Dear Sisters, Associates, and Friends,

As we gather in gratitude this Thanksgiving season, our heart is full of appreciation for each of you and the many ways you have enriched and sustained the work of the Dominican Sisters Conference throughout 2024.

Your dedication, prayerful support, and collaborative spirit bring to life the vision and mission of the DSC. We extend deepest thanks to all the committees and staff whose tireless efforts make our shared dreams a reality. Your creativity, compassion, and commitment have truly blessed our work and strengthened the bonds that unite us.

To our partner congregations and their associates, your unwavering understanding and support have been a source of inspiration. This year, we were especially uplifted by the remarkable participation at the 2024 Dominican Sisters Conference and the continued engagement that has followed. Your presence reminds us of the beauty and power of community and the importance of walking this journey together.

In the spirit of Thanksgiving, lets be reminded of the words of Paul in Colossians 3:15:
"Let the peace of Christ rule in your hearts, since as members of one body you were called to peace. And be thankful."

May this peace fill your hearts as we celebrate the many blessings we’ve shared and the sacred work that lies ahead.

As we give thanks for one another, let us continue to be inspired by our shared mission and the hope it brings to the world. Please know that your contributions, in prayer and action, are deeply appreciated and cherished.

Wishing you and your loved ones a blessed and joyful Thanksgiving.

With gratitude and love,
The Dominican Sisters Conference

The month of November begins with remembering all those who have gone before us (All Saints Day/All Souls Day) and ends (in the U.S.) with giving thanks for our many blessings. In this month of remembering and giving thanks, the cohort gatherings on November 9 and 11 were times of reflection, using Joyce Rupp’s Prayer of Remembrance and Thanksgiving to recall those people who have touched our lives and express our appreciation.We wish to highlight the cohort’s Vocations Collaboration working group which held a hybrid planning meeting last month to work intensely making progress on three goals: planning an summer 2025 immersion experience for discerners, gathering ideas for social media marketing for Dominican vocations, and a shared calendar of events to eliminate schedule conflicts across congregations. It is exciting to hear about these developments and watch their progress!The Futuring Leadership Team, on behalf of the entire cohort, wishes to express sincere gratitude for each of you!

Happy Thanksgiving! 

Dear Brothers and Sisters,

With gratitude to God, the Giver of all good things, the Dominican Family rejoices in receiving the Pope Francis’ announcement that our brother PIER GIORGIO FRASSATI (April 6, 1901 - July 4, 1925) will be canonized during the Jubilee of Youth, taking place from July 28 to August 3, 2025.

Pier Giorgio was a member of the Dominican Laity, who was called a “man of the Eight Beatitudes by St. John Paul II. He has inspired countless people worldwide, especially the youth. One of his biographers called him a “Daredevil Athlete, Roguish Prankster, Unrelenting Activist and Unexpected Mystic”! That is the kind of personality that can truly inspire people with diverse backgrounds. And he did inspire young people to aspire verso l’alto, towards the top, not just to go with him to mountain peaks but also to see the grandeur of creation and adore the Creator. But Pier Giorgio’s most profound encounter with God on a “mountain” was on the “mount of the Beatitudes” (Matthew 5). When asked how he could stand visiting the filthy and smelly home of the poor, Pier Giorgio responded: Gesù mi fa visita ogni mattina nella Comunione, io la restituisco nel misero modo che posso, visitando i poveri, “Jesus comes to me every morning in Communion, and I return the visit by going to serve the poor.” As a member of Catholic Action, he said: “Charity is not enough: we need social reform.”

Inspired by the writings of Saint Catherine of Siena and the preaching of Savonarola, he joined the Dominican laity in 1922, taking the name “Brother Girolamo”. As a devout member of the Dominican family, he kept a rosary in his pocket and prayed it daily.

Verso l’alto! Pier Giorgio is a reliable guide and companion in our aspirations to meet God who loved to meet people on mountains. The words of the prophet apply to him and to the holy men and women of the family of St. Dominic: “How beautiful upon the mountains, are the feet of the one bringing good news, announcing peace, bearing good news” (Isaiah 52:7).

Perhaps some might wonder – we have already so many saints, and our liturgical calendar is almost full of feasts and memorials, why do we continue to promote causes for sainthood? We do so because the canonization of Pier Giorgio represents for all of us a renewed confirmation that the preaching of the Gospel, especially through the Dominican life, in all its fullness and richness, manifested in all its branches – friars, nuns, apostolic sisters, lay and priestly fraternities -- is truly a path to holiness.

 

fr. Gerard Francisco Timoner III, OP

Master of the Order

Dear Sisters,

Greetings from New York City and the United Nations Headquarters.

It is a pleasure to invite you to nominate a sister from your Continent to participate in the 69th Annual Commission on the Status of Women, March 10-21, 2025, at the United Nations Headquarters in New York City.

