Her Story Sister Inspiration

  • Sister Inspiration: Welcoming A Friend from Malawi

    Sister Inspiration: Welcoming A Friend from Malawi

    April 26, 2019

    A friend from afar joined the Dominican Sisters~Grand Rapids for Liturgy on Tuesday, April 23; he wrote and read the Petitions in St. Catherine of Siena Chapel at Aquinata Hall. Clement Chiwaya’s presence was a delight for so many Sisters. Sister Diane Dehn reflected: “I was fortunate to work with Clement as his academic advisor […]

  • Sister Inspiration: Barbara Reid, OP

    Sister Inspiration: Barbara Reid, OP

    February 22, 2019

      Today, we bring you Barbara Reid, OP and an invitation to reflect together on the Truth about God. Sister Barbara is Professor of New Testament Studies at Catholic Theological Union in Chicago. In this program: “What is Truth (John 18:38)? Reflections from Biblical and Dominican Perspectives on Seeking Truth”, Sister Barbara will guide us […]

  • Sister Inspiration: Diane Dehn, OP

    Sister Inspiration: Diane Dehn, OP

    December 28, 2018

    As an academic advisor with students at Aquinas, I was often inspired by the dedication, determination, and drive of non-traditional students returning to the halls of education. Some students were returning to college to complete a degree or program that they had been unable to finish earlier in their lives. Others were just beginning college […]

  • Sister Inspiration: Margaret Mary Birchmeier, OP

    Sister Inspiration: Margaret Mary Birchmeier, OP

    November 30, 2018

    It was 1965, when Sister Margaret Mary and Sister Innocence Andres, both nurses and midwives, arrived in Chimbote, Peru to initiate a child and maternal care program. When they arrived, they found the Maternity Hospital unfinished — one wall and a concrete slab for a floor — so they spent the first year learning about […]

  • Sister Inspiration: Rose Marie Martin, OP

    Sister Inspiration: Rose Marie Martin, OP

    November 16, 2018

    Long before the first desktop or laptop computer, it was the calm, composed librarian who welcomed the avid and the anxious into the land of books with the question: “How may I help you?” Understanding library etiquette, the card catalog, and book handling rules was first and foremost. From there, the sky was the limit […]

  • They Call it Rubble Mountain

    They Call it Rubble Mountain

    November 9, 2018

    “It casts a shadow over the city that they call “new” Stuttgart, raised during the years after World War II. The mountain I stood on is what remains of “old” Stuttgart, razed by bombs dropped by fighter planes. The mountain stands as a permanent reminder to German citizens—and to visitors from all over the world—of the […]

  • A Jubilarian Shares Her Story: Sr. Pat Kennedy, OP

    A Jubilarian Shares Her Story: Sr. Pat Kennedy, OP

    October 26, 2018

    “My decision to become a Sister wasn’t a quick one; there was lots of questioning on my part.” As a young girl, Pat Kennedy dreamed of being a wife and mother. Yet, at the same time, she says, there was a persistent tug to vowed life. She lovingly recalls parents who were devout Catholics, loving, […]

  • A Jubilarian Shares Her Story: Sr. Mary Jo Beckett, OP

    A Jubilarian Shares Her Story: Sr. Mary Jo Beckett, OP

    October 19, 2018

    Sister Mary Jo Beckett’s faith and trust in God has remained steadfast throughout her life. In fact, He has held her up through two near-death experiences. In 1982, she was severely injured in a car accident in which Sr. Rose Patrice O’Donnell was killed. In 1994, it was a brain aneurysm that led to hospitalization, […]

  • A Jubilarian Shares Her Story: Sr. Catherine Williams, OP

    A Jubilarian Shares Her Story: Sr. Catherine Williams, OP

    October 12, 2018

    The path has twisted and turned during these 60 years, from a community of Williams on a small farm in Byron Center,… … to a community of Dominican Sisters who share their lives of simplicity and prayer, laughter and song,… … as we walk the road together toward, “the fullness of joy in God’s presence”. […]

  • A Jubilarian Shares Her Story: Sr. Ann Hehl, OP

    A Jubilarian Shares Her Story: Sr. Ann Hehl, OP

    September 14, 2018

    For more than 52 years, she cared for patients as a Registered Nurse, for 27 of those years she cared for patients with End Stage Kidney Disease. Today, Dominican Sister Ann Hehl’s presence comforts and uplifts in her ministry as a Spiritual Care Companion to women and men who are homebound by illness or mobility […]