In Ministry - Stories

October 23, 2024, Houston, Texas – Sister Maureen O’Connell, OP, Director of the Secretariat for Social Concerns for the Archdiocese of Galveston-Houston, Texas, took an unconventional path to her vocation as an Adrian Dominican Sister. Born into a tight-knit Irish Catholic family in Chicago, she was the niece of Sister Mary Frances Coleman, OP, an Adrian Dominican Sister. 

Sister Maureen was educated by Sisters: the Adrian Dominican Sisters in first and second grades, the Sinsinawa Dominican Sisters for the rest of her elementary school years, and the School Sisters of Notre Dame in high school. “I was pretty clear that I wasn’t going to be a nun because everybody thought I was going to be a nun,” she said. “I think that’s why it took me a while.”

After her freshman year in college, Sister Maureen entered the Sinsinawa Dominican Congregation but stayed only for a few months. “I felt I was clear I didn’t have a vocation,” she said.

Sister Maureen attended Chicago Teachers College and finished her bachelor’s degree in education at DePaul University in Chicago. She also holds a Master’s of Social Work from the University of Houston.

She taught with Adrian Dominican Sisters for three years at Infant of Prague School in Flossmoor, Illinois. Among her teaching colleagues was a high school friend whose aunt was the first woman police officer in Chicago. When her friend Donna heard about the entrance exam for the Police Academy, she talked Sister Maureen into taking the test with her. “It was truly a lark,” Sister Maureen recalled. “There was no one in my family who was in the police. I took the exam and I was pretty high on the list – fifth.” 

She attended the Police Academy in June and, after graduation, was first assigned to the youth division to work with women and children. “It was a different spin on being a teacher,” she said. Later she was assigned to serve as a detective in the vice division. She served as a police officer from 1966 to 1977.

“There’s a sense of camaraderie in the police department,” Sister Maureen said. “I was 26 and adventurous for sure.” Being a Chicago police officer offered opportunities for exciting work, including undercover operations and serving on a security detail when First Lady Pat Nixon was in town.

While serving in the police department, Sister Maureen became friends with some of the Adrian Dominican Sisters teaching at Aquinas High School in Chicago. “That was the beginning for me in considering religious life,” she said.

She entered the Adrian Dominican Congregation in 1977, professed her first vows in 1980, and in 1982 moved to Houston, where she has since ministered in a variety of ways. After serving as a counselor, Sister Maureen founded Angela House, a residential program to help formerly incarcerated women prepare for healthy and independent lives in the greater community. 

“It’s amazing to see the resilience” of the women who came to Angela House, Sister Maureen said. She remembers being inspired “seeing what these women have to overcome even to get into the community after they’ve already paid their debt.” She continues to serve on the Board of Angela House.

Sister Maureen took on her current ministry as Director of the Secretariat for Social Concerns for the Archdiocese of Galveston-Houston in 2020, overseeing the Justice and Peace Office and the archdiocese’s Catholic Campaign for Human Development (CCHD), which offers grants to local anti-poverty and social justice programs. 

In 2022, the Office of Aging and Children’s Youth Services were added to her secretariat. “Our aging population is very vulnerable and the youth are also a very vulnerable population, so [they] fit into the area of social concerns.”

Sister Maureen’s responsibilities and activities are varied, including serving on the Cardinal’s Cabinet and on several boards in the archdiocese: St. Vincent de Paul Society; Catholic Charities; San José Clinic, a medical clinic that works with uninsured patients; and a shelter for women and children seeking asylum.

Her biggest challenge, she said, is “helping people to understand that Catholic social teaching is really the foundation of our faith and closely connected to the Gospel.” She works with parishes, priests, and lay people to help them understand Catholic social teachings. She also teaches them about Care for Creation. “Because this is such a big gas and oil community, people are often askance at care for creation,” she said. But an all-day event on the topic two years ago brought in about 120 people, she added. “It was a delight.”

Sister Maureen also relishes her work managing the CCHD grant process. She and a small group of people visit the organizations that have requested grants. She appreciates “seeing the people who don’t have the capacity to hire a grant writer and yet they’re the ones who are feet on the ground, serving people. It’s been a great privilege for me to work with them.”

Sister Maureen draws on her past experiences as a police officer and at Angela House in her current ministry. “I’m trying to make connections among other agencies and programs,” she said. “That’s what I did at Angela House. Who can we connect with that will help us further the mission?”  

She was honored on October 24, 2024, by the Emmaus Spirituality Center at its Journey with Emmaus Gala.
 

Caption for above feature photo: Sister Maureen O’Connell, OP, cuts the ribbon for a new facility of Angela House, a residential program to help formerly incarcerated women successfully transition into healthy lives in the community.

