What's Happening

September 22, 2023, Adrian, Michigan – Many people today speak of being an ally to people in marginalized or minority groups. But Brad Frank, Director of the Office of Sustainability for the Adrian Dominican Sisters, broadens the perspective of being an ally, encouraging all to demonstrate their support and care for Earth in the face of threatening global climate change. 

Brad Frank, Directory of the Office of Sustainability

Brad’s recent presentation, “Be a Better Earth Ally,” was part of a series of talks sponsored by the Adrian Dominican Sisters Office of Racial Equity and Cultural Inclusion. The presentations – by people of different faith traditions, ethnic groups, or cultures – aim to expose Sisters, Associates, and Co-workers to diverse perspectives and experiences.

Brad focused much of his talk on the science behind climate change and the rapid warming that has occurred since the Industrial Revolution began in the 1800s. 

“We understand that there’s a direct correlation between atmospheric gases such as carbon dioxide and temperature,” Brad said. He explained that Greenhouse gases –including methane, oxides of nitrogen, and fluorinated hydrocarbons – trap long-wave radiation in the atmosphere, increasing the planet’s temperature. 

“Currently, we’re at 412 parts [of carbon dioxide] per million,” contrasted to 280 parts per million at the beginning of the Industrial Revolution, Brad said. At the same time, the planet has heated up. The 10 warmest years on record have occurred in the past 16 years. “It has been espoused that this rate of change in temperature and the emission of carbon dioxide is 10 times faster than anything that has occurred in the last 65 million years, directly attributed to our existence on this planet,” he said.

Brad also described the effects of climate change: an increase in the intensity and size of storms; desert expansion, evidenced by the expansion of the Sahara Desert by 10% every 10 years; thawing permafrost, which generally stores carbon dioxide; and rising sea levels, predicted to rise 10 to 12 inches over the next 30 years. These effects disproportionately affect minorities, people with low incomes, adults who have no high school diploma or equivalent, and individuals 65 and older, he said.

On a more hopeful note, Brad concluded by explaining ways in which individuals, organizations, and nations can improve the health of our planet:

• Prioritize the Global South. This strategy was adopted by the United Nations. The Global South encompasses many of the developing nations. “Much of their infrastructure is in its infancy,” Brad explained. Thus, these nations can begin with green technology, helping to reduce greenhouse gases and climate change. For their part, he said, governments and corporations in the developed world can pay for practices that lead to a higher carbon footprint by offsetting it, giving donations to countries in the Global South to build their infrastructure.

• Transition to renewable forms of energy and energy efficiency. “This is one of the hallmarks of what climatologists are pushing: removing natural gas and coal as a means of generating energy and generating your own energy” through solar or wind power.

• Reduce our overall consumption of everything. “Everything that we buy, everything that we use, has its own embedded carbon footprint,” Brad said. He gave the example of cars, which are transported to various places throughout the manufacturing and purchasing processes that cause carbon dioxide to be generated. “So, be conscious of what you buy,” he advised. “Just by being aware of it, hopefully, you have that appreciation that this is affecting other people.”

Watch the video to learn more about global climate change and how to be a better ally to Earth and the Earth community or on our public video library.
 

September 22, 2023, Adrian, Michigan – Six people formalized their connection to the Adrian Dominican Congregation on September 14, 2023, during the virtual Ritual of Reception for new Adrian Dominican Associates. The Associates and their mentors participated in the ritual through Zoom. 

Adrian Dominican Associates are women and men at least 18 years of age – married, single, widowed, or divorced – who make a non-vowed commitment to partner with the Adrian Dominican Sisters. While maintaining their own lifestyle and remaining financially independent, they are invited to participate in various spiritual, social, and ministerial experiences with the Sisters and other Associates and attend congregational events.

“Our six Associate candidates and their mentors have spent a great deal of time and energy preparing for this day,” said Associate Nancy Mason Bordley, Director of the Adrian Dominican Congregation’s Office of Dominican Charism. “Each candidate has acknowledged their desire to take this next step and have discerned many ways to live and proclaim the Dominican Charism as members of the Dominican family.

