Her Story Sister Inspiration
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Sister Inspiration: Margaret Mary Birchmeier, OP & Lillian Bockheim, OP
February 23, 2018
This precious little girl, Megan, was born in Maternidad de Maria in Chimbote, Peru this week. She is the 98,000th baby delivered in the maternity hospital the Dominican Sisters ~ Grand Rapids helped start more than 50 years ago. Her birth fell during an auspicious week as the community celebrated and blessed a new building. […]
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Sister Inspiration: Mary Ellen McDonald, OP
February 16, 2018
It was 2012 when the Leadership Team of the Grand Rapids Dominican Sisters called Sister Mary Ellen McDonald back to Grand Rapids to begin a new mission: start a Pastoral Care Team at Marywood. She was well-prepared for the task after some 30 years in Pastoral Administration and Ministry at three parishes in the Saginaw […]
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Sister Inspiration: Kateri Schrems, OP
February 9, 2018
“It is a gift to be called upon and so I approach each person I meet with reverence, honoring all that they are.” That’s how Sister Kateri Schrems characterizes her ministry on the Pastoral Care Team at Marywood Health Center in Grand Rapids, Michigan. “We are allowed, not just asked, to become a part of […]
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Sister Inspiration: Jackie Hudson, OP
February 2, 2018
What calls a cradle Catholic from a quiet mid-western town to become one of God’s most vocal preachers of peace and justice? This Saginaw, Michigan native taught piano and vocals to youngsters for 25 years. She had the ear and expertise to tune pianos. As a child, she accompanied her mother on marketing trips to local […]
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Sister Inspiration: Ardeth Platte, OP and Carol Gilbert, OP
January 26, 2018
Looking into the eyes of children is certainly part of the conviction that has led two Catholic sisters, both former teachers, to a lifetime of preaching against and protesting nuclear weapons. Their personal protests started in Michigan in the 1980s. Their impassioned actions working with Home for Peace and Justice, led lawmakers in the State […]
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Sister Inspiration: Marybride Ryan, OP
January 19, 2018
A Golden Pathway of Love Led Her To Vocation and Service In 1913, little Margaret Ryan was born and baptized in Waterford Ireland. The bright, confident child thrived at home and school. She was surrounded by the presence of an extended family and close-knit community. Thanks to a public education fund, she attended an excellent […]
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Sister Inspiration: Teresita Garcia, OP
January 12, 2018
There is no doubt that Sister Teresita Garcia’s personal prayer focus is informed by her life experiences. She prays for “an increase in vocations to religious life and for world peace”. Born and raised in New Mexico, Grand Rapids Dominican Sisters were her role models and teachers. Sisters Seraphine , Isadora, Sienna, and Clotilda inspired […]
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Sister Inspiration: Marilyn Holmes, OP
December 29, 2017
The Dominican Sisters of Grand Rapids live in community at Marywood. They have given their lives to be available to one another and to others. They have spent their lives as Sisters learning to live communally, learning to live by example: “let all things be done to build each other up.” Sister Marilyn Holmes is […]
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Sister Inspiration: Las Posadas with Angelina Gonzales, OP
December 21, 2017
For 40 years, each Advent season, Sister Angelina Gonzales shepherded Mary and Joseph; accompanying them in their search for shelter before the birth of their child. Sister Angelina led the 9-day novena of scripture called Las Posadas, meaning “inns”. It is a remembrance of the Christmas story as told in the Gospel of Luke […]
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Her Story: Sister Inspiration – Josephine Mary Birchmeier, OP
December 15, 2017
She knits, sews, and cooks and bakes. None of these are easy tasks for a women whose hands can be painfully uncooperative due to Lupus. Yet, what Sister Josephine “Jo” Birchmeier describes as her homemaking ministries continue to be a blessing to our Congregation of Dominican Sisters and to the West Michigan community. Sisters who […]