Ministry Presence
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We Don’t Always Choose
June 17, 2022
“To abide in Christ is to abide in the faith. When struggles come, you stay in the faith-you abide in it.” ~ 1 Corinthian 16:13 1 We don’t always choose the nature or timing of changes that come into our lives. Josephine “Jo” Birchmeier OP knows this all too well. She has experienced transitions through […]
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Dolls and Critters Made with Love
June 1, 2022
In 2019, Nancy Malburg OP called Bethany Christian Service and asked “What can the Dominican Sisters~Grand Rapids do to comfort the children caught up in the refugee and immigration crisis?” When told the children arrive with nothing, Sister Nancy put into motion a plan that would put creature comforts into the arms of children. This […]
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Dominican Sisters ~ Grand Rapids Response to Texas Killings
May 25, 2022
May 25, 2022 — GRAND RAPIDS, Michigan Our hearts are broken – again. We are enraged at the needless loss of life – again. We cry out – AGAIN! How long, O Lord?! How long?! How long will children have to train for an active shooter in their schools? How long must children and teachers […]
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Dominican Sisters ~ Grand Rapids Respond to Killing of Patrick Lyoya
April 19, 2022
Our hearts are heavy and outraged at the shooting death of Patrick Lyoya. For the first time in thirty years, this month many religious traditions are celebrating their major feasts at the same time. These faith communities, which are an integral part of our Grand Rapids civic community, honor and ritualize significant traditions which speak […]
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An Update from Our Dominican Family in Ukraine
March 21, 2022
March 13, 2022 Dear sisters and dear brothers, It’s already been a couple days since my last letter. This interruption doesn’t mean that something tragic has happened to us. Quite the opposite. I finally managed to travel to Fastiv. I had already started missing the conversations with my brothers Misha, John, Paul, and Igor, and […]
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Notes from the Order of Preachers in Ukraine
March 9, 2022
Kyiv, March 8, 2022, 4:45pm Dear sisters and dear brothers, Let me start with Fastiv today. The House of Saint Martin de Porres run by the Dominicans and lay volunteers has been a place of escape and rest for people affected by the hostilities, ever since the beginning of the war. One of the ladies […]
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Sisters Pledge to Pursue Laudato Si’ Action Platform
March 6, 2022
We have been invited by Pope Francis to join with myriad institutions and individuals of the Church to journey toward integral Ecology. We undertake with courage, conviction, and compassion the responsibility to Care for Earth, our Common Home, and to stand with people who have been impacted by climate change, poverty, violence, and exploitation. We […]
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Dominican Sisters ~ Grand Rapids Follow Historic Cross to New Home
February 23, 2022
On Sunday, February 13, during Mass in Dominican Chapel/ Marywood, Sisters surrounded a wooden cross placed in front of the altar at the last Eucharist the community would celebrate in this sacred space. This cross has been with us in each of our motherhouses – in Traverse City where we were founded in 1877; to […]
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Frederick Douglass’ Gift, A Reflection by Sister Mary Navarre
February 7, 2022
In his autobiography, Frederick Douglass wrote about how he learned to read. His ingenuity, drive and resourcefulness inspire me to this day. As a young child, Douglass (1818-1895) overheard his enslaver chastise his own wife for teaching Douglass to read. He sternly scolded her: “It is unlawful and unsafe to teach a slave to read […]
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DOMINICAN CENTER AT MARYWOOD RELOCATING, NEW NAME
December 13, 2021
GRAND RAPIDS, MI – December 13, 2021 . . . Dominican Center at Marywood, a ministry of the Dominican Sisters ~ Grand Rapids, is moving west down the street from the Marywood Campus at 2025 Fulton Street East to the Aquinas College campus at 1700 Fulton Street East. “Come January 3, 2022, Dominican Center Marywood […]