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The OP after our names stands for “Order of Preachers,” the formal name of the religious order founded in 1216 by St. Dominic. As Dominicans, we preach with our lives—in both word and deed—guided by a search for truth (veritas) and a commitment to contemplate and share the fruits of our contemplation (contemplate et aliis tradere).
Our Dominican lives are shaped by the interconnecting movements of study, prayer, communal life, and ministry.
Dominic so firmly believed in the importance of study to the preaching mission that he provided a rule of “dispensation” from other responsibilities in the event they interfered with study. We are women committed to study. Through prayer and contemplation we interiorize our learnings and enter into communion with the Source of all truth. Our communal life orients us to the common good of the whole Earth community. And in ministry, our preaching takes effect.
As women of the Gospel, our preaching is also expressed in word. Read reflections on the Word of God posted by Adrian Dominican Sisters and Associates on the Praedicare Blog below.
Monday, October 7, 2024 Zecharaiah 2:14-17 Acts 1:12-14 Luke 1:26-38
What’s in a name? A lot! Dominican Sisters always have a longer name attached to them in addition to the place they are located:
♦ Mission San Jose Sisters are the Congregation of the Queen of the Most Holy Rosary. ♦ Amityville, Sparkhill, and the Cabra Dominican congregations also have names related to the rosary. ♦ Dominican Sisters of San Rafael are the Congregation of the Most Holy Name of Jesus. ♦ Edmund Dominicans were the Congregation of Holy Cross. ♦ New Orleans were the St. Mary’s Dominicans and Eucharistic Missionaries. ♦ There are the Dominican Sisters of the Presentation of Mary in Columbia. ♦ Our Filippino Sisters were Our Lady of Remedies, and now that is their Chapter name. ♦ And of course, our Congregation of the Most Holy Rosary.
My sense is that the titles reflect Dominic’s devotion to Mary and to the Passion and death of Jesus. One of Dominic’s favorite ways of praying was kneeling or standing before the crucifix. Also I wonder if Doña Juana, his mother, had some influence on his devotion to Mother Mary! Two years ago, Joan Delaplane, OP, preached on this feast. Joan quoted the words of Edward Schillebeeckx, OP, “For the most part, people live by stories…. Without stories we should lose our memories, fail to find our own place in the present, and remain without hope or expectation for the future.”
The history of this feast goes back to October 7, 1571, when the Ottoman Empire was defeated in the Battle of Lepanto. It was through the intercession of Mary and prayer of the rosary that Christians overcame the Turkish forces. One year ago today, October 7, 2023, the deadliest attack against the Jews since the Holocaust occurred and has escalated beyond Israel and Palestine. And today we still pray – pray our rosary, pray our litanies to Mary, and light our candles to end this horrific story of humankind.
There was a short video on Richard Rohr’s email meditation by the author Adam Bucko, and the title was, “What would happen if you let heartbreak be your guide?”
Today’s heartbreak of warring nations frames our prayer. It’s the space out of which we pray. We turn to Mary, who also lived out of that space of heartbreak as she watched her Son be misunderstood, retaliated against, scourged and put to death. Like Mary at the Anunciation and in the upper room, we too are frightened, humbled, full of doubts, full of so many questions, but something stronger than those feelings enables us to trust, as did all our founding mothers and women in our war-torn countries. We, like them, “let heartbreak be our guide” as we finger the beads of our rosary.
Monday, October 7, 2024 Acts 1:12-14
My mother was a firm believer in the power of the rosary. Growing up on a farm, we were aware of our dependence on the weather. We would pray the rosary after supper for rain or that the rain would stop, and of course our novena had to include another nine days of Thanksgiving whether our petition was granted or not. After a while we lost count of our novenas and just said the family rosary every night.
The rosary has been a refuge for Catholics for centuries. When things are difficult or when we have trouble praying in any other way, we can pray the rosary, even without beads. Why else were we given ten fingers? In many parishes people gather to say the rosary a half hour before Mass begins. Though recent custom has encouraged Scripture Vigil Services at wakes, many Catholic families still prefer the rosary. The familiar repetition of the prayers brings comfort to those who mourn.
Our reading from the acts of the apostles informs us that Mary prayed with the church from the very beginning. Mary prayed with them as she prays with us. Perhaps we should be ending the Hail Mary with “Pray with us, now and at the hour of our death.”
