What's Happening

August 16, 2024, Adrian, Michigan – All are welcome to join the mindfulness community in monthly Days of Mindfulness, held in person on Saturdays from 10:00 a.m. to 2:30 p.m. at Weber Retreat and Conference Center. Sister Esther Kennedy, OP, a Dominican Sister of Adrian as well as a spiritual director and retreat director, conducts these days.

Upcoming Days of Mindfulness are as follows:

•    Saturday, September 7, 2024 – The Myth of Permanence. What we experience each day is dependent on many causes and conditions. We experience a particular emotion or mood and then it dissolves, to be replaced by another emotion or mood. Contemplation helps us to see the impermanence of these states of mind.

•    Saturday, October 5, 2024 – Coming to our Senses. While we don’t know where life is taking us, Jon Kabat-Zinn says the challenge is coming to our senses, both individually and as a species. The cultivation of mindfulness is the first step toward developing an awareness of both heart and mind.

•    Saturday, November 2, 2024 – Lost in Thought. It is easy to get trapped in our thoughts, which weave stories conditioned by the past. But underneath all the fluctuating thoughts and emotions is a dimension of consciousness far deeper than thought.

•    Saturday, December 7, 2024 – Cultivating Warmth of Heart. In silent moments, we grow the courage to hear, with the heart-mind, the voice inside us, connecting us to all beings and the whole web of life.

The costs of each session is $35, which includes lunch. Registration is required. Visit www.webercenter.org and click on “programs,” call 517-266-4000, or email [email protected]. 

Weber Center is on the campus of the Adrian Dominican Sisters Motherhouse, Adrian, Michigan. Traveling east on Siena Heights Drive, pass the Adrian Rea Literacy Center and turn left just before the solar panel-covered carport. Follow the signs to Weber Center. For information, call the Weber Center at 517-266-4000.
 

August 13, 2024, Adrian, Michigan – A new process allowing certain undocumented spouses and step-children of U.S. citizens to apply for lawful permanent residence (a green card) without leaving the United States begins August 19, 2024. At that time, the Adrian Dominican Sisters Immigration Assistance Office is available to help determine eligibility and assistance in the process.

The Process to Promote the Unity and Stability of Families was announced by the Biden Administration on June 18, 2024, and could impact about 500,000 spouses and 50,000 step-children of U.S. citizens. To be eligible, spouses and step-children must be present in the United States without admission or parole and have been continuously present in the United States for at least 10 years as of June 17, 2024. Spouses must have been legally married to a U.S. citizen as of June 17, 2024.

“We hope that word spreads,” Sister Attracta said. She encourages local families who qualify for the new process to contact her office after Monday, August 19, 2024, at 517-266-3526 for information and legal assistance.

In the meantime, Sister Attracta encourages the families to begin work on documentation – to prove that the spouse and stepchildren of a U.S. citizen have been in the United States for 10 years and that the spouse and the U.S. citizen have been married since at least June 18, 2024. “A lot of documentation is going to be required,” she said, and the sooner that process is completed, the sooner the spouse and stepchildren can apply for legal resident status.

Sister Attracta said that the new policy is a great benefit to eligible immigrants. “Before this new process, if someone came here illegally and was married to a U.S. citizen, they had to go back [to their country] while waiting for legal status,” she explained. “It could be three years or a five-year bar or a 10-year bar” before their case could be heard. 

The immigrant spouses “have been here for so many years,” Sister Attracta explained. “They have been working. They have been paying taxes.” Many are petrified at the idea of returning to their native country while they wait for the process to be completed. Allowing them to stay in the United States during this process is a gift, Sister Attracta said. 

She hopes to help as many families as possible to go through the process quickly, to give the spouse and stepchildren the security of legal resident status in the United States. 

Those who are eligible can apply for this process beginning on Monday, August 19, 2024. Applications submitted before that date will be rejected. In the meantime, the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) offers preliminary information on eligibility, documents to prepare for this process, and how to avoid scams. Access this information in English and in Spanish.

Up-to-date information on this immigration process can be found here.

To schedule a consultation with the Adrian Dominican Sisters Immigration Assistance Office after August 19, call 517-266-3526.