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October 9, 2024, Adrian, Michigan – Adrian Dominican Associate Life welcomed three new Associates on October 3, 2024, during an evening Commitment Ceremony held in Holy Rosary Chapel on the Motherhouse Campus.

Associates are women and men, at least 18 years of age, who feel called to the Dominican Charism (spirit) and who make a non-vowed commitment to associate themselves with the Adrian Dominican Sisters. While maintaining their independent lifestyle, they are invited to share in the Sisters’ mission, ministries, and spiritual and social activities.

Associate Nancy Mason Bordley, Director of the Office of Dominican Charism, welcomed the Associates, Sisters, and friends, explaining the commitment that the Associate candidates and their mentors had already made in preparation for the event. Each Associate candidate “has acknowledged his or her desire to make this next step and has spent months discerning how they will live out the Dominican Charism as a member of the Dominican family,” she said.

During the prayer service, candidate Celeste Mueller preached on the Gospel explaining how Jesus sent out 72 disciples ahead of him to villages and towns where he intended to visit. “It’s a pattern that has been repeated in our history,” she said, noting that Dominic, too, sent out his brothers to preach when they had only been in the Order for a short time. That pattern was repeated with Dominican Sisters who came from Germany to New York in 1853 and the Sisters who began ministries at parishes in Adrian, Michigan, in the late 19th century – and beyond to the new Associates today, Celeste said. 

“What we share with the earliest disciples and every Dominican through the ages is the invitation to become the sacred preaching,” Celeste said. “Each of us is ready and fully equipped to respond to that invitation.”

The new Associates are:

Celeste Mueller, a self-employed practical theologian and leadership formation facilitator from University City, Missouri, is the great-niece of Sister Rose de Lourdes DeSchryver, OP. A native of Detroit and the youngest of seven children, she was taught by Columbus Dominican Sisters at St. Clare de Montefalco Elementary School. She attended Our Lady Star of the Sea High School. 

Celeste, who earned a bachelor’s degree in philosophy and theology at the University of Notre Dame, came to know the Adrian Dominican Sisters through her studies. While earning a master’s degree and partial MDiv at Aquinas Institute of Theology, a graduate school in the Dominican tradition, in St. Louis, she was a classmate and student of Adrian Dominican Sisters. She earned her doctorate in ministry (DMin) at Eden Theological Seminary in St. Louis and returned to Aquinas as an Assistant Professor, counting Patricia Walter, Joan Delaplane, OP, and Maribeth Howell, OP, as her colleagues. Sister Patricia was her mentor in her journey to Associate Life.

“I am inspired by the creative and deeply committed spirit of the vowed Adrian Dominicans, and I have been deeply impressed by their hope-filled engagement of profound issues and their willingness to collaborate with non-vowed Associates to assure and even expand the impact of the Dominican Charism in the world,” Celeste said.

She and Tom, her husband of 40 years, have two grown children and one granddaughter. Celeste’s ministry is developing leaders “fueled by virtue” for the work of spiritual and theological formation. 

Peggy M. Pantelis, of Chesterfield, Michigan, heard about Associate Life for years from Mary Kay Homan, OP, her mentor. “My family was very loving [and] went to church every Sunday,” she recalled. She is the middle of three children: her older sister, Pat, is deceased and she remains close to her younger brother, Jim. 

A retired teacher in the Macomb Intermediate School District, Peggy remains active as President of the St. Basil Conference of St. Vincent de Paul. She also works one or two days each week with visually impaired students. She and her husband, Gary, have two children: Elizabeth and Paul, who is married with a 4-year-old son. 

Peggy enjoys joining and leading discussion groups for church programs. Becoming an Associate “seems like the next step,” she said. She brings to Associate Life compassion and the ability to teach and hopes to find “growth in my prayers, the ability to share my faith with others, and [involvement] in something that would impact lives.”

Stephen Wolbert, a native of Flint, Michigan, is the CEO of Social Impact Philanthropy and Investment (SIPI), serving as a consultant, primarily with nonprofit organizations in North Flint. In his work, he positions nonprofit organizations, helping them to expand their mission and serve more people. “Over the last 8-and-a-half years, we have helped organizations secure over $10 million in additional resources and impact the lives of over 13,000 people per year,” he said.

Stephen came to know the Adrian Dominican Sisters through Carol Weber, OP, Executive Director of St. Luke N.E.W. Life Center in Flint. Through Sister Carol, his mentor, he said he has “become really amazed with [the Sisters’] ministries and vision for how to sustain them long-term.” He holds Sister Carol – as well as the late Judy Blake, CSJ, Co-founder of St. Luke N.E.W. Life Center, as “tremendous mentors,” along with his parents, grandparents, and friends.

Stephen hopes that being an Associate will augment his ministry at SIPI. “While the work is extremely rewarding, it can become exhausting,” he said. “I would like to explore more fully how to move these challenges into purpose, develop a more focused personal mission, and develop a network of others that are doing work as ministry.”

After each new Associate was introduced by his or her mentor and declared their intention to become an Adrian Associate, they proclaimed together their commitment statement. “United in purpose through the Office of Dominican Charism, we Dominican Associates commit ourselves to sharing life in a communion of Gospel-driven women and men who are spiritual seekers, alive with the fire of being Dominicans in service to the world,” they proclaimed. “We strive to widen and deepen the impact of the Dominican Charism, which urges us forward in our desire to transform the world in partnership with the emerging reign of God.”

The new Associates and their mentors concluded the formal ceremony by signing the commitment form. Associates James Mallare and Rosemary Martin presented the new Associates with the Associate pin and a candle as a symbol of their new commitment. 