Prayer with Mary, especially in the rosary, is a repeated act of hope and love. Albert Nolan tells us, “Compassion finds expression in prayers of intercession and in action. The value of prayers of intercession is that they enable us to express our care and concern for others and our recognition of our dependence upon God.”
Praying the rosary in a group has its own rhythm and support. Like the apostles in the upper room, we join with Mary in proclaiming the blessedness of the Christ she bore in her womb and the power of her motherhood. As mother of the Jesus of Scripture, she has a special place in our hearts and in the hearts of our predecessors who designed and built so many churches and institutions dedicated in her name. The first Holy Rosary Chapel was built by Mother Camilla as a response to a promise that she would do so if fifteen students for the academy would arrive by a certain date. They did and she kept her promise.
How often do we say, “I'll pray for you.” Some of us have such long lists that we have to pray for “all for whom we have promised to pray,” because we could not possibly remember all our commitments to prayer. Many times, as we face the crises in our world, our church, and our own lives, all we can do is pray, and that is enough. Other times our prayer will lead us to action and that is even better.
With Mary and the disciples who prayed together in the upper room, we put our lives and our intentions in her hands and those of our brothers and sisters who pray with us. We are dependent on God and on them as we pray for our own needs and those of others.
"Holy Mary, pray with us!"
Sunday, August 11, 2024 1 Kings 19:4-9 1 John 3:1-2 John 6:41-51
If you know Katherine, you know she loves fantasy literature. When we met to share about these readings, she immediately related them to The Lord of the Rings. Sam, Frodo, and the Fellowship receive something special from the elves called “lembas” or “waybread” to sustain them for a long and perilous journey. Of course, the author of The Lord of the Rings, Tolkien, was deeply Catholic. One commentator said that, for Tolkien, the Eucharist “is an enchanted meal that gives us supernatural strength for the hard and difficult journey.”1 We also know the Eucharist reflects the self-giving love God has for us all.
Katherine was also drawn to the first reading. Not just because it shows how helpful a nap and a snack can be for regaining perspective, though Katherine does love a good nap, but because it so well reflects the experience we all have at times of reaching an impasse and needing to pause, to rest, to ask for help, and, ultimately, to trust in God.
Poor Elijah was ready to give up when he sat under that broom tree for a little shade and some rest. He was met in his beleaguered state by an angel, a messenger of God, who offered him sustenance.
We can’t do it on our own. We need support and God wants to support us, to offer us bread for the journey, through an intimate relationship that will sustain us. God also does that through others, and many of you present here have been bread for Katherine’s journey.
This time of rest is a stopping point on the way. After the rest and refreshment Elijah did take one more nap, but then the angel woke him up and said, time to go.
We are fed for the mission, to be about sharing God’s life-giving word, to share the bread of our contemplation – as Dominicans that is our call. As Christ offers us a nurturing relationship, we offer that to others.
We may not know what the future holds, but, as the second reading says, “We are God’s children now.” We can live out of that knowledge. As children of the Divine, we bear a great family resemblance!
We are to live as we are called now, even as we recognize that “what we will be has not yet been revealed.” This is true for each of us, and, significantly for this moment, it is also true of our Dominican religious life. We don’t know how it will look in the future.
Katherine is committing to an exciting and mysterious journey whose end result is known only in the mystery of God. But she knows, and we are promised, that the sustenance and love needed will be provided. We trust in the God who calls us from the future.
Indeed, all of creation is on this journey toward the future. We recognize the uniqueness of the Eucharist at the same time as we grow more aware of the sacramentality of all creation. All is imbued with the Divine.
As Dominicans we come by this perspective naturally. Dominic began his preaching mission because he was in distress over people believing that matter is evil. He knew the goodness of God’s creation. We want to continue to witness to that in our care for Earth, which gifts us with bread, wine, broom trees, and one another.
In reflecting on these readings, Katherine shared that the Eucharist draws her into a deeper reliance on God and reminds her of our “not-aloneness.”
What a beautiful way to look at the commitment she is about to take as well. You will hear her respond, ‘Yes, I am willing, with God’s help and yours.” When we make our vows, we are recognizing our need for God and each other to live out our commitments.
