Dominican Sisters of Grand Rapids are in love with God’s creation and celebrate, steward, and protect it.
Sister Mary Navarre engages friends in a conversation about Care of Earth.
Each of our Dominican Sisters, our Dominican Associates, and our employees articulate stewardship is a core value. Through action, study, reflection, and prayer, each one of us has adopted personal eco-justice intentions.
We value making time to study, reflect, and act on issues that are harming Earth today: consumerism, global warming, pollution, and more.
Our Congregation’s Care of Earth Committee helps focus our eco-justice initiatives and develops study and reflection resources available for use by Sisters, Associates, and anybody who has a desire to learn about and steward God’s creation.
A powerful message delivered by the Dominican Eco-Justice Alliance is: “We do not save what we do not love and we do not love what we do not know.”
May you discover your own personal Care of Earth intention this month of April. May you fall in love with the natural beauty of Earth today and every day.
The Care of Earth Committee of the Dominican Sisters ~ Grand Rapids includes: (l to r) Sister Alice Wittenbach, Sister Mary Navarre, Sister Julia Mohr, Sister Lucille Janowiak, Sister Brigid Clingman, and Associate Lisa Mitchell.
May these other Sisters inspire you to get in touch with our natural world. May the prayer card at the end inspire you to prayer and reflection.
Never sentimental, but always respectful of the natural world, Sister Judith Kirt stocked her refrigerator and freezer with food she herself had culled and harvested, preferring venison, quail, rabbit and even squirrel to anything one could purchase wrapped in cellophane and sitting on a Styrofoam tray. She was so close to Earth, she liked to remind everyone that her name was Kirt which rhymed with “dirt.” Humor aside, Judith treated all life with the utmost respect and profound gratitude. (Note: Sister Judith died Sunday morning, April 8)
The Prairie Habitat at Marywood is a Dominican Sisters eco-justice initiative. We invite community to join us in learning about and caring for this natural habitat. Enjoy the Prairie in all its seasons and reflect on all the ways that the Earth is sacred and interconnected. Sister Lucille Janowiak, primary caretaker of the Prairie Habitat, says, “My life depends on the freely-given services offered by Earth’s diverse species. I’ve come to see that all beings are one family and trace their roots to One, Source of All Being.”
Sister Lucianne Siers teaches about threats to lives and planet, raising awareness about using more of the resources of Earth than can be renewed or replenished. “The environment which nourishes our spirit is often destroyed by our desire and sometimes need for roadways, expressways and cost-cutting measures that are not well thought,” says Sister Lucianne. Sisters Ardeth Platte and Carol Gilbert, also pictured above, have been preaching and teaching about the catastrophic dangers of nuclear weapons for most of their lives.
Our deceased Sister Katrina Hartman, as an Aquinas College chemistry professor, believed in sharing her knowledge of science with people of all ages. Her interest in nature was deepened during her years as a volunteer at Frederik Meijer Gardens & Sculpture Park. She could often be found with a smile on her face welcoming members as well as inviting new folks to take in all the familiar sites and the latest additions.
Sister Roxane Dansereau, like many Sisters, cares for flowers and plants inside and outside on the Marywood Campus. Sister Roxane considers gardening a meditative endeavor in nature, an important respite from her ministry as a nurse caring for Sisters at Marywood.
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