Pope Francis
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Relevant Awareness – Pope Francis’ Journey to Canada
August 5, 2022
During the week of July 24-30, 2022, Pope Francis made a penitential journey to apologize to the Indigenous Peoples of Canada for the Church’s part in colonial assimilation, removal from families, and cultural abuses carried out in government funded residential schools operated by Religious Congregations. In the Pope’s words: “I am sorry. I ask forgiveness […]
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Dominican Sister Presence with Indigenous Peoples
July 26, 2022
Pope Francis’ visit to Canada this week on what he describes as a “penitential pilgrimage”, highlights the Catholic Church’s commitment to healing and reconciliation with Canada’s Indigenous people. The Dominican Sisters ~ Grand Rapids cannot help but recognize that the need for healing and reconciliation extends to the North Americas as well. We offer our […]
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Sisters Pledge to Pursue Laudato Si’ Action Platform
March 6, 2022
We have been invited by Pope Francis to join with myriad institutions and individuals of the Church to journey toward integral Ecology. We undertake with courage, conviction, and compassion the responsibility to Care for Earth, our Common Home, and to stand with people who have been impacted by climate change, poverty, violence, and exploitation. We […]
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Introducing “Our Common Home One Human Family” Laudato Si Video Series
January 24, 2022
“Our Common Home & One Human Family” video series offers thoughtful exploration of some of the basic themes, principles, and values expressed in the book Laudato Si’© (On the Care of Our Common Home). “There is a nobility in the duty to care for creation through little daily actions, and it is wonderful how education […]
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Reflections on Laudato Si’, the Encyclical by Pope Francis
September 28, 2021
Laudato Si’ – Encyclical on Ecology and Care for God’s Creation September 2015 “LAUDATO SI’, mi’ Signore” – “Praise be to you, my Lord.” These are the words Pope Francis used to open his encyclical on ecology and care for God’s creation. These words are originally from the first line of Saint Francis of Assisi’s […]
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Lent and Love
March 7, 2021
Love, following in the footsteps of Christ, in concern and compassion for all, is the highest expression of our faith and hope. Love rejoices in seeing others grow. Hence it suffers when others are anguished, lonely, sick, homeless, despised or in need. Love is a leap of the heart; it brings us out of ourselves […]
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Called to Love: Mirroring God’s Love
November 13, 2020
We are loved by a Compassionate God. If we are open to God’s love, we ARE able to show God’s love to all others in our universal human community. Our memory and empathy challenge us to act. Matthew 22:34-40 calls us to LOVE – to ponder the intertwining relationship between “love of God” and “love […]
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Oct 10 World Day Against the Death Penalty
October 9, 2020
Our Dominican Sisters ~ Grand Rapids stance (2001) “commits us to make public proclamations for life when and where they are needed and to preach the justice of our commitment. We will be called upon to work in coalition with other groups, and to speak out at times of executions, to promote study and prayer […]
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A Prayer and Reflection for the Fifth Sunday of Lent
March 27, 2020
In this week’s gospel reading, we hear the powerful story of Jesus raising his friend Lazarus from the dead. In the middle of the gospel narrative, one line in particular jumps out: “And Jesus wept.” What does it mean for us that Jesus, God incarnate, wept over the death of his friend? What does it […]
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A Prayer and Reflection for the First Sunday of Lent Reflection
February 28, 2020
In this first week of Lent, let us pray for a “loving awareness that we are not disconnected from the rest of creatures, but joined in a splendid universal communion” (Laudato Si’). Then, let us ask for mercy for the ways in which we contribute to broken relationships with God, our brothers and sisters, and […]