Co-workers at St. Rose Dominican Hospitals who were accepted as Adrian Dominican Associates in March 2020 are, from left, Donna Barnes Riggins, Holly Lyman, Teressa Conley, Aimee Moran Yannis, and Natasha Mulroney.
Photo by Thierry Lach
 

October 3, 2024, Henderson, Nevada – Adrian Dominican Associate Holly Lyman calls her current ministry “fun chaos. But it’s the most wonderful job I’ve had. It’s really a calling.”

As Director of Community Health for the eight campuses of St. Rose Dominican Hospitals in Henderson and Las Vegas, Nevada, Holly oversees 119 community health programs, eight centers, about 75 employees, and 100 volunteers. St. Rose Dominican Hospitals was a sponsored institution of Adrian Dominican Sisters until 2019, when sponsorship was transferred to Catholic Health Care Federation.

A native of Utah, Holly has lived “everywhere in the country,” as well as in the Dominican Republic, Trinidad, and Puerto Rico. “My husband was transferred to Las Vegas 35 years ago and we said we’d just stay here for a year – and we’ve been here ever since.”

Working in healthcare all while in Nevada, Holly joined the staff at St. Rose Dominican Hospitals 22 years ago. Sister Molly Nicholson, OP (d. 2023), presented her orientation and served as Holly’s mentor for 10 years. “I immediately knew this was the right job,” Holly said.

Holly became an Associate in March 2020 with four other co-workers at St. Rose Dominican. A pivotal point in her decision to become an Associate, she said, came when Sister Molly blessed her hands on August 23, the Feast of St. Rose of Lima. The ritual “really connected me to that calling,” she said. “When Molly blessed my hands, I felt that healing presence of God. I wanted to continue that wonderful, warm, joyful, caring spirit.”

Holly continues to be inspired by the Adrian Dominican Sisters who minister at St. Rose Dominican Hospitals: Sisters Kathleen “Katie” McGrail, OP, Jean Williams, OP, and Elisabeth Nguyen, OP – as well as by her memories of Sister Molly and Sister Monica Stankus, OP (d. 2016). She also finds inspiration from the Adrian Dominican Sisters who came by train to Henderson in 1947 to establish the hospital. “It’s incredible to think about the courage that those seven women had,” she said, noting their long travel from Michigan and their hard work from the very beginning to set up the hospital and care for the people. 

While preaching is a well-known aspect of the Dominican Charism, Holly believes she has another calling. “My calling is doing, not so much preaching,” she said. “I’m not a big preacher, but I like to go out and do and show the healing presence of God through my service. So that’s what I see as my ministry: direct, hands-on service,” preaching through her ministry.

Holly indeed provides management and hands-on service to the vulnerable people served by Community Health. Her department’s many programs fall into four priorities: food security, through the U.S. nutrition program for Women, Infants, and Children (WIC), her department’s own delivery program to homebound people, and a fruit and vegetable prescription program to make sure people have a nutritious diet; a transportation program, giving 500 homebound seniors rides to doctor’s appointments, the grocery store, the pharmacy, and any other place they need to go; community health workers, who help clients navigate all 21 pathways to health, including food, employment, and safe housing; and chronic diseases, serving patients struggling with conditions such as heart problems, diabetes, HIV, breast cancer, and dementia.

Holly makes the rounds of the various centers served by her program. “I’m in the centers every day,” she said. “I’m out seeing the people. I love to do the rounds and talk to everyone.” 

However, she is primarily responsible for the administration of the many programs, including writing for the grants that support them. Her ministry involves “going out and finding money so we can serve more of the vulnerable,” she said. “The more funding I can get, the more people I can serve and the more employees I can get on staff.”
Holly connects with the Adrian Dominican Sisters and with the 2022 General Chapter Enactments, which include one focused on spirituality. She was especially inspired by Sister Esther Kennedy, OP, who “said we’re living in a time of global chaos and paschal hope,” she noted. “We need that hope to move us along. I feel like the Adrians are that hope. They work so hard to create a really good future that’s filled with hope. I love that and I want to be a part of that.”

 

Left: Associate Holly Lyman speaks at the St. Rose Dominican Hospitals’ opening of the Sahara Center. Right: Members of Associate Holly Lyman’s Community Health Team assemble during the Sahara Center opening, waiting for Sister Kathleen McGrail, OP, to bless their hands.

Sister Lois Paha, OP, visits a church during an October 2013 pilgrimage. Preparing liturgy is one of her responsibilities as Director of Pastoral Services for the Diocese of Tucson. Photo Courtesy of Sister Lois Paha

October 19, 2023, Tucson, Arizona – Sister Lois Paha, OP, has been called a pioneer, always ready to try new work. That seems fitting for a Chicago native who has ministered for nearly 40 years in the Southwest. Those years have involved parish ministry, adult faith formation, formation of deacons and lay ecclesial ministers, and liturgical ministry. 