For information on becoming an Adrian Dominican Associate, contact Associate Nancy Mason Bordley at 517-266-3534 or visit www.adriandominicans.org/MeetDominicans/Associates.

 

Caption for above photo: Participating in the Commitment Ceremony for new Adrian Dominican Associates are, from left, Sister Patricia Walter, OP, mentor of Celeste Mueller; Sister Mary Kay Homan, OP, mentor of Peggy Pantelis; and Sister Carol Weber, OP, mentor of Stephen M. Wolbert.

August 13, 2024, Adrian, Michigan – Sister Jeanne Stickling, OP, (Adrian) received the Fra Angelico Award, the highest honor bestowed by the DIA, during the closing Liturgy of the Dominican Institute for the Arts (DIA) gathering, July 22-25, 2024, at Weber Retreat and Conference Center in Adrian. Named after the great Dominican artist, Fra Angelico (1395-1455), the award is given to a DIA member who “exemplifies Fra Angelico’s dedication to furthering the Holy Preaching through art.”

Sister Jeanne, a sculptor and potter, also taught pottery classes. Her sculptures can be found throughout the country. A long-time, active member of the DIA, she has served on the DIA Board and on planning committees.

“I believe that working with clay can bring you into contact with the sacred,” she wrote in her DIA profile. “Your hands touch and grasp all four of the essential elements of Creation: earth, water, air, fire. For a Dominican artist, working with clay becomes a tactile centering prayer.”

Sister Catherine Anderson, OP (Grand Rapids), received the 2024 Spirit Award in recognition of her many years of service to the DIA. Most recent of her many services was her leading a workshop on bookmarks. 

Sister Catherine uses her experience of painting as an opportunity for contemplation. “The last few years I have been more aware how art can influence people in our culture in reference to the needs of the times especially in the area of justice and healing,” she wrote in her profile on the DIA website. “I continue to learn daily.”

About 50 DIA members attended the annual gathering, under the theme, Artists for the Earth. 

Begun more than 25 years ago, the DIA is a grassroots organization of Friars, Sisters, Nuns, Laity, and Associates who preach through the arts. Members range from painters, sculptors, and photographers to musicians, poets, dancers, filmmakers, dramatists, and appreciators of the arts.

Sister Joye Gros, OP (Peace), began her keynote address on the morning of July 23 by affirming the gifts that artists bring to the world. Their gift of seeing and feeling requires attention and intention, she said. “As an artist, your gift is to help others see. You see things others don’t see, and that’s what Jesus did …. We are given gifts that we might share them.”  

Sister Joye, who spent 13 years in leadership positions for the Dominican Sisters of Kentucky, played a key role in the formation of the Dominican Sisters of Peace. She co-directed the Collaborative Dominican Novitiate (CDN) for eight years and now helps congregations of women religious as they plan for their future. 

She spent much of her talk on the theme of the conference, drawing from Laudato Si’, Pope Francis’ prophetic encyclical on the environment. “This conference calls you not only to respect Earth, but to praise and honor God through your art.” 

Sister Joye challenged the artists to connect to Laudato Si’ through their artistic gifts. “As artists of the Earth, you stay close to the Earth,” she said. “Your eyes and ears, your nose, all your senses can bring you close to the Earth.” She encouraged them to “stay close to the ground to hear the cry of humanity and the cry of Earth.”

While artists focus much of their work on beauty, Sister Joye said, they also need to be connected to the suffering of the world. “The cry of the Earth is the cry of beauty and joy, but it’s also a cry of devastation and pain,” she said. She made reference to Hildegard of Bingen’s image of the need to fly with two wings: joy and suffering. “Trying to fly with one wing will leave us Earthbound and unfulfilled,” Sister Joye noted. She gave specific examples of artists who were transformed by suffering and pain and who used their new gifts to reach out to others in pain. 

Finally, Sister Joye spoke of the need for artists to find healing and comfort from the devastation that they have witnessed and experienced. She held up gratitude as one way to find grace. “Gratefulness allows us to nurture a keen eye that no longer passes the small moments that make up the greater part of our lives,” she said. 

Members of the DIA can also bring encouragement and support to one another in facing times of devastation and struggle. “You artists are part of the great cloud of witnesses (Hebrews 12:1),” she said. “We are surrounded by great company.” 

Throughout the afternoon of July 23, participants had the opportunity to attend workshops that helped them to experience other forms of art: from liturgical movement and watercolor painting to percussion and other musical instruments and the creation of bookmarks. In recognition of the conference theme, they were also invited to visit the Permaculture area of the Motherhouse of the Dominican Sisters of Adrian.

Activities on July 24 included a business meeting and a presentation by Sister Mary Navarre, OP (Grand Rapids), a writer, poet, and storyteller, on the archiving of works of art.

The closing Liturgy continued the participants’ celebration of the arts, with upbeat music and liturgical dance. Sister Nancyann Turner, OP (Adrian), a weaver, preached on the Gospel, focusing on the sower and the seeds. “Jesus invites us to plant seeds and to be very careful where we plant them,” Sister Nancyann said. “We do this by our preaching, our relationships, our shared values, and our ability to disagree without doing violence.”

As artists and sowers, Sister Nancyann said, “we must preach far and wide for the healthcare of our Mother Earth. Speaking out for creation will not just be an activity but a conversion.”

The celebration of the arts continued with dinner and a gala of art, music, and song.

The DIA is open to any Dominican who is dedicated to preaching through the arts or who appreciates the arts. For information on membership or on the organization, visit https://www.diartsop.org.