Dominican Hospital's Pilgrimage of Hope for Creation

Dignity Health – Dominican Hospital (Santa Cruz, California) recently hosted a meaningful local Pilgrimage of Hope for Creation on their campus. This 30-minute, lunch hour event demonstrated how to foster a tangible connection between team members, nature and community well-being. 

The pilgrimage began with a reflective walk from the hospital to their onsite garden. Team members were invited to silently contemplate "how they care for creation," observing the intricate life sustained by each plant and allowing personal memories evoked by nature's beauty to surface. This quiet contemplation fostered a deeper, more personal appreciation for the interconnectedness of all life. Participants were also able to eat and take home fresh produce from the garden – a  direct experience of nature's bounty. 

Highlighting the value of community connection, representatives from Grey Bears, a local nonprofit that serves seniors with food and meal deliveries, shared how the fresh produce generously donated from the hospital garden directly impacts their local community. This example beautifully illustrates the power of local partnerships and enriches the broader Jubilee Year theme of building bridges and nurturing connections. 

The pilgrimage concluded with a heartfelt blessing from Sr. Mary Ellen Leciejewski, OP, System Vice President, Environmental Sustainability, and the distribution of symbolic commemorative items: river rocks for personal reflection and a blue marble symbolizing our precious planet Earth and our shared responsibility. 

This event underscored that caring for creation isn't merely an abstract concept; it's a concrete act that nourishes both body and spirit, and it also inspired some team members to return on another day to tend the garden.