On September 1, 1980, Sisters Carol Johannes OP and Charlotte Hoefer OP began a program to train spiritual directors and provide religious formation opportunities for the People of God in the Detroit area. Known now as the Dominican Center: Spirituality for Mission, it continues those services and has expanded through social media to provide resources for the Dominican family and all people seeking spiritual growth for service in today’s world.
To mark this milestone, the Dominican Center has launched a 40th Anniversary celebration during which we will be exploring the evolution of spiritualities and spiritual longings over these 40 years, seeking to clarify the challenges to forming spiritualities that will truly nurture and energize our mission and ministries in the critical years ahead.
The Center will sponsor a special Anniversary Colloquium in the Fall featuring Dr. Patricia Cooney Hathaway, Professor of Spirituality and Systematic Theology at Sacred Heart Major Seminary, who will analyze that evolution in spirituality. A panel of experts will respond, probing the implications for spiritual direction in the future.
To prepare for that very promising public celebration in the Dominican way, we are asking a few authors to draw upon their contemplation and study to guide and stimulate our own. Pope Francis’s call for a complex integral ecological conversion and spirituality in Laudato Sí will serve as our starting point as we note and celebrate its 5th anniversary. Our authors will build upon that foundation and address the challenges before us.
We begin our celebration with the two posts below: a reflection by Sr. Carol Johannes OP on the “Origins, Purpose, and Possibilities” for the Center and the first article in our series on integral ecological conversion by Rhonda Miska OP.
Watch for future articles and discussion opportunities to come in the months ahead. We hope you will join us in this year’s important exploration and celebration.
Happy Anniversary!
