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July 1, 2024, Adrian, Michigan – Joy, gratitude, happy memories, and a sense of homecoming permeated the Motherhouse Campus of the Adrian Dominican Sisters as the 2024 Jubilarians – Sisters marking milestone years of religious life – and their guests gathered for the June 20-22, 2024, celebration.

The 41 Jubilarians include one Sister celebrating 80 years, three 75-year Jubilarians, 22 Double-Diamond (70-year) Jubilarians, 14 Diamond (60-year) Jubilarians, and one Silver (25-year) Jubilarian. Together, the 2024 Jubilarians represent 2,710 years of dedication to the Adrian Dominican Sisters and to the people of God.

While the Adrian Dominican Sisters honor the Jubilarians throughout the year, the formal celebration began on June 20, 2024, with a meeting with the General Council, followed by dinner.

The Jubilarians remembered deceased Sisters who would have celebrated their Jubilees during a special Liturgy for Deceased Jubilarians. The liturgy marked the faithful lives of 44 75-year Jubilarians, 30 Double-Diamond Jubilarians, and six Diamond Jubilarians. 

In her reflection, Sister Joan Delaplane, OP, a 75-year Jubilarian, compared the deceased Jubilarians to the valiant women described in the Book of Proverbs, exhibiting spirit, courage, bravery, faithfulness, dedication, and risk-taking. She focused on the “faithfulness of our Creator to each deceased Jubilarian who was lovingly willed into life, cherished and cared for every sacred moment of life.”

Sister Joan noted that the bond of love between the Jubilarians and their deceased Sisters “is not severed by the thin veil that separates our physical selves,” and that the deceased Jubilarians will continue their own intercessions for the Adrian Dominican community, our nation, and our world.

“Our deceased Sisters utilized their diverse and wondrous gifts in so many beautiful ways,” while also remaining faithful throughout the difficult times and circumstances that they faced, Sister Joan said. She concluded by thanking God “for the gift of each of our deceased Sisters who shared faith and life with us on our journey.”   

The Jubilee events on Friday continued with lunch for Jubilarians and their guests; a happy hour for Jubilarians and Sisters who reside at the Dominican Life Center; dinner; and a piano concert offered by Sister Magdalena Ezoe, OP, composer, pianist, and Professor of Music Emerita at Siena Heights University.

The Saturday, June 22, 2024, celebration began with morning liturgy. “This is the day the Lord had made. Let us rejoice and be glad.” Sister Mary Louise Putrow, OP, 75-year Jubilarian, evoked that feeling as she quoted Psalm 118 in her welcome to the Jubilee Liturgy. “I rejoice that these 41 Dominican women – 80, 75, 70, 60, and 25 years ago – said yes,” Sister Mary Louise said. “They said yes to the whispering of the Spirit, and all of us were totally unaware of what that would mean. We began a journey that has brought us to this very moment.”

Sister Mary Louise noted the surprising changes brought about in the lives of the Sisters by the call of the Second Vatican Council, inviting the faithful in the Church to change and to continue in conversion. “God’s presence and spirit have remained with us,” she said. “We celebrate the many unspoken ways that we have been called to share our lives and enter into the mission of Jesus.”

In her reflection, Prioress Elise D. García, OP, expressed her gratitude for the Jubilarians and the “many shoulders we stand on, all who came before us and loved and guided us.” She recalled the gifts that the Jubilarians received from family members and friends, teachers and guides, Sister friends, and others who saw the Jubilarians through difficult times. “They are all part of the incredible journey that the One who began a good work in you continues to shape and mold in you to this day,” she said.

Sister Elise compared the companionship of the Jubilarians with that of Mary and Elizabeth, whose story was told in the day’s Gospel. “Two pregnant women, relatives, encounter each other at the opposite ends of child-bearing age – an unmarried teenager and an elder who thought herself well past child-bearing years,” she said. “But in their encounter with one another, they at once recognize the One who had begun a good work in each of them – and through them.”

Sister Elise noted that the companionship of Elizabeth and Mary is “mirrored by your companionship, as Dominican Sisters, as you worked together with so many others to advance the Mission in such an astonishing diversity of ways with extraordinary fruitfulness – through times of great joy and also, no doubt, of suffering.”

Sister Elise offered a litany of the many ministries that the Jubilarians were engaged in, from a variety of traditional educational ministries to those who “tended the hearts, minds, and spirits of so many in need of care” as chaplains, social workers, counselors, psychotherapists, spiritual directors, and directors of retreat centers. The Jubilarians served in various ways in parishes and dioceses, as mentors and social justice advocates, and in the Congregation as elected leaders and in congregational offices.

