Events & Retreats – 2.16.2022

Commission on the Status of Women

The Dominican Family is invited to attend the UN Commission on the Status of Women, from March 14-25, 2022. The priority theme is “achieving gender equality and the empowerment of all women and girls in the context of climate change, environmental and disaster risk reduction policies and programmes.” There is no fee to register for the forum. Click here for a tutorial that demonstrates how to access the upcoming meeting. 

Climate Change and Environmental Injustice

The International Dominican Justice Promoters are sponsoring a webinar on empowering women and the Laudato Si Action Platform. The Webinar will take place on March 14, at 7:00 am EST. The Webinar is titled “Climate Change and Environmental Injustice: Empowering Women Toward a Sustainable Future,” and will be translated into English, Spanish and French. A flyer with the registration link will be sent at a later date.

On the Threshold of Three Strokes: A Simple Practice for Visual Journaling and Reflection 

Artist and spiritual director Sister Stella DeVenuta, OSF, will lead a three-part series that involves combining lines and words. Sponsored by Sinsinawa Mound Center, On the Threshold of Three Strokes: A Simple Practice for Visual Journaling and Reflection will be held virtually Wednesdays, March 9, 16, and 23, from 6:30 to 8:30 p.m. (Central). Similar to Chinese brush painting, participants will create three effortless strokes to evoke the essence of the three-line verses that will emerge. Attendance at the three sequential sessions will enable the process to unfold. Participants will playfully engage their imagination using words and their inner vision to give expression to the simple brush stroke images. Personal contemplation, through soul reflection, will unfold Haiku-like verses. The short, poetic lines will be similar but not limited to the typical 17 Haiku syllables using three lines and a five-seven-five syllabic formula. Art skill is not needed, just an openness to creative expression. Participants provide materials for this series. The fee is $75 per person for all three sessions, and the registration deadline is March 7. Please register by contacting Arrangements at 608-748-4411 or visiting our website at www.sinsinawa.org/moundcenter.

Catherine of Siena: Spiritual Director and Pastoral Minister

During Women’s History Month, join Dominican Sister of Sinsinawa Kathleen Flood, OP, for Catherine of Siena: Spiritual Director and Pastoral Theologian. Sinsinawa Mound Center is sponsoring the virtual program from 10 a.m. to noon CST Saturday, March 12. Catherine of Siena was a 14^th-century Dominican mystic. Although best known as the author of the “Dialogue,” it is in her letters we discover Catherine the spiritual director. Her letters reveal a warm, tender, and understanding person. She wrote to prisoners and popes, royalty and social outcasts. Catherine shows extraordinary understanding and compassion. We will read some of these letters and explore her principles of spiritual direction. Sister Kathleen founded the spiritual direction program for Stillpoint, Inc. in Nashville, TN, and has been a frequent faculty member for the Spiritual Formation Academy. The fee is $25 per person, and the registration deadline is March 10. Please register by contacting Arrangements at 608-748-4411 or visiting our website at www.sinsinawa.org/moundcenter.

Meskwaki Food Sovereignty Initiative (MFSI)

Join Christina Blackcloud, coordinator of the Meskwaki Food Sovereignty Initiative (MFSI), as she shares a brief history of the Meskwaki tribe and information about the MFSI. The event, sponsored by Sinsinawa Mound Center, will be held online from 7 to 8 p.m. CST Tuesday, March 8. The group’s mission statement reads, “MFSI emphasizes the impact of local foods, indigenous foods, and medicines in supporting the health and well-being of our community, while strengthening the economy, healing relationships with the land, and celebrating cultural identity.” Blackcloud will discuss the primary program strategies that were developed to meet the objectives of their mission. She is a traditional food grower and producer. The fee is $10 per person, and the registration deadline is March 7 at 4 p.m. Please register by contacting Arrangements at 608-748-4411 or visiting our website at www.sinsinawa.org/moundcenter.

Mass Commemorates Death of Venerable Samuel Mazzuchelli, OP

The annual Mass to commemorate the death of Venerable Samuel Mazzuchelli, OP, will be held at St. Patrick Church, Benton, Wis., at 1 p.m. Sunday, Feb. 27. The Mazzuchelli Assembly 4^th Degree Knights of Columbus invite everyone to attend and join them for a social in the parish hall afterward. Father Mazzuchelli died in the house near the church Feb. 23, 1864, and is buried in the parish cemetery. The house is open for tours during warm-weather months. For more information, contact Mike Plear at 608-744-3639. 

Father Mazzuchelli began his ministry in the 1830s with Native Peoples of the upper Midwest, providing education and attempting to right the injustices they faced. Later he traveled farther west to serve the new immigrants while founding parish communities, building schools and churches, serving in civic as well as religious affairs, and establishing the congregation of Dominican Sisters of Sinsinawa who continue his mission of Gospel service. This is the 158^th anniversary of Father Mazzuchelli’s death.

Dominican Sisters of Sinsinawa Set YouTube Premiere of Father Mazzuchelli Video

The Dominican Sisters of Sinsinawa will publicly release the video “Tracing a Journey: Celebrating the Life of Father Samuel Mazzuchelli” as a free, interactive premiere on YouTube Wednesday, February 23 at 6:30 pm CST. The video may be viewed on YouTube here.  

The premiere will feature a live chat and question-and-answer session that will begin at 6:00 pm. The 40-minute documentary was produced in 2005 by Craig Schaefer, an award-winning professor of media studies at Loras College and director of Loras College Productions, Dubuque, IA.  

The Dominican Sisters of Sinsinawa are releasing the video in 2022 in observance of the Congregation’s 175th anniversary on the date of Father Mazzuchelli’s death as a gift to make his deeds more widely known to the world.    

Maryknoll Mission Institute Programs

Maryknoll Mission Institute Programs shares their 2022 programming.

Sacred Land-Wild Church: Spring Equinox

Come to Sinsinawa Mound Center for Sacred Land-Wild Church: Spring Equinox from 2 to 3:30 p.m. Saturday, March 19. Please check our website for current COVID protocols. Fire and song, ritual and community, prayer and quiet: this outdoor, ecumenical gathering is centered on honoring sacred land and sacred time. In a time of planetary upheaval, it is crucial to recover our elemental sense of connection and kinship with Creator and creation. Our gathering draws on the liturgical calendar, Celtic spirituality and its calendar, as well as the growing Wild Church and Forest Church movements. Sinsinawa Mound Center’s Ecological Programming Coordinator Eric Anglada will facilitate. No registration is necessary, and a freewill offering will be accepted. For more information, contact Arrangements at 608-748-4411 or visit our website at www.sinsinawa.org/moundcenter. Sinsinawa Mound, the motherhouse for the Sinsinawa Dominican Sisters, is located in southwest Wisconsin on County Road Z, off Highway 11, about five miles northeast of Dubuque.

Creating Spaces for Self-Care: A Weekend Retreat with Terry Hershey

Author and inspirational speaker Terry Hershey has a passion for staying “spiritually hydrated.”

“Spiritual hydration,” he explains, “spills over to others.” He asks, “how do we create a space of hydration for ourselves and others?” In order to live a healthy life, we need to live in the present. Come for a weekend of being “spiritually hydrated.”

Friday, May 13, to Sunday, May 15, 2022; held in person at Siena Retreat Center (Racine, Wisconsin).

Registration link: https://www.sienaretreatcenter.org/events/creating-spaces-self-care-weekend-retreat-terry-hershey