Dominican Associates Stories

James Mallare

“I couldn’t be anything else but Dominican.”

That was the conclusion that Adrian Dominican Associate James Mallare came to during a recent time of reflection. That would most likely be the same conclusion of Sisters and Associates who work with and have come to know him. 

James first met the Adrian Dominican Sisters through the “gentle nudgings” of Sister Mariane Fahlman, OP, a professor who taught him during his undergraduate and graduate years and as a member of his dissertation committee. James earned a bachelor’s degree in education with a focus on community health education; a master’s degree in community health education; and a doctorate in kinesiology, with a specialty in community and school health, all at Wayne State University in Detroit.

Between his undergraduate and graduate programs, James helped Sister Mariane with her research on the effects of exercise on aging Catholic Sisters. “I was popping in and out of Weber Center,” the Congregation’s retreat center, during his work with Sister Mariane. “It was during that summer that I really fell in love with the charism,” he recalled. He became an Associate in August 2022, mentored by Sister Carol Jean Kesterke, OP.

Now in his first year as Assistant Professor of Public Health at Wayne State University, James had spent 3 ½ years after receiving his doctorate working on a research study with the Department of Psychology at Wayne State, studying the effects of asthma on children. These days “we’re occupied with working with underserved people and traditionally underserved communities, especially children who suffer from asthma,” he said. A certified health educator, he instructed parents about their children’s asthma and tested the children for asthma.

While he is still adjusting to his new role in the classroom, James said he truly loves his new job. “What gets me up in the morning [is] being with students who are naturally curious, who are really passionate about the intersection of social justice and public health,” he said. “I really get to see students come into blossom into who the Creator has created them to be.”

In addition to his formal ministry, James and some of his colleagues work with the immigrant population of Metro Detroit. He collects some necessary housewares, helping the immigrants to set up and furnish their new homes. As an immigrant himself from Windsor, Ontario, Canada, James realizes the challenges of moving into a new country. “Helping these families find a pocket of peace in their new country really means a lot to me,” he said. 

James also carves out a Saturday every month to volunteer with a shelter in downtown Detroit, driving people to doctor’s appointments and other places.
Active as an Adrian Dominican Associate, James co-chairs the Associates’ Social Justice Circle, established under the auspices of the Adrian Dominican Office of Dominican Charism, and serves on the Advisory Board for the Office of Dominican Charism. 

As busy as he is, James is learning to slow down for prayer and contemplation, particularly in monthly contemplation sessions with Adrian Dominican Sisters, another Associate, and a Franciscan Sister from Sylvania, Ohio. “We sit for 30 minutes one Sunday a month in just quiet,” he said. “I invite God into the space. After the half-hour, we share the fruits of our contemplation – a really Dominican practice.”

For James, contemplation also means seeing Christ in everyone he meets. “How do I find the aching, the poor, the hurt, the lonely Christ in my neighbor?” he asked. He was especially inspired by a colleague at Wayne State, the daughter of a Baptist minister, who challenged him: “Has anyone told you to adore the hidden Christ in your students? You really have to try to find the God who is hidden in your students.” This practice, he said, enables him to pray throughout the day.

James believes his ministry in education also aligns with the Dominican Charism. “Being an educator, you have to be a lifelong learner,” he said. “It’s part of my ministry now and part of my life as a Dominican to really, purposefully set some time aside to study, to read about the new things happening in public health … That really goes hand-in-hand with the Dominican Charism.”

James summed up his vision of being a Dominican: “For me, to be a Dominican means to be someone who is completely in love with the Creator and completely in love with the world around them, so much so that you are taking every opportunity to lead everyone to the Creator in this joyful symphony we call life.” 
 

Associate James Mallare, center, and two of his students from Wayne State University take part in community outreach.