“You are a gift to us and to the world,” Sister Elise told the Jubilarians. “Your good works are still alive in the hearts of all those you served.” Yet, she said, those good works have not ended. She quoted canonist Kelly Connors, PM: “The first apostolate of all religious is the witness of their consecrated life. We carry out that witness until we breathe our last breath.”

The Jubilarians proved their continued commitment to the Mission of Jesus and the Adrian Dominican Sisters as they together renewed their vows. “To the honor of Almighty God, I, … make profession and promise obedience to almighty God, to the Blessed Virgin Mary, to our holy father St. Dominic, and to you, Sister Elise García, Prioress of the Congregation, and to your lawful successors, according to the Rule of St. Augustine and the Constitution of the Sisters of St. Dominic of the Most Holy Rosary until death.”

A festive dinner for Jubilarians and their guests rounded out the formal celebration, but many of the Jubilarians continued to take the time to celebrate with family members, friends, and Sister friends. Their sense of Jubilee continues throughout the year.  
 

April 19, 2024, Phoenix, Arizona – In a place where many people might see hopelessness, Adrian Dominican Associate Sharon Pikula saw a heart-warming scene where people help one another and find joy and comfort in small matters. 

Sharon volunteered for a week at a welcome center for immigrants in Phoenix, Arizona, working with other volunteers to give immigrants who pass through the center time for respite and recovery. Typically, the immigrants come from a detention center run by Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) or from other nonprofit organizations located near the border, she explained. 

The welcome center where Sharon served was established in a former elementary school building by various local nonprofit organizations, under the umbrella of the International Rescue Committee (IRC), Sharon explained. The center has space for up to 400 people to sleep, but its primary aim is to offer temporary space for immigrants to “stabilize their situation – rest, get a new set of clothes, get a shower, [and enjoy] three meals a day,” she explained. The ultimate goal is to prepare them for journeys to the homes of their sponsors, family members or friends who reside in the United States. Typically, 175 to 300 immigrants pass through the welcome center each week, Sharon said. 

During her week at the IRC Welcome Center, Sharon worked three-hour shifts packed with activity: coordinating showers, preparing used clothing, working in the clothing room, serving meals, and offering any other service needed by the immigrants. Often after her shift, she and other volunteers shopped at local thrift stores for clothing, toiletries, and other necessary items to stock the shelves of the IRC Welcome Center. 

Sharon described the work as heart-wrenching. “Other than the clothes on [their backs] and maybe a backpack, that’s all they’ve got,” she said. Yet, during the orientation, the volunteers were told not to question the immigrants about their experiences to avoid re-traumatizing them. “Their recommendation was to give them as much autonomy as possible and not to throw questions at them,” Sharon said. “I tried to be as helpful as I could, but I did not push any questions … and just helped them get whatever they needed.”

During off-hours, Sharon stayed at the nearby house of Sisters of Notre Dame de Namur. The experience was “very holistic in terms of being of service but also having space for yourself to take in what you were experiencing – time for prayer and reflection,” she said. She also spent part of her evenings gaining some insight into the plight of the immigrants by reading Solito, the memoir of Javier Zamora, who, in 1990, at the age of 9, traveled by himself from his native El Salvador to be reunited with his parents in the United States. 

Still, Sharon witnessed joy and hope. “One of the things you learn is that you may find yourself in some really tough situations, but you still see the humanity of people in terms of helping each other out,” she said. She gave the example of a man from Africa who, on watching Sharon clean off the tables before preparing a meal, stepped in to help her with this task. She also recalled the generosity of a man from San Francisco who traveled to Phoenix with a carload of donated shoes for the immigrants. “They were gone within a day,” she said.

Sharon also applauded the generosity of activists who advocate for the welfare of immigrants, even if they don’t necessarily work with “day-to-day direct service,” and spoke highly of the support she felt from Adrian Dominican Sisters and Associates who prayed for her and for the immigrants she served. “I really, full-heartedly believe that prayer support is deeply needed across the spectrum, whether you’re in direct service or the activist or whatever role,” she said. “We need that praying presence.” 

Sharon said volunteering at the IRC Welcome Center was part of her search to serve others. “As I’m moving into retirement, I want to do some service,” she said. She heard about the center from a Sister of Notre Dame de Namur in her parish, who had served at the center. Feeling that Phoenix was not too far from her home in Washington State, Sharon applied to volunteer at the welcome center. “I’m hoping in the later part of the year to return there,” she said. “It’s a very tender and vulnerable place.”

Sharon has some advice for anyone who would like to volunteer at a welcome center for immigrants. “Be open to the experience,” she said. “If you have some prayer or spiritual practices, make sure you’re doing them regularly. Watch for the simple things. It’s not the grandiose stuff – it’s paying attention to the simple needs of the people and allowing them to be as autonomous as possible and giving them space.”

Listen to Sharon’s Holy Week reflection on her experience at the welcome center.