What has gone before... And what is yet to come... Is beyond my control, But the magic of today... Is within my influence.
Yvonne Greiner’s quest for wholeness, what she once described as “pursuit of Gospel vision… for myself, others, and society” has been lifelong. Those who have shared space with Sister Yvonne during her 60 years as a Dominican Sister, would likely describe her as diligent in her quest for learning and transformation for all people.
In 1983, as associate professor of Religious Studies at Aquinas College, her own deep study and contemplation of the Women’s Movement led her to share:”What women have to offer our church and world is a new vision of peace, love, and liberation for all.”
In 1990-91, she went on to lead a Senior Integrative Seminar entitled “Feminist Visions of Life. She invited students to explore the contemporary movement called Christian Feminism. She outlined this vision for life on Earth: Dignity and equality of all persons; connection and interdependence of all life; empowerment and self-determination of every individual; peace and non-violence as personal, relationship, and global values; a reclaiming of spirituality, intuitive powers, and creativity. She led students into the Dominican approach to study–contemplative thought and dialogue–and asked them to consider the question: to what change and transformation are we being called?”
As a Liturgical musician and faculty member in the Theology Department of Aquinas College, she taught and advised many a student in Liturgical theology. But she was not bound by her department role. Sister Yvonne’s attention to the details of life and her own response to this life on Earth influenced her role in curriculum development in other areas including helping form the Women’s Studies Center at Aquinas College. Now in its 38th year, the Jane Hibbard Idema Women’s Studies Center at Aquinas prepares students to become catalysts for change and voices for feminist ideals, both in our society and around the globe. These seeds that Sister Yvonne has planted grow tall and wide.
I long for a worship experience that will affirm for all women our worth, dignity, and full equality in the community of Christ's sisters and brothers, who will then together bring healing, compassion, new life, justice, peace, and wholeness to our fragmented and broken world. -- Yvonne Greiner, OP