We recognize we are not alone. We have each other as sisters, family, friends, and colleagues. Our Dominican tradition is to put our hands into the hands of the Prioress, signifying the giving of our lives to God through the Congregation. It is an act of self-giving, reflecting a call to be bread for others.
Katherine, today is a stopping point on the way of your journey. This commitment you and we are making to each other will feed and nourish you so that you can go forward and fully live the Dominican religious life you have begun with such fidelity, and fully become the woman you have been called to be by God, with us, and for the world.
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1 https://experimentaltheology.blogspot.com/2021/01/the-gospel-according-to-lord-of-rings_22.html
Saturday, August 10, 2024 Matthew 5:1-12
There’s always a story behind the story.
A story of woman preparing for her wedding (told by Sister Barbara Kane, OP) has the church, food, and the cake; the only thing missing is the dress. The bride met with several seamstresses. “I need a dress that will rustle,” she said. But no seamstress understood what she meant. One seamstress said, “I can do it. It won’t be comfortable or pretty, but it would rustle.” The woman was elated. “My fiancé is blind and I want him to know I am right by his side.”
The novitiate is the place where the soft rustle of God’s movement assures you of God’s presence beside you. The novitiate is a place to cultivate inner silence. A place to experience your experiences.
I wonder if that isn’t the story behind the story of the Beatitudes that you have chosen for our Vespers reading. Men, women and children were hushed in silence as they sat and listened to the Teacher speak. The Beatitudes are the center piece of Matthew’s gospel. The first four reference people who are suffering but favored by God: the poor in spirit, those mourning, the meek, those hungering for justice, the widow, orphan, sojourner. The next four refer to the people who reach out in compassion to the suffering. This was to be the unfolding mission of Jesus among the people. This is the unfolding mission in your life.
John of the Cross wrote, “The language of God is the experience God writes in our lives.” You are ready, Jamie, for God to write the next chapter in your life. The margins are clean and space open for the unfolding words of love, mercy and hope. Your desire to continue this Dominican journey is bold. As the poet Goethe wrote, “Boldness has genius, power and magic in it. Begin it now.” You can do no less than our founder St. Dominic, to begin it now!
You bring your trust in God, your tenderness with others and your truthfulness with yourself to this journey.
Like St. Augustine and like each one of your sisters, may you discover ... “To fall in love with God is the greatest romance. To seek God, the greatest adventure. To find God, the greatest human achievement.”
This is the story of us. It is your story waiting to be written by you as you listen in hushed silence to the rustle of God beside you.
Thursday, August 8, 2024 Isaiah 52:7-10 2 Timothy 4:1-8 Matthew 28:16-20
Good morning! Happy Feast Day! From my vantage point, this year we are celebrating a Dominican trifecta with Dominic’s Day today, Jamie’s reception on Saturday, and Katherine’s final profession on Sunday. The stakes are high for those of us preaching homilies centered on the Dominican way!
The readings these days are wonderful and today’s offer rich phrases like this one from Isaiah: “How beautiful upon the mountains are the feet of the messenger who announces peace, who brings good news.” Be mindful of your feet, for they have walked miles and miles working for peace and justice and have entered room after room to confirm for people that ours is a God of love.
Or what about these phrases from Timothy? “Proclaim the message…whether the time is favorable or unfavorable…do the work of an evangelist, carry out your ministry fully.” This is, and has been, our calling, in good times and bad, to proclaim a message of love through all the various ministries chosen for us or by us. Proclaiming the message in discussions and debatable opportunities enables us to speak our truth in an honorable manner and to hear another’s truth in the same way.
Dominic knew the strength, power and authority of women and their ability to listen and have conversations. According to Fr. Bede Jarrett in The Life of St. Dominic, “it was the home teaching of mothers and grandmothers which was really responsible for the continuance of the [Albigensian] heresy (p. 40).” And Dominic, who frequently had discussions and presentations with women followers of the Catholic faith, imagined a good and proper solution: the women would be the leaders in disclaiming the heresy. And so the convent at Prouille was founded for three purposes: to be apostolic in their mission, to teach, and to be “a refuge from hostile surroundings (p. 48).” To me, Dominic practiced what he prayed as he pondered Jesus’ words in today’s Gospel to go and make disciples.
