These passages challenge me all the days of my religious life:
...God has sent me to bring good news to the poor. - Luke 4:18
...to have peace on earth and good will to men is the nonviolent affirmation of sacredness of all human life. - Christmas sermon on peace, Dec 1967 by Martin Luther King, Jr.
...As women religious, the Dominican Sisters of Grand Rapids believe all creation including Earth itself to be sacred and we stand in witness of life over death, love over hatred and hope over fear. - DSGR Corporate Stance on Nuclear Disarmament, Nov 2007
Paths I Have Walked
My love and gratitude for these Gospel blessings given by God, family, Dominican Community, friends, Intentional Communities and so many others who have blessed and inspired this journey:
– Born on Good Friday, April 10, 1936 into a loving family of big brother and missionary dad
– Seventy-nine years of life and sixty six years as a Dominican Sister
– Teacher of junior and senior high school, principal and coordinator of an Educational Center in inner city, Saginaw
– Living and ministering at St. Joseph’s Rainbow parish, learning the struggles from people of color made poorest
– Becoming an elected City Councilwoman and Mayor ProTem of Saginaw in extensive service
– Co-founding Advocacy for Justice and a Home for Peace and Justice in Saginaw for organizing and empowering
– Joining Intentional Communities in the Upper Peninsula and at Jonah House to practice and teach direct, political and judicial action for systemic change and commit to nonviolence, resistance and plowshare actions. “…they shall hammer swords into plowshares…” Isaiah 2:4
– Experiencing years of imprisonment and walking with incarcerated women
– “I am going to spend the rest of my life to get the U.S. on board this treaty,” Ardeth Platte, OP, 81, told Global Sisters Report in an interview at United Nations headquarters shortly after the vote [Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons), the culmination of several sets of meetings that began earlier this year.