Photos of the Week

Sparkill Dominicans Celebrating Sacred Heart Chapel’s 100th anniversary The Dominican Sisters of Sparkill, New York (Dominican Convent of Our Lady of the Rosary) celebrated the 100th anniversary of Sacred Heart Chapel on Nov. 22. Cardinal Timothy Dolan, Archbishop of New York, celebrated Mass in the chapel. The sisters also honored three recipients with the Veritas Award at a ceremony following Mass: Frank Bradicich, Dr. Margaret Mary Fitzpatrick, SC; and Sister Ursula Joyce, OP. Read story, view photos Above: Sister Mary Murray, OP, president of the Dominican Sisters of Sparkill, welcomes Cardinal Timothy Dolan.

St. Mary’s Dominican High School Student preachers visit Dominican Sisters of Peace St. Mary's Dominican High School Preachers visited the Dominican Sisters of Peace at their motherhouse in New Orleans in November. At a Mass celebrated in the sisters’ chapel, student preacher Mylinh Bui offered a reflection on the Gospel reading of the talents. During their community meal, the sisters shared their experiences and asked the students about their lives as young Dominican preachers. Above from left (front row): Brooke Duplantier and Viche Stevenson. Middle row: St. Mary’s student preachers moderator Marcia Peyton, Mylinh Bui, Sister Marjorie Milliet, Sister Suzanne Brauer, Sister Theresa Fox, Drew Hileman, Kristin Selle, and Sister Betty Donsky. Back row (standing) from left: Sister Rose Bowen, Sister Pat Harvat (St. Mary’s vice president of Dominican Catholic identity and student preachers moderator), Sister Marlene Berthelot, Sister Joan Arceneaux, Sister Lorraine Torres, Sister Judene Lillie, Sister Paulette Paille, Virginia Quinlan, Emma Vincent, Catherine DeBuys, Sister May Ann Culotta, Fr. Justin Kauchak, Sister Pat Thomas, Sister Ceal Warner and Sarah Trumbaturi.

SOA Watch Dominican sisters, associates join annual vigil Dominican sisters and associates from Adrian, Houston, Peace, Sinsinawa, and Springfield were among the 2,500 who braved the rainstorms Nov. 23 in Fort Benning, Georgia, to participate in the solemn funeral procession commemorating those murdered at the hands of School of the Americas/WHINSEC graduates. Read article by Sister Marcelline Koch, OP

UN Briefing
Working to prevent violence against women, minorities

The International Day to End Violence Against Women was celebrated at the United Nations on Nov. 25. Each year, the 16 days following this event are designated as days of activism against gender violence. This year’s theme, “Orange Your Neighborhood,” was given vivid testimony as the Empire State Building was lit in orange in an effort to galvanize public awareness around this all-pervasive issue. Read article by Sister Margaret Mayce, OP

Dominicans in Iraq
‘We have family in Iraq’: Delegation organized

“After four months of exile, there are no signs of hope that the situation here in Iraq will be resolved peacefully… The conditions remain the same for those of us in Iraq. Many still are forced to stay in unfinished buildings on construction sites. In one place, a mall has been remodelled to accommodate families, with the hall divided merely with partitions. Although they are better than tents, they resemble dark, damp cages with no ventilation. Most difficult of all is the lack of privacy.” —from the Nov. 24 letter from the Dominican Sisters of St. Catherine of Siena, Iraq. The U.S. Dominican Justice Promoters have organized a delegation of sisters and friars to visit the Iraqi sisters early next year. They are requesting prayers, Christmas cards, and financial donations. Read more

Global Sisters Report
Sister Pat: ‘We live in a sacred, evolving universe’

“[Thomas] Berry said that each culture has its own ‘great work’ to accomplish. Ours is to reestablish our connection to nature and work toward sustainable lifestyles and systems that reverse the destruction we are currently inflicting on the planet.” Sister Patricia Siemen, OP (Adrian), director of the Center for Earth Jurisprudence at Barry University School of Law, Orlando, Florida, wrote an article, “Journeying into the ‘Great Work’,” in the Dec. 1 edition of the National Catholic Reporter’s Global Sisters Report. Read article

Peace
‘Just reflecting’: Moving from hatred to forgiveness

Dominican Sisters of Peace Associate Bob Hessman’s daughter, Mel, was murdered in 1989, leaving behind a husband and three small children. Mel’s sister Jude Hessman, an associate candidate, says it took her eight years to forgive Gregg Braun, the man who was convicted of the murder and eventually executed. Gregg was a former elementary student at St. Dominic's School in Garden City, Kansas. In this reflection, Sister Jolene Geier, OP (Peace) and Bob write about the importance of forgiveness and reconciliation, as well as the need for prison reform in the United States. Read article

Springfield
Sister Mary Lou: ‘We don’t have retirement’

Like most religious, Sister Mary Lou Owens, OP (Springfield), spiritual life coordinator for the Logan County (Illinois) Roman Catholic Community, sees her vocation as a lifelong ministry. “We continue in ministry until we feel we can no longer do it,” she told The Catholic Post, newspaper of the Archdiocese of Peoria, Illinois. Read article

Nuns Build
Dominicans among those returning to help in New Orleans

A recent article in the Clarion Herald, newspaper of the Archdiocese of New Orleans, featured the sixth annual Nuns Build, coordinated by the nonprofit St. Bernard Project. Since 2009, 69 houses have been rebuilt. From the story: “We want to come and help people so they can come back to their home,” said Dominican Sister of Peace Barbara Lavin of Boston, who was on her second Nuns Build. “It’s been nine years since Katrina. We are very interested in the issue of justice, and this certainly is a justice issue of people returning to their homes.” Read more

Adrian
First Critical Issues lecture focuses on care of the Earth

On Nov. 13, Houston Dominican Sister Linda Gibler, OP, took her audience on a reverent but dizzying journey through the 13-billion year history of the universe to the water in their backyard—all while reminding them of their duty to behave as Children of God in their treatment of the Earth. Her presentation in St. Dominic Chapel at Siena Heights University, Adrian, Michigan, was the 2014–15 season’s first Critical Issues lecture, “What is Earth Asking of Us?” The lecture series is sponsored by the Adrian Crossroads Mission Chapter, which includes about 118 Adrian Dominican sisters and 40 associates. Read more

Faith and Film
Birdman

“Birdman” is a wildly inventive film by Mexican director Alejandro Gonzalez Inarritu. In “Birdman,” a washed-up actor named Riggan Thomas (Michael Keaton) tries for a comeback as the director and star of a Broadway play with the pretentious title “What We Talk About When We Talk About Love.” “Birdman” deals with many themes, from the meaning of fame and celebrity, to family dynamics, to self-doubt and second chances, in the high-pressure world of show business. Read review by Tom Condon, OP

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