No matter where or how we continue to minister – from our rooms, in the hallways, at centers of ministry with direct service, on committees, or as volunteers, ours is holy work as messengers in the mountains, on the plains, in the cities and towns, near the water or away from it. We continue to proclaim our message in both favorable and unfavorable times. That was our commitment as followers of Jesus and Dominic.
These next few days are certainly beautiful days. May each of us celebrate with a renewed commitment to live our lives dedicated to truth, dedicated to justice and peace, and dedicated to bringing love and acceptance to each other and to all the beautiful people with whom we share this sacred Earth.
A recording of this liturgy will be available in the Congregation's public video library.
Thursday, June 27, 2024 Isaiah 56:1,6-7 Matthew 7:24-25
On this day June 27, 1923, Bishop Gallagher of Detroit delivered an unexpected and spontaneous announcement regarding the separation of the Adrian Province from the New York Congregation. All in attendance at the commencement exercises of the Academy that day were surprised – most notably Mother Camilla Madden.
Though conversations and letters had been exchanged, and the separation was anticipated, no formal plans had yet been made. If our beginnings in Adrian, Michigan, in 1884 were recorded as ‘casual,’ our transition from a province to an Independent Congregation was certainly just as ‘casual.’
It was not until July 26 that the official letter was written and sent, but no matter. Thirty-nine years after coming to the ‘small house in the cornfield,’ the province, under the wise and loving care of Mother Camilla Madden, was now an established community of over 400 Sisters staffing schools throughout several states.
The solid foundation had been laid. Mother Camilla and the Sisters had faithfully heard God’s word. They observed what was right and just. They served God’s people; and God fulfilled the promise to be with them always, filling their house with holy joy.
Today, we remember this event. We acknowledge that from the beginning, faithful listening to God’s word created a solid foundation. A foundation built on rock. Founder’s Day is a tribute to Mother Camilla Madden, who stewarded the province from simple beginnings into a faithful congregation of women ministering and meeting the needs of the people near and far.
Founder’s Day is also a day to pause and consider our founding spirit, our charism if you will. It is a day to reflect and ask, “Where is our charism directing us now at this time?” For as we honor our past, we also look toward our future.
As we know, the Dominican charism, our inspirational spark, came into existence in 1206 with the establishment of the monastery in Prouille, France. This spark, this gift of the Spirit, this rock on which we have built our house, has captured the hearts of many through the centuries. And it has been uniquely shaped over time by those called to bring it to life for the service of the world.
Mary Pellegrino, CSJ, writes that a charism is a “particular facet of the likeness of God that people or groups reflect in particular ways.” It “distinguishes one religious community from another.” It is the founding inspiration pulsing with energy at the center of the community.1
As we honor the past, and look to the future, what expression of charism rises up in you? What likeness of God is revealed and shines in you? In us?
As we honor the past and look to the future, we can trust that our faithfulness to the charism will point us in the right direction. As we faithfully tend to God’s call, observing what is right and just, and serving God’s sacred Earth community, we can trust that our God will fulfill the promise made and will be with us always, filling our house with holy joy.
A recording of this liturgy is available in the Congregation's public video library.
1“Life on the Margins: Charismatic Principles for Modern Religious” by Mary Pellegrino, CSJ, for America Magazine, https://www.americamagazine.org/issue/life-margins (Faith in Focus section), October 16, 2013.
Thursday, June 27, 2024 1 Corinthians 3:9c-11
What a perfect text for today! “For we are God’s co-workers; you are God’s field,” Paul says, “God’s building.” All of us have been God’s co-workers for decades: teaching, preaching, healing, feeding, caring, encouraging, building up God’s people. We’ve been the great work horses of the church. But now, we’ve gone from subject to object: often, we’re the ones now in need of healing, feeding, and caring. And our faithful God has sent us the incredible gift of a new group of Co-workers, who direct their attention to us with kindness, gentleness, care, and often affection. And as we experience each Co-worker, we know we are experiencing God’s own goodness. Thank you!
But on this Founder’s Day, though it is always healthy to live in the present, it’s also a good and holy thing to reflect upon the past: how and why has our reality come to be? And we know the answer. There have been many, many exceptional heroines in our past, far too many to name today. One, however, could almost be said to have birthed us. And that, of course, is Mother Camilla Madden.
