Photos of the Week

UN Briefing Sisters, students participating in CSW events at UN The Commission on the Status of Women is probably the busiest time here at the United Nations. Women from all over the world converge upon New York to explore the critical issues facing women and girls worldwide. Sisters representing each of the five continental areas of Dominican Sisters International are also present this year, along with a group of students from Yale University. Read article by Margaret Mayce, OP (Amityville) Above: Sister Jenn Schaaf, OP (Blauvelt), third from left, with Yale University students. Sister Jenn works in Campus Ministry at Yale University.

St. Mary's Dominican High School Sister Pat leads mission trip to Dominican Republic The students wore T-shirts with the words “Tocando Corazones, Cambiando Vidas” (Touching Hearts, Changing Lives). Sister Pat Harvat, OP (Adrian), vice president of Dominican Catholic Identity at St. Mary's Dominican High School in New Orleans, Louisiana, led a mission trip in early March to Espiritu Santo School in Bani, Dominican Republic. Thirteen students and five adults participated. One of the students wrote a reflection about the trip that was published in the Archdiocese of New Orleans' newspaper. Read reflection, view photos

Sparkill Dominicans Sisters celebrate professions in Pakistan Feb. 16, 2014, was a joyful day of celebration for the Dominican Sisters of Sparkill as the community in Pakistan gathered to witness the first profession of Sister Philomena Victor and the final professions of Sisters Sumaira Sadaf Siddique, Nazia Shafi, and Shahnaz Nazir. Families and friends were in attendance as well as many priests who were educated by the Sparkill Dominicans in Multan, Bahawalpur, and various villages of the diocese. Read article by Sister Margaret Palliser, OP (Sparkill)

Mount Saint Mary College Sister Laurie Brink: Dominican charism rooted in Bible Sister Laurie Brink, OP (Sinsinawa) reflected upon the heritage of Saint Dominic de Guzman, founder of the Order of Preachers, in “Fire in My Bones: Biblical Foundations of the Dominican Charism” at Mount Saint Mary College. Sister Laurie, associate editor of “The Bible Today” journal, proposes that a three-fold biblical foundation informs and sustains one of the largest worldwide communities in the Catholic Church, and provides direction for those who seek to build a more holy and just world. Read more

Dominican Province of St. Joseph Eight Dominican brothers ordained to diaconate On March 8, eight Dominican brothers were ordained to the transitional diaconate at the Dominican House of Studies. Brothers Thomas More Garrett, OP; ohn Devaney, OP; Boniface Endorf, OP; Gabriel Torretta, OP; Innocent Smith, OP; Charles Shonk, OP; Vincent Ferrer Bagan, OP; and Philip Neri Reese, OP, were ordained by Bishop Daniel Thomas, auxiliary bishop of Philadelphia and titular bishop of Bardstown. Read more

National Catholic Sisters Week Students honor Peace Dominicans with prayer chain Residents of the Columbus, Ohio motherhouse of the Dominican Sisters of Peace show the wonderful “prayer chain” of messages they received from St. Paul’s school in Westerville, Ohio, in honor of the inaugural National Catholic Sisters Week March 8–14. The chain includes dozens of paper links, each with a message of prayer and thanksgiving from a sixth-grade student.

Peace Dominicans
Congregation passes corporate stance on gun control

The Dominican Sisters and Associates of Peace have approved a corporate stance calling for responsible gun-control legislation and improved mental-health care resources. The corporate stance states: “In the United States, we will advocate for common-sense gun control laws, such as requiring universal background checks before purchasing guns; banning assault weapons and high-capacity magazines; promoting strategies to prevent gun violence; and providing adequate financial resources to establish mental health programs for victims and perpetrators, and prevention programs for at-risk people.” Read more

Houston Dominicans
Justice promoters, leaders attend LCWR learning lab

March 3–6, communicators, justice promoters, and members of leadership teams, gathered at Bethany Retreat Center in Lutz, Florida, for LCWR’s Imagining Justice. There were seven women representing Dominican congregations in attendance. Sisters Marcelline Koch, OP (Springfield); Ann Marie Lustig, OP (Tacoma); Judy Lu Mc Donnell, OP and Lyn Kirkconnell (San Raphael); Joy Peterson, PBVM (promoter of peace and justice for the Sinsinawa Dominicans), Elizabeth Zwareva, MM (Maryknoll Sisters of St. Dominic) and Ceil Roeger, OP (Houston). Read article by Ceil Roeger, OP

Springfield Dominicans
Sister Marcelline appointed North American justice promoter

Sister Marcelline Koch, OP, was recently appointed DSI (Dominican Sisters International) North American Co-Promoter of Justice and Peace by Sister Marie Therese Clement, DSI International Coordinator. Sister Marcelline was elected to this position by the prioresses of the North American congregations and was recommended to Sister Marie Therese and the DSI Coordinating Council. Sister Marcelline directs the Office of Justice for the Dominican Sisters of Springfield. Read more

Faith and Film
Son of God

Last year, TV’s History Channel aired “The Bible,” a highly successful miniseries, produced by the team of Roma Downey (from “Touched by an Angel”) and her husband, Mark Burnett (“Survivor.”) The current film, “Son of God,” was originally shown as part of “The Bible,” with additional scenes added in order to flesh it out into a feature length movie. Perhaps that’s why so much of “Son of God” feels like a cut and paste project. Read review by Tom Condon, OP

Previous updates:

The next Dominican Life | USA update will be published on Wednesday, April 9. Deadline for submission of articles/photos is Friday, April 4.