Events & Retreats – 6.07.23

Journey into Silence Retreat ~ Summer Peace (In-Person)

6-Day Retreat in Conway, MI • Sunday, June 18 – Friday, June 23, 2023

CONWAY, MI — Silence the world around you. Silence the world within you. Silence the thoughts that shout out to you. In the stillness hear God’s voice. In the quiet, sense the Divine’s presence and the spiritual love that is waiting to embrace you. Gently enter into silence during this retreat experience. A spiritual director will be here to companion with you on this silent retreat. Held at the Augustine Center Retreat House in Conway, Michigan, near Petoskey, the Journey Into Silence retreat begins with dinner at 5:30 pm on Sunday, June 18, and concludes around 2:30 pm on Friday, June 23. 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://dominicancenter.com/programs-and-retreats/journey-into-silence-retreat-summer-peace/

“Compassion is My True Self” Weekend Retreat

Friday, Aug 11, 7:00 pm – Sunday, Aug 13, 11:00 am

GRAND RAPIDS, MI — “Change is possible when I see the spark of the divine within self and others.” That spark, described by spiritual guide and author Joyce Rupp in her book “Boundless Compassion: Creating a Way of Life” is inspiring people to discover and deepen the role of compassion in their lives and communities. Joyce’s vision is heartwarming: “With compassion at the core of humanity’s lived experience, we will be able to approach one another with true respect and dwell in peace.” We are thrilled to welcome Boundless Compassion facilitators Mary Dean Pfahler SND and Kathleen Loughrige, mindful practitioners who share this passion and vision to Dominican Center Marywood. 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://dominicancenter.com/programs-and-retreats/compassion-is-my-true-self-weekend-retreat/

Renew Retreat ~ Schedule Yourself or a Group for an In-Person Retreat

Available for Individuals and Small Groups by Appointment

GRAND RAPIDS, MI –The Renew Retreat is an individual or group retreat that is a self-guided contemplative pilgrimage. The gentle Christian practice of using scripture and prayerful prompts aligned with the four elements — fire, water, earth, and air — will help guide your journey into and beyond the garden in ways that strengthen your awareness of creation as a renewable resource, energizing your beingness, and the world around you. We will begin at Dominican Center Marywood at Aquinas College, transition to the St. Francis of Assisi Sculpture Garden, and return to Dominican Center. As you walk the paths along the wooded trails, you are led into the pace and rhythms of the natural world. Water, earth, fire, and air greet you — each element of nature a reminder of the peaceful relationship between living organisms and their physical environment. 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://dominicancenter.com/programs-and-retreats/renew-retreat/

Centering Prayer (Online)

Tuesdays • Noon

Centering Prayer is a modernized prayer method based on the intuitive prayer rooted in Lectio Divina. It is a method of silent prayer that prepares us to receive the gift of contemplative prayer, prayer in which we experience the Divine’s immanent presence with us. Centering Prayer is grounded in relationship with God, through Christ, and is a practice to nurture that relationship. This method of prayer complements and supports other modes of prayer — verbal, mental, or affective prayer — and facilitates resting in the Divine Presence. Centering Prayer offers a way to grow in intimacy with God, moving beyond conversation to communion. 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://dominicancenter.com/programs-and-retreats/centering-prayer/

Sister Shamus Visits New Hyde Park

Dominican Sister of Amityville Shamus Eileen Dwyer worked in Holy Spirit Church in New Hyde Park, Long Island, for many years, first as a kindergarten teacher, then as a parish visitor and then she as the founder of the consolation ministry. But on Friday, May 12th, she visited there as an author to tell stories from her book, “The Spirit ‘Neath the Habit.”

The book chronicles some of the most famous funny stories of Sister Shamus!

This wasn’t the first time Sister Shamus has talked about her book at this library. The librarian, Judith Loeb, recalled that when Sister Shamus first spoke there years ago, the event attracted more than 100 people. It had been the mostly highly attended book talk of the year! Now, years later, Sister Shamus, 90, once again told stories from her book — and some not from her book — to an adoring crowd of devoted friends, former students and fans.

 “Sister Shamus is a very important person in New Hyde Park,” Loeb had said that day. After the event, members of the Rosary Society of Holy Spirit Parish presented her with flowers. S. Shamus also got to chat with a former student she had in kindergarten! It was a wonderful reunion followed by cake and coffee.