If she were asked today to describe her Adrian ministry, she could, without missing a beat, quote Paul’s words: “According to the grace of God given to me, like a wise master builder, I laid a foundation, and [others] have built upon it. But each one must be careful how to build on it, for no one can lay a foundation other than the one that is there, namely, Jesus Christ.” And build upon that foundation, she did.
It seems that there is one constant in every period in the lives of people of faith, and that is to sustain hope in the midst of difficult and discouraging situations. Among other things, political polarization, dishonesty, greed and an almost inexhaustible hunger for power weigh heavily upon us today. In Mother Camilla’s era, however, she dealt with genuine religious persecution as the Ku Klux Klan flourished and crosses were burned on the front lawn of the Motherhouse.
Perhaps the greatest hardship, however, was the constant struggle for resources. The Adrian endeavor might be called the “field” that Paul speaks of in Corinthians, but it was large, empty, bleak and daunting. “It must be understood that Mother Camilla assumed charge of the newborn Adrian province in its most poverty stricken and lonely time. As a branch of the New York Motherhouse, which was under the jurisdiction of the Archbishop of New York..., Bishop Foley of Detroit had little use of it. Mother Camilla suffered from his indifference, and worse, his almost brutal refusal of allowing her to take schools in Detroit.” Her plea to open an Academy was rejected time and time again, and her compassionate Sisters could see the heartbreak this caused her.
Our early history, Amid the Alien Corn (and at the time it was quite alien), asks, “What was it in Mother Camilla that gave her particular qualities of greatness? Different answers would come from different people, but most would agree that faith and charity called forth the other strengths evident in her activities. Above all, they must have pressed her on to the risks she took, almost spontaneously at times.” There were times that appeared that she was actually living on risk; she was really building on faith. Risk was the courage of her faith. She was not by nature a bold, adventurous woman. But given a need, and a little push from somewhere, she pressed forward while others might have stared and shaken their heads and simply said, “impossible.”
One could go on forever extolling Mother Camilla’s extraordinary gifts: her generosity, creativity, intelligence, charm, dedication to education, holiness, and hospitality. If she were alive today – as far as hospitality is concerned – she would have been absolutely thrilled to welcome and embrace our Sisters from Edmonds and the Philippines.
One author describes her as accomplishing her dreams through “skilled implementation” and “inspired scheming.” Structures were solid at that time, but she had a way of finding cracks to escape from them. She could never have accomplished all she did for the Church and the Congregation had she not possessed this facility of getting out from under the networks.
We honor her today as our almost unbelievably courageous Foundress of the reality we know and love today as “Adrian,” and all it means to us. We might like to take a walk down the hall to the historical library, make a mini pilgrimage, to look with gratitude and reverence at Mother Camilla’s legacy, her enduring hope and trust in God, and her passionate love for all that Adrian represents. And just maybe, she might help us as her faithful daughters, to develop the capacity to do some “inspired scheming and skilled implementation” of our own in assuring a bright future for the place we call home, as well as the wider world it loves and serves.
Several quotes above are from Amid the Alien Corn (Volume I, the Early Years, 1879-1924) by Sister Mary Philip Ryan, OP, 1967.
A recording of the Prayer Service is available on our public video library.
Saturday, June 22, 2024 Isaiah 12:3-6 Philippians 1:3-6 Luke 1:39-56
Happy Jubilee, Jubilarians! ¡Feliz Jubileo! Congratulations y felicidades.
On behalf of all your Adrian Dominican Sisters let me express our deep gratitude to you for your 25, 60, 70, 75 and 80 years of life as faithful, loving Dominicans.
As I look around this chapel, I am so mindful of all the shoulders we stand on, of all those who came before us and have loved and guided us to this moment. It is right and just that we should bring into our awareness your parents, grandparents, siblings and family members who helped shape you before you entered, especially those who supported you in making this radical life choice.
It is also good to think about the teachers and Sisters who inspired you – the ones you credit with helping you become who you are today. I’m sure you can picture them or call up their names.
Think of your fellow crowd members here present, of all those we honored yesterday, and others in your hearts who helped you make it through, among other things, formation! And all the Sister-friends and other friends who have been with you through thick and thin over the years.
Let us remember too all the women, men and children you served through each of your ministries – who loved and challenged you in life-changing ways. And the amazing colleagues and partners in mission with whom you shared life and ministry.
