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November 28, 2018, Adrian, Michigan – Go to the peripheries, wherever that is. Be in the peripheries, whether in an institution or on mission and offer loving accompaniment to those you find there.
That was the message that Father Bruno Cadoré, Master of the Dominican Order, sent to the Adrian Dominican Sisters, Associates, and Co-workers assembled in St. Catherine Chapel on November 26 – and those who were watching through broadcast or live stream.
But that message of challenge – as well as support, encouragement, and affection – was conveyed on Father Bruno’s behalf by Father Christopher Eggleton, OP, Socius for the United States. Father Bruno’s plans to visit the Adrian Dominican Sisters were changed abruptly when he was prevented from entering the United States.
Father Bruno was represented by Father Chris, a member of the St. Martin de Porres (Southern) Province, and Father Louis Morrone, Vice Provincial of the St. Albert the Great (Central) Province.
“Friar Bruno is very much in love with what he does because he’s very much in love with his Dominican life, with God, and with his sisters and brothers in the Dominican family,” Father Chris said. “He is one who will not exclude anyone and he feels that at the heart of our spirituality as Dominican women and men is that no one should be excluded. … He is absolutely convinced that each person is part of the Body of Christ and that the Body of Christ must be respected and loved and pulled into the community.”
Father Chris emphasized the need for unity among all members of the Dominican family: friars, nuns, sisters, laity, and associates. “We remember always that we are sisters and brothers in Christ and St. Dominic and St. Catherine and the living saints in Dominic, as is our call,” he said. As a united family, he encouraged he Sisters to “go to the peripheries,” to evangelize all people who are on the margins or in some way left out of the care of society.
“I tell you now on Father Bruno’s behalf that he loves you – we love you,” Father Chris told the Adrian Dominican Sisters and Associates. He added that Father Bruno is appreciative of the many decades that Adrian Dominicans have been serving people on the peripheries.
In his homily during the Mass that followed his talk, Father Chris continued with the theme of ministering at the periphery and finding mission wherever you are. He told the story of a young man, Jonathan, who he had met on Death Row for murdering two young men. Through the presence of Father Chris, a Franciscan chaplain, and a chapter of Dominican Laity who served at the prison in Texas, Jonathan converted to Catholicism and became a member of the Dominican Laity. He began counseling other prisoners, listening to them, and accompanying them to their executions.
For the next 10 years – until his own execution on October 7, 1998 – Jonathan “evangelized where few could enter,” Father Chris said. “He knew that he had a mission, and his mission was right there in that periphery, in that place, at that time. He was fired up with the Holy Trinity, with the Blessed Mother, and with his brothers and sisters on death row.”
Father Chris encouraged Sisters and Associates to notice the good in their ministries. “Wherever you are, in whatever periphery you’re missioned, let us notice the good that is there, the hope people offer, and the hope that we offer, united as one in Jesus Christ, in his Blessed Mother, and in our St. Dominic, St. Catherine, and the cavalcade of saints transformed into great preachers.”
Founded in 1206 by St. Dominic de Guzman, the Order of Preachers (Dominicans) minister throughout the world, on every continent except Antarctica. The Dominican family includes Friars; cloistered Nuns; apostolic Sisters; Dominican Laity, who are associated with the Friars; Associates, who are connected to individual Congregations of Dominican Sisters; and special groups such as Dominican Young Adults, Dominican Volunteers; Dominican High School Preachers; and Dominican College Preachers.
For information on becoming a vowed Adrian Dominican Sister, contact Sister Tarianne DeYonker, OP, 517-266-266-3532 or tdeyonker@adriandominicans.org or Sister Mariane Fahlman, OP, 517-266-3537 or mfahlman@adriandominicans.org. For information on becoming an Adrian Dominican Associate, contact Mary Lach, Director of Associate Life, at 517-266-3531 or mlach@adriandominicans.org.
Feature photo: Father Christopher Eggleton, OP, Socius for the United States, speaks to Adrian Dominican Sisters, Associates, and Co-workers on behalf of Father Bruno Cadoré, Master of the Order.
From left, Sister Patricia Harvat, OP, and Sister Elise García, OP, General Councilors; Father Louis Morrone, OP; Father Chris Eggleton, OP; Sister Patricia Siemen, OP, Prioress of the Adrian Dominican Congregation; Sister Mary Margaret Pachucki, OP, Vicaress and General Councilor; and Sister Frances Nadolny, OP, Administrator and General Councilor.
November 21, 2017, Chicago – Sister Donna Markham, OP, President and CEO of Catholic Charities USA (CCUSA), was one of two recipients of the Great Preacher Award from the St. Albert the Great (Central) Province of the U.S. Dominican Friars. She and Monsignor Kenneth Velo, Senior Executive of Catholic Collaboration at De Paul University in Chicago, received the award at the Provincial’s Dinner November 4 at Misericordia Heart of Mercy in Chicago.
“This year, the Provincial’s Dinner honors two preachers whose extraordinary ministries and words totally reflect the Gospel of Jesus Christ,” said Father James V. Marchionda, OP, Prior Provincial of St. Albert the Great. “Great Preacher most fittingly describes this year’s gifted and faith-filled recipients.”
A native of Chicago, Sister Donna graduated from Regina Dominican High School, an all-girls school located in Wilmette, Illinois, and founded and sponsored by the Adrian Dominican Sisters. A clinical psychologist, she holds a bachelor’s degree in fine art, philosophy, and English from Siena Heights College (now University) in Adrian, as well as a master’s degree in psychology and a PhD in clinical psychology, both from the University of Detroit.
Sister Donna served as President of Southdown Institute in Toronto, a residential program that offers healing and wholeness to priests and religious facing addictions and other mental health issues. She also offered leadership to the Adrian Dominican Congregation, first on the General Council under Prioress Sister Nadine Foley, OP, from 1986 to 1992 and then as Prioress from 2004 to 2010. She went on to serve as President of the Catholic Health Partners Behavioral Health Institute in Cincinnati, Ohio, and to chair the Catholic Charities USA Board of Trustees.
In 2015, Sister Donna became the first woman to head CCUSA. Through 177 member agencies in 2,600 locations in the U.S. and its territories, CCUSA reaches out to people in need through services in housing; healthcare; employment and job training; immigrant and refugee support; advocacy; and family, children, and senior services; and leadership formation in Catholic identity for all involved in the agency’s work. In addition, CCUSA is the official domestic disaster relief agency of the U.S. Catholic Church, leading to the agency’s involvement in disaster relief for communities affected by recent hurricanes, floods, and fires.
The Provincial’s Dinner supports the formation ministry of the men entering the Dominicans through the Province, including the novitiate in Denver.
Left: Sister Donna Markham, OP, receives the Great Preacher Award from Rev. Louis S. Morrone, OP, Vicar Provincial, left, and the Very Rev. James Marchionda, OP, Prior Provincial. Right: Sister Donna Markham, OP, makes her acceptance address for the Great Preacher Award. Photos Courtesy of the Dominican Province of St. Albert the Great