Sen. Elizabeth Warren Reintroduces the “Truth & Healing” Bill on May 18, 2023

Senator Elizabeth Warren (D-MA) reintroduced legislation S.1723, a bill to establish
the Truth and Healing Commission on Indian Boarding School Policies in the
United States, along with 26 Senators as co-sponsors. The National Native American
Boarding School Healing Coalition (NABS) is beyond grateful for the support from
Senator Warren to reintroduce this bi-partisan bill for the 118th Congress.
S.1723 will create a federal Truth and Healing Commission that will conduct a full
Inquiry into the assimilative policies of the U.S. Indian boarding schools by: 

  • Examining the location of children: The Commission would locate and
    document all children still buried at or near boarding school facilities, and
    identify children who attended and went missing while attending boarding
    schools.
  •  Documenting ongoing impacts from boarding schools: The Commission
    would compile evidence of the ongoing effects of intergenerational trauma in
    American Indian, Alaska Native, and Native Hawaiian communities. It would
    also examine how assimilative policies attempted to destroy Native languages
    and cultures, as well as the taking of Tribal lands and destroying the nucleus of
    Indigenous ways of living. 
  • Locating records from religious and government organizations: The
    Commission would locate and analyze all records on Indian boarding schools.
    Records of primary importance include those related to attendance, infirmary,
    deaths, land, and other correspondences. The Commission would have the
    power to issue subpoenas to produce all records.
  • Creating and disseminating a findings and recommendations report: The
    Commission would be required to submit a final report to be shared with the
    public and the U.S. government.


Las Casas and the NABS is asking for your advocacy and to reach out to your
Senator to request their support and passage of S.1723 to create a Truth and Healing
Commission on Indian boarding schools. To read more about the bill visit Native
News Online and The National Native American Boarding School Healing
Coalition (https://boardingschoolhealing.org) web sites.

Fundraiser Held for Sol Naciente, El Salvador by Molloy Alumni

In April, more than 75 Molloy University alumni and friends gathered at an event called the “Hope Sol Naciente Experience” at Kellenberg Memorial High School in Uniondale, NY. The friends and our Sisters shared stories about mission trips to El Salvador and raised funds for ongoing projects in the villages of Once and Sol Naciente. (Molloy University was founded by the Dominican Sisters of Amityville.)   

Students from Molloy University in Rockville Centre and Dominican University, Orangeburg, NY, have been attending service trips to help run summer camp for the children there for almost ten years. “I was quite humbled by the event,” said Sister Diane Capuano, a member of the Leadership Council as well as former campus minister at the college. “This is my heart….I am just so proud of these young people. I’m getting old, I am the abuela now,” she laughed. “But the mission continues with these young people….We (sisters) can’t do all of the work anymore — particularly, running the camp, kicking balls, lifting kids: we need young people for that!”

For the past few years, Molloy alumni have worked to create a non-profit to help stay connected, fund projects, and aid families in El Salvador. Organizers of this fundraiser include alumni: Joseph Marino, who works in business, Eddie Cramsie, an accountant, Mary Roedig, a nurse, and Jeffrey Lozano, a teacher at St. Martin de Porres Marianist School in Uniondale.

During the event, current Molloy students gave presentations on their experiences with the mission trip. One student is now considering a career as an immigration lawyer. Michelle Martin — who attended the mission trips as a student now leads the mission trips as the Campus Minister of Molloy University. 

At the event, alumni honored Sister Flor Buruca with the Founders Award since she founded this ministry. “They gave this award to Sister Flor because they consider her a saint, really and truly,” gushed Sister Diane. “This award is for her ministry and who she is to the people there and to these young people, and the many lives she’s changed by simply being who she is.” 

Sister Diane received the 2023 Service Award at the event, for her years of service in El Salvador leading mission trips and so much more. 

Sister Diane also received a gift from the children of El Salvador. Sister Flor carried it on her lap on the plane from her homeland. It was a basket with a balloon and homemade flowers with messages from the children: “Te Amo” and “Thank you, Hermana!”

“This is my greatest joy,” said Sister Diane. “My heart is bursting with pride. To be just one little speck of this is humbling.”

Sister Jean Graffweg Receives Veritas Medal from Dominican University, New York

L-R: Sr. Mary Eileen O’Brien, OP, President, Dominican University New York, Sr. Jean Graffweg, OP, Steven Sabatini, Chairperson, Dominican University New York Board of Trustees.

We congratulate Sr. Jean Graffweg, awarded the Veritas Medal at Dominican University’s 69th Commencement on May 17th in recognition of her 42 years of ministry at House on the Hill. Sr. Mary Theresa Flood, OP, presented the award. Sr. Mary remarked, “For over five decades, the Sisters of Saint Dominic have been serving the children of farm workers in Orange County. The House on the Hill serves as an early childhood migrant seasonal head start center that provides education, family engagement, and health and nutrition services. The children served range in age from two months to five years. For 42 of these 50 years, Sr. Jean Graffweg has ministered at House on the Hill as a teacher, cook, bus driver, and, for the past fifteen years, as Director. Dominican University is honored to award the 2023 Veritas Medal to Sr. Jean Graffweg; and, in memoriam, to Sr. Jean Marie Rathgaber; and to all those who have worked and continue to work faithfully with them in service to migrant families and their children.”

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