This chapel is packed to the rafters with your ancestors, a host of beloved Sisters, friends, and admirers, along with, of course, the good friends and family members who were able to join you here today or watching via live stream. Welcome! ¡Bienvenidos!
They are all part of the incredible journey that the One who began a good work in you continues to shape and to mold in you to this day.
As I reflected on the letter of St. Paul to the Philippians and today’s Gospel reading of the Visitation, I wondered: Is it too far-fetched to think that the One who began a good work in you might have started it in your mother’s womb? Let’s look at the Gospel reading. Two pregnant women, relatives, encounter each other at opposite ends of child-bearing age – an unmarried teenager and an elder who thought herself well past child-bearing years. They are an unlikely and rather scandalous pair. But in their encounter with one another they at once recognize the One who had begun a good work in each of them – and through them.
As the authors of Wisdom Commentary write, “Mary’s blessedness is not only in bearing Jesus but in hearing and acting on the word of God, a prominent Lukan theme.”
At a time when both experience astonishment and vulnerability, Mary and Elizabeth lean on each other through the joy and the suffering that comes from hearing and acting on the word of God.
Hearing and acting on the word of God is what brought each one of you to the doorstep of religious life 25, 60, 70, 75, and 80 years ago. For all we know that call may have been in you – the essence of you – from the time you were in your mother’s womb, growing in God’s good time until it finally sounded. I am sure each of you can remember that moment – or those moments – when you heard the sound of the call.
The Visitation speaks to us of the salvific power of women’s love and companioning sisterhood. The authors of the Wisdom Commentary write:
“The companionship of Elizabeth and Mary is mirrored by that of the Galilean women who cooperate in financing Jesus’s ministry, work together to prepare the spices and ointments for his burial, go with one another to the tomb, and together to announce to the Eleven and all the rest the message entrusted to them by the heavenly messengers.”
The companionship of Elizabeth and Mary is likewise mirrored by your companionship, as Dominican Sisters, as you worked together and with so many others to advance the Mission in such an astonishing diversity of ways with extraordinary fruitfulness – through times of great joy and also, no doubt, of suffering.
Jubilarians, you have gifted us and all those you served as K-12 teachers, including music, speech and drama, and the arts; school principals, presidents, and superintendents of schools. Through ministries in colleges, universities and seminaries, you have served as vice presidents, administrators, deans, department heads, dormitory rectors, and campus ministers, as well as instructors, lecturers, and professors in a wide range of fields – from theology, liturgy and religious education to music, criminal justice, social work, and ceramics. You have served as educational and Montessori consultants, librarians, archivists, and literacy center directors and tutors.
Among you are those who have tended the hearts, minds and spirits of so many in need of your care as chaplains, social workers, counselors, psychotherapists, spiritual directors and directors of retreat centers. Your healing care has also been offered through your work in hospital administration and hospice care and as nurses, clinicians, massage therapists and in care for adults with disabilities
Many parishes have been blessed by your service as administrators, religious educators, music and liturgical directors, in faith formation, pastoral care and youth ministry. Some of you have also served as diocesan administrators and liaisons and as the executive director of a bishops’ conference.
And wait, there is more!
In this chapel are mentors of all sorts, social justice advocates, mission formators, ministers to migrants and refugees, human rights promoters, international development workers, and a United Nations representative. We have potters, sculptors and artists. Treasurers and bookkeepers. Volunteer directors and coordinators, nonprofit administrators and managers.
And we have been immensely blessed as a Congregation to have among you, Jubilarians who have served in elected leadership – as Prioress, Vicaress, Councilor, Treasurer, and as Chapter Prioresses, some more than once and for extended terms. We also are blessed by the service that a number of you have offered and continue to offer as directors of Congregation offices and ministries.
Sisters, your amazing gifts have been offered across 26 states, from Alabama to Washington – and in the Dominican Republic, Puerto Rico, Mexico, Nicaragua, Peru, the Philippines, South Africa, Italy and Canada.
The companionship of Elizabeth and Mary is mirrored by that of Dominican women like yourselves who cooperate in advancing the Mission of Jesus.
