What's Happening

December 18, 2025, Phoenix, Arizona – Adrian Dominican Associate Sharon Pikula, of Olympia, Washington, recently returned from an “eye-opening experience” in her volunteer work offering various services to immigrants, refugees, and asylum-seekers.

The November 17, 2025, to December 3, 2025, session was Sharon’s third experience of working with the Sisters of Notre Dame de Namur volunteer program in Phoenix, in which she stayed in a house for volunteers owned by the U.S. East-West Province of the Sisters of Notre Dame de Namur.

Sharon spent much of her time working with women from nations such as Afghanistan, Pakistan, and Congo who sought help with their English. In this work, she volunteered with the Arizona Refugee Association, which offers legal support and English classes.

“It was very humbling to be part of that, just to see the incredible dedication that these people have trying to learn English,” Sharon said. “It was a beautiful opportunity to have some one-on-one time. My approach was to give them as much love, compassion, and affirmation as I could, to let them know I accept them, [and] affirm them as they are learning, for whatever lies ahead for them.”

Sharon noted that how the United States is working with refugees and asylum-seekers has “changed significantly” since her previous experiences in February and November 2024. The current administration has limited the number of refugees that the United States will accept from the United Nations for the 2026 fiscal year.

“When [refugees] are vetted and come to the United States, the U.N. has funds to give them housing, and a lot of nonprofits have stepped in, especially in Phoenix, to get them the apartment they received,” Sharon explained. “Then there’s the scramble of getting jobs and learning English.”

Sharon said the process has been difficult for the refugees and for the nonprofits trying to serve them. Now, she said, the number of refugees in the Phoenix area has diminished, and local nonprofits are offering their services to others in need – women coming out of domestic violence shelters and people transitioning from homelessness or prison.

This change has affected Sharon’s ministry with Welcome to America, a Phoenix nonprofit that helps refugees settle into apartments and, after they have settled, offers welcome rituals. “Volunteers would come with interpreters to affirm them for being there.” Because Phoenix has received fewer refugees, the agency has begun hosting “re-welcoming rituals” to refugees who have settled in the area within the last 24 months, following up with the families to find out if they have any specific needs.

Sharon attended a re-welcoming ritual with a family of six from Pakistan: a father and mother and four daughters, ages 3 to fifth grade. She volunteered that Saturday morning with four high school students and their teacher, a Sister of Notre Dame de Namur, and a representative of Welcome to America. During their hour-long visit, the volunteers spoke to the family and helped the daughters put together jigsaw puzzles. “It was just a way to say, ‘We’re happy that you’re here,’ and listen to the little girls talk about school and their favorite food,” Sharon said. 

Sharon came away from the two-week experience having learned a great deal. She was moved by the generosity and dedication of many of the nonprofits and the volunteers. She served at one point with a women’s Muslim organization that ran a warehouse and a storefront for distributing clothes. “They serve everyone who is in need, which is heart-warming,” she said. She was also amazed at the networking of the various nonprofits: one organization that takes donated clothing not fit to be worn and uses the material to make something else. “They’re all trying to do their thing, but also trying to be interconnected to help each other,” she said.

Associate Sharon Pikula, top center, works with another volunteer and four children of a family from Pakistan as part of a re-welcoming ritual for families who have settled in the United States in the past 24 months.

Sharon also came to realize a truth she had heard from Sister Joan Delaplane, OP, during a preaching program in St. Louis in the 1990s. Sister Joan had noted that preaching the Word of God in your everyday life can be “just as amazing” as preaching from the pulpit. “As a 30-something-year-old, I wasn’t on board with that,” Sharon said, but a recent experience in Phoenix brought it home to her. While working with Gathering Humanity to provide 30 large packages of staples to refugee families, Sharon realized the packages contained very few spices – an addition that would help the families to cook food according to their local tradition. 

Sharon and another volunteer went to a local specialty grocery store to load up on spices that would make the refugee families feel more at home. The local cashier looked in the basket and saw a mound of spices. “You could see the look on her face,” Sharon said. She explained the purpose of the spices: adding “pizazz” to the refugees’ food. “There were tears coming down this woman’s eyes,” Sharon recalled. She spoke about Gathering Humanity, and the store manager heard her explanation and presented her with a bouquet of flowers.

Sharon realized that buying the spices was a form of preaching to the cashier and the store manager, as well as to the recipients. “We got back and divvied up the spices,” she said. “It’s a drop in the bucket in some ways … but you put your effort in and you have to allow the Spirit to take hold in whatever way it can, and it brings comfort to these families. Joan’s lessons are still being taught …. Never discount your actions.”

 

Feature photo at top: Associate Sharon Pikula in a warehouse owned by Welcome to America, a Phoenix-based nonprofit that provides asylum seekers with furniture and other items to help them set up a household in the area.

 

December 15, 2025, Adrian, Michigan – All are invited to join the mindfulness community at Weber Retreat and Conference Center to deepen their understanding of and commitment to daily meditation practices. Days of Mindfulness –10:00 a.m. to 2:30 p.m. monthly on Saturdays – are as follows:

•    February 7, 2026, Attentiveness. Our bodies always communicate with us. Listening to them takes us from the level of concept to the level of experience. Attentiveness guides us to stay with the sensation and observe how impermanent it is.

•    March 14, 2026, We are Needed! At a time when fear and anxiety are awakened in so many people, we can let that fear turn us towards one another. It’s time to be courageous and open-hearted, trusting ourselves to be fully present.

•    April 11, 2026, Sitting with Feelings and Emotions. Strong feelings and emotions can arise during quiet moments of sitting meditation. We can get caught up in the negative emotions, or we can say yes to whatever is arising and gently hold our suffering with kindness, compassion, and love.

Days of Mindfulness are facilitated by Sister Esther Kennedy, OP, a Dominican Sister of Adrian, a retreat leader, and a spiritual director. 

The cost of $35 per session includes lunch. Each session is limited to 30 participants. Registration is required: visit www.webercenter.org and click on “programs,” call 517-266-4000, or email [email protected]. Limited scholarships are available.