Following are the new Adrian Dominican Associates. 
 
    •    Tom Brady was taught by Adrian Dominican Sisters at St. Denis School in Chicago. “They exemplified the whole idea of reading the signs of the times,” Tom said. “There was always a food drive.” His mentor, Sister Norine Burns, OP, spoke of how Tom followed the Sisters’ example. “Tom is a dedicated teacher in the Chicago Public Schools,” working for 30 years with children from the inner city, she said. He shows his loving presence to his wife, Catherine, and their twins, Mary Kate and Patrick, 15, and the adults he tutors at Aquinas Literacy Center. 
    •    Mark Domingo met the Adrian Dominican Sisters through his work in the Community Health Department of St. Rose Dominican Hospitals in Henderson and Las Vegas, Nevada. He oversees three wellness centers in the Las Vegas Valley. Mark said that the foundation of his Catholic faith through his upbringing in the Philippines prepared him to embark on his Dominican journey. “Mark has a great passion for serving those in need in our community,” said Sister Kathleen McGrail, OP, his mentor who also works at St. Rose. “He speaks of seeing life now through the lens of an Adrian Dominican Associate.”      
    •    Barbara Smith Henning was taught by the Adrian Dominican Sisters at Aquinas High School in Chicago and was a member of the Congregation from 1965 through 1989. Four years later, she met Leo Henning and married him in 1995. Barbara worked for more than 20 years as the Bereavement Coordinator for Hospice House of Mid-Michigan. Associate Trudy McSorley, her mentor and former Sister, noted Barbara’s hunger for the Dominican Charism. “This past year, I have found my way back home to discern how to live my life in a community that values prayer and service,” Barbara said.
    •    Sharese Mathis was inspired to become an Adrian Dominican Associate while serving as Director of Diversity and Inclusion at Siena Heights University from July 2015 to May 2021. “I realized my personal values aligned with being a Dominican,” Sharese said. She was involved in the University’s Torch Bearers program – run by her mentor, Sister Mary Jones, OP – which teaches the Siena Heights community about the Adrian Dominican Charism. “It didn’t take me long to realize that Sharese has a Dominican heart,” Sister Mary said. “She has brought her love of the Dominican Charism to Albion College,” where she serves as Assistant Dean for Campus Life.  
    •    Jean Schlicklin-Tyler, of Ontario, is “a grateful, justice-based, forthright, enthusiastic woman” who felt called in 1978 to be an Adrian Dominican Sister and, in 1991, to leave the Congregation for her call back to the land and service to the poor, said her mentor, Sister Arlene Kosmatka, OP. Married to Godfrey, a farmer, she is the mother of two young adults and mentor to young farmers. “Having been with the Adrian Dominican Sisters earlier, I continue to share the Charism with prayer, study, mission, and community,” Jean said. “This gives me a feeling of being home.”
    •    Jayne Marie Yenko, who lives in a remote area of Wyoming with her husband, Steve, learned about the Adrian Dominican Associates through her youngest sister, Associate Melinda Mullin. Jayne teaches online and coordinates a court-appointed, multi-disciplinary team for juvenile cases. Associates Connie Brady and Gerry Starrat mentored Jayne. Connie noted that Jayne finds community in ways such as book clubs, including one organized by Associates. “I was amazed by the people in the book clubs,” Jayne said. “I knew it was something I was missing in life.” Being an Associate will help her connect with others in a more sustained way, she said.

The Ritual for the Reception of the new Associates included music, readings, and preaching on the Beatitudes by Associate James Mallare. After the new Associates were introduced by their mentors and formally requested to be received as Adrian Dominican Associates, they signed formal documents of commitment to the Congregation and the Dominican Charism.

Associates share the Dominican Charism with the Sisters, as well as Co-workers at the Motherhouse and in sponsored institutions, alums of Adrian Dominican schools, benefactors, and those searching for community and spirituality in their lives. 

For information on becoming an Adrian Dominican Associate, contact Nancy Mason Bordley at [email protected] or 517-266-3534. If you are a single Catholic woman interested in vowed life with the Adrian Dominican Sisters, contact [email protected] or 517-266-3532.