You are a gift to us and to the world. And although the litany of gifts I just recited may raise sweet memories of the past for many of you, your good works are still alive in the hearts and minds of all those you served. And, perhaps more importantly, the good work God began in you has not yet been brought to completion. As canonist Kelly Connors, PM, said: “The first apostolate of all religious is the witness of their consecrated life. We carry out that witness until we breathe our last breath.”
I close with words I heard a few weeks ago from a young leader of the Nuns & Nones movement named Brittany Koteles. It was at the closing of our Land Justice workshop when everyone shared their learnings and gratitude. Brittany spoke with poignant gratitude of her deepening awe at the lifelong commitment of us women religious to our mission and ministry together. She also was struck by the power of community, our companionship as Adrian Dominicans in mission. “You are women so committed to each other as to return to Earth to lie side by side in concentric circles.”
I am still deeply touched by those beautiful haunting words. They speak to the enduring nature of the lifelong commitment we celebrate in you and with you today – the eternal blessing of hearing and acting on the word of God.
Gracias, hermanas queridas. Thank you, dear Sisters. Salamat po.
Recordings of the 2024 Jubilee Liturgies are available on the Jubilarian webpage and in the Congregation's public video library.
Friday, June 21, 2024 Proverbs 31:10-30 Revelation 14:13 Matthew 11:25-30
The Book of Proverbs asks: "A valiant woman, who can find her?" We can; in fact, the 80 that we’ve named here were 'valiant women.' Valiant is defined by Thorndike as strong in word or spirit, courageous, brave; and in light of those 80, we would have to add, dedicated, faith-full, hard-working, generous, risk-taking Dominican women, grounded in LOVE.
But the heart of Jubilee today, I believe, is celebration of the faithfulness of our Creator to each Deceased Jubilarian who was lovingly willed into life, cherished and cared for every sacred moment of life. Secondly, we celebrate how, through the gift of the Spirit, they were empowered to give a faith-full response to life and love to their last breath. Each unique life made a difference on Mother Earth and to our Congregation. "The fruit of her toil brings her honor in this place."
I do believe in the Communion of Saints, and that our bond of love is not severed by the thin veil that separates our physical selves. I believe in the power of their intercessory prayer, care and concern for our community, our nation, and our world to this very day.
We are well aware that we have some challenging months ahead. "Have faith," says Mary McGlone, "that when the forces of evil unleash their worst, they ultimately expose themselves impotent against love." We can trust that the Divine Mystery of Love who breathed each of us uniquely into life out of love, for love, to be a tangible incarnation of that love for God’s people and creation, will continue to be with us faithfully as promised. And we have, and need, God’s gift of one another, as well, on the way.
Proverbs tells us that valiant women speak wisely. What words of wisdom would our Sisters in the Communion of Saints wish for us to hear from their present perspective? Would they remind us to hold fast to Jesus’ promise to be with us, as Jesus trusted and held fast to Abba’s embrace of him as Beloved Son in midst of suffering and the unknown?
Would they remind us of God’s word in Isaiah 46: "Listen to me…you who have been borne by me; even to your old age, I am God; even when you turn gray, I will carry you."
We celebrate a faithful God who told us that even if a woman forgot her nursing child or had no compassion for the child of her womb, yet "I will not forget you. See, I have inscribed you on the palms of my hand." (Is 49:15, 16)
Our deceased Sisters utilized their diverse and wondrous gifts in so many beautiful ways. There were also some very difficult times and circumstances with which life confronted them. At times, it was challenging, I’m sure, to grasp the truth Jesus spoke: "My yoke is easy; my burden light." But love of God and trust in this God’s faithfulness can bring that truth to bear in one’s life.
I believe there is a witness to that in a poem that the brother of one of our Jubilarians received from a priest friend of his. She said I could share it with you today. Father Ray had been in a car accident which severed his spinal cord and left him quadriplegic. He wrote:
To walk I cannot use my feet My hands I cannot use to eat But, oh, I have my eyes to see. Dear God, you are so good to me.
My body's bound with an iron chain, I am quite cognizant of pain But I restrain the blinding tear. And thank you God, that I can hear.
The common life I truly miss My brother’s company was bliss. But grace for all I may beseech. I thank you God, for the gift of speech.
For every need I must depend Upon the services others lend. Oh heavy cross, the galling kind, But, oh, my God, I have my mind.
