Annual Report 2008
When the Dominican Sisters of Houston closed the year of celebration of their 125th Anniversary on September 28, 2008, Marygrace Peters, OP, Prioress, commissioned the assembly of over 1000 stakeholders as Partners in Mission during the Eucharistic liturgy, presided over by Archbishop Joseph A. Fiorenza in the Cathedral of the Sacred Heart in downtown Houston. She said, “Today is a day to remember … the past 125 years and to summon the courage to step toward a future shaped by dedication to our ministries and the deliberateness of our mission.”
From the start, the anniversary year of public celebration was acknowledged, anticipated, envisioned as a recollection and a prelude. You remember, the first sound at the opening was of bells, as we were invited to recall the deceased sisters of 125 years who had brought us to this moment. The anniversary year closed with bells sounding the challenge to go forward, summoning us to courage, to step up to shape the future of the Dominican Sisters of Houston. One of the beautiful bells in the tower of the new Cathedral is named for Mother Pauline Gannon, OP, the Dominican leader who boldly moved the community to Houston when the time was right.
This year of remembrance and anticipation we celebrated with many events, both public and intimate gatherings, attended by hundreds of loyal and new participants in the Dominican Sisters mission and ministry. The year was prayerful, studious, reflective and joyful with events guided by the four pillars of Dominican Life world wide, Prayer, Study, Community and Ministry. Truly reflected in the year was the particular Dominican motto “to contemplate and give to others the fruits of contemplation”. The entire year focused on an invitation to preaching in the most effective mode of Dominican tradition, from the pulpit of our lives.
With gratitude and humility we acknowledge the many friends, family, supporters who offered particular gifts during the year: our 125th Anniversary Year Honorary Committee, our 125th Anniversary Year Sponsors, as well as sponsors of Study and Ministry Series, the Opening Celebration and the special donors to the Closing Celebration. Your gifts and contributions that included time and talent, provided events that yielded unforgettable moments of beauty, truth, joy and will serve as a wellspring for the energy we need to step forward.
Now it is time to go forward.
We invite you as PARTNERS IN MISSION to continue with the sisters, those retired who might have taught you, those in active and diverse ministries from hospital chaplaincy to school administration in a border town, to the teaching of Tai Chi, to pastoral ministries in parishes, from a school in Guatemala to clinics Kenya and Kerrville, into the challenging process of discerning step by step and participating in a future where the Dominican mission is alive and the ministries continue to be as vital as those of the past have been.
Thank you to all of you. To each we offer sincere thanks and honor you with the assurance of responsible stewardship of your gift.
Barbara Abell
Director of Advancement
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