 

The Commission on the Status of Women main focus will be on the review and appraisal of the implementation of the Beijing Declaration and Platform for Action and the outcomes of the 23rd special session of the General Assembly

 

The Beijing Platform for Action turns 30 this year. The Commission is launching efforts to mobilize action and investment to achieve gender equality, rights, and empowerment of all women and girls. There are six priority areas of action, and by putting youth at the center of these efforts, equal is achievable.

 

• Ensuring women farmers have access to land and resources, climate-resilient agroecology for sustainable food systems and food security for all.
• Clean energy transition that includes gender-responsive financing and puts women in leadership.
• Closing the digital gender divide, addressing digital violence, and increasing women’s and girls’ leadership in science, technology and innovation.
• Making sure girls go to and stay in school to close the gender gaps in education and opportunities.
• Investing in social protection systems and the care economy to reduce poverty and create green jobs.
• Climate policymaking led by women, redistributing resources to build their resilience to climate change and loss of biodiversity, and providing reparations for harms caused by carbon emissions.

These are just some of the issues that will be covered at the 69^th Commission on the Status of Women.

I ask that you notify me as soon as possible of the sister you nominate to attend this conference.

 

I will assister the sister you nominate in registering for the Commission in New York on the INDICO Platform.  After she has registered for the commission, she will receive a letter from the United Nations welcoming her to the CSW 69. She will bring this letter to New York in order to obtain a badge to enter the United Nations for the meeting.

 

Please have the sister begin the visa process to enter the U.S. and her plane reservation. When she has completed this process, please have her send me her plane reservation so I can arrange for pick up at the airport.

 

The Dominican Sisters International Confederation will reimburse the sister for her air travel, visa expenses, food and housing travel to and from the U.N.

 

For any questions or concern please email me at: ngo@domlife.org  My WhatsApp number is +1517 902 3408. Thank you. Looking forward to welcoming your sister to New York and the 69 Commission on the Status of Women.

 

Sincerely,

Sr. Durstyne Farnan, OP

As we look ahead to Advent, we hope that you find the attached Advent Bookmarks a blessing.  We are particularly grateful for the Sisters and Associates from four Dominican communities who composed the practices, and to Kyla Mrazek, Racine Dominicans’ Communications Director, who arranged and colorfully embellished the bookmarks.  

CLICK HERE TO DOWNLOAD ADVENT BOOKMARKS 

In keeping with the contemplative themes of Advent, we are blessed with Associates and Sisters who will grace us with Monday morning inspiration, each 15 minutes in length, over the four weeks in Advent. Full details below. 

Thankn you,

Racine Dominican Associate Leadership

Explore the Fall 2024 Las Casas Newsletter!

Discover inspiring stories and updates highlighting the Dominicans in Ministry with Native Americans.

Click here to read the latest issue!

Dominican Center Marywood 
Visit https://www.grdominicans.org/transformative-programs-retreats/ for a full listing of retreats and events. 
 

Pondefring Adven Through Poetry (In-Person)

Sunday, Dec 8 • 2:00 – 4:00 pm

Advent is a time to reconnect with the ancient longing for God to arrive, move among us, and restore all that’s lost or broken in our world. Let’s ponder what it means to open our hearts to God and to each other during the joyous season of the Incarnation. Come and savor poetry arising from the celebration of Advent, listening to well-known poets – and some you may not know. We’ll hear from Christina Rossetti, Wendell Berry, Mary Oliver, Denise Levertov, T. S. Eliot, Marie Howe, and more. Feel free to bring a favorite Christmas poem you treasure and share it with us during an open reading time. Leave the busyness of the season and join us for a special afternoon! For more information call 616-514-3325 or visit dominicancenter.com. Dominican Center Marywood, a ministry of the Dominican Sisters ~ Grand Rapids, is located in West Michigan off Fulton Street East, on the campus of Aquinas College. Details & Registration: https://www.grdominicans.org/program-retreat/pondering-advent-through-poetry/

 

 

 

Blue Christmas ~ A Sacred Space for the Burdened (In-Person)

Sunday, Dec 15 • 4:00 – 5:30 pm

The Christmas story reverberates with difficult realities–poverty, grief, danger, oppression, separation, and death–but we often don’t make room to acknowledge these. It is the same in our lives: we need to make room for the painful realities amidst and underlying the joys. We invite you to come and lay your burdens down in the sacred space of the Blue Christmas service where we find Jesus in our suffering and ourselves in Jesus. We will be gathering contemplatively around a liturgy of Scripture and song, in Taizéì style, that gathers our sorrows and lifts them to God. It is our hope that you will experience the welcome of your reality, however painful it is, in the presence of God, who suffered and suffers with us. This is a Christmas service where your depression, grief, anger, and faintheartedness is welcomed. You may discover yourself with Jesus in the thrum of melancholy that surrounds Jesus’ birth. You, too, can come to the manger, poor as you feel. For more information call 616-514-3325 or visit dominicancenter.com. Dominican Center Marywood, a ministry of the Dominican Sisters ~ Grand Rapids, is located in West Michigan off Fulton Street East, on the campus of Aquinas College.

Details & Registration: https://www.grdominicans.org/program-retreat/blue-christmas/