Daily, hourly, suppressed desire, To do for others ignite a fire, That lights my way up Calvary’s hill. The only solace, 'tis God's will.
What we know to be God’s will is that we be open to the grace to believe in and trust the Divine Promise to be lovingly and compassionately with us always. Yes, reason to celebrate and give thanks!
Thank you, God, for the gift of life of each of our deceased Sisters who shared faith and life with us on our journey. "Let them find rest from their labors, for their works accompany them," and our memories honor them. Amen!
Sunday, March 31, 2024 John 20:1-18
Good morning, everyone!
Today’s Gospel shows the reversal of an androcentric world thinking of male dominance even in the interpretation of grace. This world thinking of male dominance was not patronized by Jesus in today’s gospel. In fact, the narrative pictured Mary in the beginning and at the end of the Gospel. As related earlier in the Gospel, Mary “bent over to look into the tomb and saw two angels….” In the commentary, Barbara Reid says that Mary’s action “symbolizes one who dares to enter the Holy of Holies, an act reserved for high priests.” It will not escape our minds that Jesus, on that Resurrection morning, chose to manifest himself to a woman of no-good standing based on the thinking of her very own community. This preference of Jesus, of revealing himself to Mary Magdalene early on that Easter Sunday, was an act of absolute respect for women, no matter their social condition.
Pope Francis in the synthesis of the Synod on Synodality urges people throughout the world to stop “referring to women as the problem,” hence stop the androcentric notion that men have the profound truth and women come secondary, or [not] at all.
The recently concluded UN Conference on the Status of Women, attended in person by over 6,000 women and men, religious and lay, and [attended] virtually by over 15,000 women all over the world, echo the hard reality of women and girls who have been victims of domestic violence in all its forms.
Like Jesus, who showed absolute importance to women, like Pope Francis, who is urging humanity that women are gifts to this universe and not a “problem,” the Conference on the Status of Women is calling people of goodwill to heed the suffering of women. This global issue is more horrific when the abuse happens inside the confines of their own homes.
What lesson can we draw from this example of Jesus’s regard of women? The UN Conference on the Status of Women calls for the development of women in ways where they are uplifted financially, socially, culturally, and spiritually, so they are able to function as individuals with so many gifts to give to the world. Jesus uplifted Mary Magdalene’s socio/cultural image by appearing first to her and [having her] be the messenger to the disciples that he “will go ahead of them to Galilee” and meet them there. These women in that conference and all the unfortunate women whose issues they have taken to the UN dared to enter the “Holy of Holies” in that premises where voices of nations [are laid out] to be heard. In the Gospel today, Jesus lifted Mary Magdalene. He heard her heart beating and [her] longing for compassion from her community. While nobody braved to take her as one of their own, Jesus gave compassion to her. That changed Mary Magdalene for the better.
Mary did not witness how the resurrection happened, but when “she saw the stone had been removed from the tomb” she was the first to tell the disciples that Jesus’s body is nowhere to be found. In the Gospel of Mark, the angel inside the tomb told Mary Magdalene and the other women with her to “tell his disciples that Jesus will see them in Galilee.” In today’s Gospel, it was Jesus himself who told her to tell his disciples that he “will go ahead of them to Galilee” and meet them there. The appearance of Jesus to Mary Magdalene after he rose from the dead indicates how women are indispensable proclaimers of the Good News.
In the UN Conference on the Status of Women this year, the message was clear, the world needs to seriously consider the cause of women with urgency. This urgency was proclaimed by those women who either in-person or virtually attended the conference. Some of these women were victims and survivors of the abuse from inside and outside their homes. This urgency, if taken most importantly, will help alleviate the sufferings of women from the confines of the home and from the treacherous manipulations of those who are engaged in human trafficking. On many occasions, women are trafficked by their own families, their own intimate partners, and by people whose heart and mind are focused on profit.
The Gospel today is the Good News. It is the Good News of Jesus’s love for everyone, including women. The resurrection account testifies to that love, that unconditional love where everyone claims their special place in the heart of God, and the promise of Jesus meeting us in our own Galilees, whoever we are. Allowing us to dare to enter the “Holy of Holies” reserved for everybody, can be a radical call to live our life today.
Happy Easter!
word.op.org - International Dominican Preaching Page
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Preach With Your Life - Video series by Adrian Dominican Sisters