and will be focused in the areas that represent the Sisters’ ministries. The board of directors will be comprised of Sisters and lay people. The Foundation was started with a gift from Dominican Sisters ~ Grand Rapids (DSGR) and will seek to grow its funds for grantmaking. Donors and friends of DSGR will be our first partners! With our shared commitment to mission, we believe our supporters will want to help us continue to minister to God’s people through the Foundation. We gratefully welcome individuals to join us in this important work by making a donation. Gifts may be made directly to the Foundation, a public charitable organization (EIN 83-3700084). Plans are under way to inaugurate the Foundation throughout 2023 and begin grantmaking in spring 2024.
If you’d like to learn more, including how you might get involved, please contact: Alyssa Morillo Scheidt | 616.514.3110 | amorilloscheidt@grdominicans.org
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Build Your Legacy with Us! If you have questions about joining the Veritas Society by including Dominican Sisters ~ Grand Rapids or the Grand Rapids Dominican Sisters Foundation in your will or estate plans, we’re here to help. Please contact: Alyssa Morillo Scheidt Director of Mission Advancement 616.514.3110 amorilloscheidt@grdominicans.org Please let us know if you have already named the Sisters in your plans so that we can share a special gift with you. Thank you!
grdominicans.org/veritas
Ann Karasinski at her 2019 Dominican Associate commitment ceremony.
What is your Legacy? by Ann Karasinski
What do you want your legacy to be? When faced with this question recently I reflected on aspects of my own life and how my relationship with the Dominican Sisters has informed and changed me. I thought of the Sister who gave me an image of “wholeness” that I love, namely that we are born fully connected to God and our belovedness. It is only when the world gets ahold of us that we lose our knowing of this wholeness. Over the years, the Dominican Sisters have formed and nurtured me. I have studied and prayed with them. I have worked side-by-side with them and lifted my voice with theirs, in song and in worship. I know I am sent out into the world as a sister to the Dominican Sisters, joining many who continue their radical work of reclaiming wholeness. The Sisters’ legacy will continue through those who serve alongside them as Associates and allies and friends. As a Veritas member, I choose to invest my treasure in their legacy, along with my hands and my heart as, emboldened by my faith, I seek to serve with joy. I pose this important question to all of you, friends and supporters of the Sisters: What do you want your legacy to be? grdominicans.org 14
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111 Lakeside Drive NE Grand Rapids, MI 49503 616.459.2910 grdominicans.org dominicancenter.com
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.
Campus Contacts
• Administration & Leadership –
616.459.2910
• Aquinata Hall – 616.259.1703 • Archives – 616.514.3313
• Associate Life – 616.514.3115
• Communications – 616.514.3455 • Dominican Center Marywood at
Aquinas College – 616.514.3325
• Facilities – 616.514.3343 • Finance – 616.514.3318
• Human Resources – 616.514.3322
• Mission Advancement – 616.514.3110
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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We remember with fondness the Jubilarians who celebrate with us bathed in the glory of Eternal Life. 75 YEARS
Catherine Ann Winowiecki OP Carol Ann Nowak OP Helen Miller OP Rita Barreras OP Audrey Sanchez OP John Therese Kusba OP Stella Jozwiak OP Louisa Mogdis OP Thaddeus Kowalinski OP Eunice Cronin OP Rose Patrice O’Donnell OP Barbara Ann Seymour OP Vita Licari OP
70 YEARS
Magdalena Conway OP William Mary Conway OP Nancy Ribble OP Jaqueline Hudson OP JoAnn Boucher OP Jacqueline Bennett OP Jeanne Marie Jones OP
25 YEARS
Helen Gancarz, Associate