The Leadership Team is very optimistic about the upcoming year and anticipates getting much done. Our theme for this year is BEGIN. Below, you will see that we begin with a new feature that the Integral Ecology Committee is introducing and will be included in our community Flocknotes. We encourage all DF to think and act on ways to respond to the items included in the messages. Also, in response to “you spoke, we listened” from our April 4 DF Gathering, we are working on more opportunities to socialize and will begin with a Summer Social (details below.)
 
DF Leadership - Expressions of Gratitude

As you can appreciate, a great deal of coordination goes on behind the scenes to keep the DF going, and it starts with the Chairs Team, which consists of the current chair, immediate past chair, future chair, and of course, Sr. Carol. We wish to express a great big thank you to Anna Sklut, immediate Past Chair, as she rolls off the Leadership Team. Throughout this year, she was an anchor for the Chairs Team with her wisdom, experience, and ever-present smile and enthusiasm for all things Dominican Family. We want to extend our welcome to Maria Burdick, who joins the Chairs Team as Future Chair. Maria has been actively involved in DF since she made her first commitment. She, too, is a powerhouse of knowledge and energy in everything she does!
 
We want to thank Trey Buttelmann and John Perrotti for the two years they served as Councilors on the Leadership Team. Their service was appreciated, especially through 2020-21, the years of perpetual shifts and changes. Our new Councilors are Sarah-Margaret and Jonathon Doran. We welcome them and look forward to collaborating with them as they begin their two years of service, which we believe will be much calmer than the prior two.
 
Integral Ecology Committee – Flocknote Features

Did you know that some of the most important understandings of ecology came about as early as the 1700s when scientists began to understand concepts like food chains, population management, and heredity? So how does this influence our understanding of integrated ecology today?
 
Pope Francis’s encyclical Laudato Si’, On Care for our Common Home, stresses that everything is connected, reinforcing the Catholic Social Teaching theme of integral ecology and how our approach to ecology must be holistic. Ecology goes beyond care for the natural environment. It embraces the vast network of relationships between all that is. Integral ecology requires “an integrated approach to combatting poverty, restoring dignity to the excluded, and at the same time protecting nature.”

So you may ask, why did Pope Francis choose the title Laudato Si’, “Praise be You,” for his encyclical letter written in 2015?  It references St. Francis of Assisi’s 13th-century Canticle of the Creatures poem. Written in a Medieval Italian dialect, it praises God for providing “brother sun,” “sister water,” “brother wind,” and “sister Mother Earth.” “Pope Francis calls the Church and the world to acknowledge the urgency of our environmental challenges and to join him in embarking on a new path.” (USCCB)

At least once a month, the Integral Ecology Committee will share in DF Flocknotes relevant information relating to integral ecology. This will help raise awareness of what YOU can do to preserve our world and offer opportunities to integrate these ideas and suggestions into your lives. Our hope is that you will become an advocate and pass this information on to others. The integral ecology work is very important to the Dominican Sisters, who are focusing on anti-racism/systematic racism and water in their work. This gives us a great opportunity to walk side by side with the Sisters in our efforts. We encourage you to Begin.
 
Save the Dates – Social Gatherings!

Summer Gathering      
Wednesday, June 22 - 5:30 p.m.  
Maria Burdick’s Home      
318 Isolde Drive  
Houston, 77024

Octoberfest            
Thursday, October 6 – 5:00 p.m.
Walking Stick Brewing Co.
956 Judiway Street
Houston, 77018

Mardi Gras!
February 2023 - TBD
       
Mark your calendars! Maria Burdick has graciously agreed to host a summer social at her home on Wednesday, June 22, at 5:30 p.m. Bring a snack and/or a beverage to share while we relax, take a breath, and catch up with each other now that summer is here. We encourage you to bring a friend who may be interested in meeting DF socially. We also have an October and February Social planned, so keep your social shoes ready to join in and begin to get re-connected after our long two years of isolation.

Enjoy your summer, and we hope to see you on June 22!

Peace,
Mary Gangelhoff
Maria Burdick
Greg Schockling
Sr. Carol Mayes, O.P.