blessed
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Come Back to God During Lent
February 20, 2024
Change your life, not just your clothes. Come back to God, your God. And here’s why: God is kind and merciful. He takes a deep breath, puts up with a lot, This most patient God, extravagant in love, Always ready to cancel catastrophe. Who knows? Maybe he’ll do it now, Maybe he’ll turn around and […]
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From Ashes to Reflection to Conversion of Heart…
February 14, 2024
From Ashes to Reflection to Conversion of Heart... Ash Wednesday reminds us that we are loved by a merciful God. It reminds us to love our neighbors and all Creation. The entire Lenten Season is the story of the power of love to change our hearts. Christ’s life, death and resurrection give us Hope and […]
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Embodying JOY
December 15, 2023
I’ve heard that joy is the most vulnerable emotion. At first, I was incredulous because we yearn for it so much, but as I started paying attention to my ease or difficulty inhabiting joy, I discovered that I can be hesitant to enter in. On a morning walk I was thanking for God for things […]
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Embodying PEACE
December 7, 2023
Last Saturday, a group gathered to “Embody Advent” at Dominican Center Marywood. Rev. Debbie Eisenbise led participants through prayer practices that use our bodies as a way to prepare the way for the Lord to dwell within us this season. We prayed with arms out and up, heads rising and lowering, standing and kneeling. We […]
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Advent O Antiphons with Dominican Sisters ~ Grand Rapids
December 5, 2023
Join the Dominican Sisters ~ Grand Rapids for Advent O Antiphons Evening Prayer from December 17-23 The O Antiphons are short, Scripture-based Advent prayers from the Middle Ages that are part of the prayer of the Church in the Liturgy of the Hours. Each year, the Dominican Sisters~Grand Rapids host this beautiful seven-night experience of […]
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Embodying HOPE
November 27, 2023
When I ask what hope is, usually the answers revolve around two things: belief and the future. We locate it in the realm of the mind and spirit and, of course, in the not yet of the future. But it is something we experience now. When we pay attention to it, we realize it resides […]
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A Silent Retreat To Remember
June 29, 2023
Fifteen retreatants recently attended a 5-day silent retreat at the St. Augustine Center in Conway, Michigan. The retreat was completely silent, except for time spent with one’s spiritual director each day. Each retreatant was free to decide the shape of silence: some took long solitary walks on nature trails or the beach; some took their […]
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Swimming
June 27, 2023
My 2-year-old son, Ozzie, loves the water. He’s moved from exploring and splashing in the shallow parts of the YMCA pool to tentatively traveling with me into deeper waters. Over time and with experience, he’s grown more comfortable. He is so comfortable that he jumps off an underwater bench and glides to me a few […]
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Show Dominican Sisters Love & Appreciation During Catholic Sisters Week
March 2, 2023
Let's show the Sisters who have taught us, mentored us, and stood by us -- lots of love and appreciation during Catholic Sisters Week! Transformative spirituality is a living, breathing power in our world -- Catholic Sisters – through their lives, their ministries -- show us love, hope, and possibility through faith. During Catholic Sisters […]
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Celebrating 25 Years as a Grand Rapids Dominican Associate
June 20, 2022
A transformative moment for me as a Dominican Associate was the last day of class at the end of the three-year Spiritual Direction Practicum. Sister Nancy Brousseau and Judy Hahn, our instructors, had equipped us with great teaching and training. Yet, I and the other students felt ill-equipped to go out into the world and […]