Sister Lois Paha, OP, (middle row, third from right) with other members of the Diocese of Tucson’s Common Formation Team. Photo Courtesy of Sister Lois Paha, OP

Sister Lois has spent 18 years in ministry as Director of Pastoral Services at the Diocese of Tucson, Arizona. She began ministering in the diocese in 2005 as Director of Formation. In 2008, Bishop Gerald. F. Kicanas combined several pastoral offices and asked Sister Lois to oversee them as Director of Pastoral Services. “We had seven employees and five offices until COVID, when we had to close offices,” Sister Lois said. 

Currently, Sister Lois directs the Common Formation Program for permanent deacon and lay ecclesial minister candidates; oversees diocesan liturgies; supports parishes in their liturgical ministries; serves on the Executive Committee for the current bishop, Bishop Edward J. Weisenburger; and responds to other needs that might serve the pastoral ministry of the diocese.  

Her formation work has been one of the highlights of her ministry at the Diocese of Tucson. Through the Common Formation Program, she has been involved in the ordination of 101 permanent deacons and the certification of 75 lay ecclesial ministers. “Those ministers are still involved in the diocese in some way,” she said. “In doing the formation programs, I was always conscious that what they learn and what they carry out is going to touch many more lives. Seeing people grow in their faith, their spiritual life, and discovering their gifts for ministry have always been the highlight for me.” She is now in the midst of the four-year formation of her fifth cohort, scheduled to be completed in 2026.

In her focus on liturgy, Sister Lois works with Bishop Weisenburger on diocesan liturgies such as the Chrism Mass, involving the blessing of the oils, usually on the morning of Holy Thursday; the Red Mass for Catholic lawyers; the special Mass for Catholic doctors; and other Masses in which the bishop is involved. “Liturgy planning is my strength,” Sister Lois said, explaining that it involves everything from working with the bishop on the planning document to creating the worship aid and securing ministers for the liturgy. 

Sister Lois Paha, OP, at her desk at the Diocese of Tucson. Photo Courtesy of Sister Lois Paha, OP

“My ministry is really event-driven, so no day is really typical,” Sister Lois explained. “My day begins with a review of the emails and issues that are on the table. Depending on the events at hand, the day can be a short one or a long one.” For example, the formation program involves 12 hours of in-person instruction on the weekends and preparation of the materials beforehand.  

Sister Lois occasionally travels around the expansive diocese, which stretches from Yuma, Arizona, to California and as far south as the Mexican border. These trips are usually to lead a workshop on liturgy at one of the diocese’s 78 parishes or to lay ministers in rural parishes on how to conduct Communion services in the absence of a priest. 

Sister Lois’s ministries have not been what she expected when, in 1970, she earned a bachelor of science degree from Siena Heights College (University). “I thought I wanted to be a math and science teacher, and those were my strengths during the elementary teaching years,” she noted. 

However, when she worked with junior high students who were being formed in their faith through the perspective of Vatican II, she noticed that their parents were still focused on the 100 questions from the Baltimore Catechism that they had memorized as children. “I wanted to find a way to teach adults,” she said. “Without Vatican II, that wouldn’t have been an invitation.” 

Sister Lois served in Initial Formation for the Adrian Dominican Sisters from 1978 to 1980. During that time, she earned her Master of Arts in Teaching Religion from St. Michael’s College in Winooski, Vermont, in 1980. “It was designed for high school religion teachers but had all the basic current theology I needed to feel confident in parish work.” 

Sister Lois served five years at St. Augustine Parish in Phoenix, Arizona. Those years “taught me almost everything I needed to know when I got into diocesan work,” she said. “Flexibility, survival, creativity: all those skills for ministry surfaced as needed.” These skills prepared her for her 16 years as full-time Director of Liturgy for the Diocese of Austin, Texas. 

At the end of her time in Austin, Sister Lois was looking for a new “pioneer job.” She began a Doctorate in Ministry in the Supervision Program at the Oblate School of Theology, San Antonio, Texas, where Adrian Dominican Sister Sarah Sharkey, OP, taught. 

After attending classes in June and January for four years, Sister Lois worked on her doctoral project: a curriculum of 24 clock hours – eight three-hour sessions – on topics that wives of permanent deacon candidates would need to accept their new role as the spouse of an ordained minister. 

By now, Sister Lois was ministering in the Diocese of Tucson. “I actually used the sessions as practice” in the Common Formation Program and implemented the curriculum in the studies of the Classes of 2017 and 2021, she said. “As I look back on it, one thing did lead to another and prepared me for the next step.”  

Sister Lois’s years of ministry have given her a broader perspective of the Church. “Working in diocesan ministry for 30 years has kept me in touch with at least the U.S. Church,” she said. “My work in the diocese has continued to keep me open to the great diversity of our Church. In the Diocese of Tucson, you don’t just live it one way.” 

Through her work overseeing the diocesan process to prepare for the Catholic Church’s global Synod on Synodality, Sister Lois confirmed that the people of the Diocese of Tucson experience “different areas, different communities, different prayer interests, and devotional life. The biggest thing is we’re a big Church, and there’s a lot of diversity out there.”