Monthly Archives: September 2011

Three women begin their 10-month experience

Common Dominican Novitiate

The Collaborative Dominican Novitiate (CDN) is a joint effort by the congregations of women religious in the Dominican order to provide members in initial formation with an experience of the larger Dominican family. The purpose of the canonical year in the CDN is to provide a quality experience of Dominican community life, prayer, study, ministry, exposure to and practice of preaching skills, and personal growth for the novices. Read more about Krissie, Christine and Kelly

Faith & Film: Rise of the Planet of the Apes

I still remember seeing the original “Planet of the Apes” with Charlton Heston on a summer day many years ago when I was young. I haven’t seen any of the sequels, or the Tim Burton remake. However, I had heard good things about this “prequel,” and thought it might be a good way to spend a couple of hours on a hot summer afternoon. I’m glad I did. “Rise of the Planet of the Apes” is great fun.

planet_apesThe movie tells the story of Will Rodman (James Franco), a brilliant young scientist who has developed a serum to reverse the effects of Alzheimer’s disease. Will cares for his father (John Lithgow) who has Alzheimer’s. It breaks Will’s heart to see his father succumb to the disease.

Will works for a large drug company in Northern California, run by Steven Jacobs, who is only interested in profits. The company tests the serum on chimpanzees. Dubious Jacobs decides to scuttle the project when one of the chimps, named Bright Eyes, goes berserk. After Bright Eyes is killed, Will discovers that she was protecting her baby, which Will names Caesar. Will sneaks Caesar home with him. Will injects Caesar with the serum, and Caesar becomes highly advanced. Will cares for Caesar for eight years, until he is forced to give him up. Reluctantly, Will takes Caesar to a facility that raises primates for scientific research.

Just like Spartacus, Caesar uses his advanced knowledge and leadership skills to rally the primates against their cruel caretakers. They head for San Francisco, and have a standoff with the police on the Golden Gate Bridge. The movie cleverly leads viewers to a place where it’s a logical leap to Planet of the Apes, in which, after the human race has been largely wiped out, intelligent apes govern.

Special effects wizards have created computer-generated apes which look and act real. The scenes between Will and Caesar are very touching. Much of the credit for the believability of the adult Caesar goes to actor Andy Serkis, who, through computer-generated special effects “plays” Caesar. Don’t ask me to explain how they do this! However it’s done, between Serkis’ performance and special effects, Caesar’s transformation from innocent and loveable to angry leader is very effective.

Even if the final confrontation between human and ape on the Golden Gate Bridge is a bit of a letdown, nothing else in this movie is. Director Rupert Wyatt keeps the film moving at a good pace. The scenes in the primate house are particularly effective. When a defiant Caesar roars “No!” to his captors, it’s as dramatic as the first time Helen Keller speaks an intelligible word in The Miracle Worker. Screenwriters Rick Jaffa and Amanda Silver also deserve credit for keeping the story true to the spirit of the original. They even use perhaps the most famous line from the original in an appropriate and clever way.

I’m also grateful to Wyatt for keeping the playing time of the movie under two hours, and the violence non-graphic. So you can take all but the youngest kids and enjoy it together. Unlike many other PG-13 movies today that blur the boundary between PG-13 and R ratings, “Rise of the Planet of the Apes,” thankfully, does not.

Finally, don’t leave the theater, or turn off the DVD, the minute the credits start to roll. You won’t want to miss a clever sequence running through the credits which sets the stage for the original movie.

Tom Condon, OP

Dominican friars enjoy annual Labor Day game

softball_smFrom Dominican Daily (Dominican Province of St. Joseph): “The sons of St. Dominic overcame a five-run deficit to win the annual Labor Day Softball classic against the Marians of the Immaculate Conception. A 3-for-3, three RBI performance from Br. Jordan Schmidt, as well as a home run from Br. Leo Checkai and two late inning RBIs from Br. Raymund Snyder helped propel the Friars to victory.” Brother Innocent Smith, OP tells the story in true sportswriting style. Read more

Football fans: Dominican sisters root for their team

On Sept. 3, opening day of the Ohio State Buckeyes football season, Dominican Sisters of Peace in Akron, Ohio, made the front page of the Columbus Dispatch in an article highlighting their loyalty to their team. Read story in Columbus Dispatch

Dominican Archives for the 21st Century: A Family Conversation

mcgreal_tables

By Sister Janet Welsh, OP

This past June, 35 members of the Dominican Family attended “Dominican Archives for the 21st Century: A Family Conversation” at the Mary Nona McGreal Center for Dominican Historical Studies, Dominican University in River Forest, Illinois. Diane Kennedy, OP (Sinsinawa), vice president for mission and ministry at Dominican University, welcomed leadership and archivists representing three Lay Dominican provinces, friars of the Central Province, the Nuns Conference and 14 congregations of sisters. Diane’s address defined the purpose of the gathering: We gather here with a great love of our American Dominican history, but also ready to share dreams and visions about how we can work together to assure that the story of the extraordinary contribution of Dominicans to the building of the Church in America and to shaping the American character will not be lost.

Facilitator Joan Scanlon, OP (Peace) guided the group to think strategically about Dominican archives in the future, and to discuss how we as a Dominican Family can collaborate with one another to ensure both access and care of our diverse archives.

After a festive opening dinner, Janet Welsh, OP (Sinsinawa), director of the McGreal Center, provided a PowerPoint presentation that explained the historical context for the meeting, the results of the survey submitted by participants and reflected upon why this gathering was crucial for the sake of the preaching. The evening ended with prayer prepared by liturgist Patty Gallagher, OP (Sinsinawa).

mcgreal_table3Conversations filled the agenda for the second day. Joan facilitated table discussions on the significance of the U.S. Dominican story in the history of the order, Church and the nation. Participants in leadership positions discussed the responsibilities and challenges they faced with the preservation of their histories. Archivists addressed a similar question from the perspective of their archival work.

The morning included a panel of three archivists: Marilyn Francoeur, OP (Adrian); Maureen Murphy, OP (Blauvelt); and Jill O’Brien (Laity, Central Province). Each responded to the question: What concrete, practical steps have you taken to preserve your archives/documents so that our history will continue to preach in the 21st century?

After thought-provoking input and lively large and small group conversations, all agreed that the Dominican Family needs to collaborate to ensure the preservation of and access to our documents. By the meeting’s end, several concrete “next steps” were formulated. One step, in particular, was the creation of a task force to ensure the continuation of collaborative conversation.

All praised Joan Scanlon for her superb facilitation of the meeting. All applauded the planning committee: Becky Damptz (McGreal Center), Lois Hoh, (Sinsinawa) Suzanne Noffke, (Racine), Jill O’Brien (Central Province), Joan Scanlon (Peace) and Janet Welsh (Sinsinawa). We ended “Dominican Archives for the 21st Century: A Family Conversation” with a reading from The Golden Thread in the Dominican Family Story (Edward Schillebeeckx, OP).

Stories of the Dominican Order keep us “together” as Dominicans. Without a record we would be void of remembrances of the past, we would not find our own place in the present and remain without hope of expectations of the future.

Together we blessed each other, sang the Dominican Blessing, bade farewell and began our journeys home.

Sister Janet Welsh, OP (Sinsinawa), is director of the McGreal Center for Dominican Historical Studies at Dominican University in River Forest, Illinois.

« Older Entries Newer Entries »

Copyright ©2025 | Sponsored by the Dominican Sisters Conference | Contact Us

Dominican Life USA

A web crossroads for the Order of Preachers


Email Newsletter SignupRSS FEED