Dominican Life 
USA
A web crossroads for the Order of Preachers
Dominican Province of St. Joseph
Br. Louis Bertrand Lemoine, OP grew up in rural Louisiana and studied philosophy at the Pontifical College Josephinum in Columbus, Ohio. Br. Dominic Verner, OP, entered the Order of Preachers in 2010. He is a graduate of Purdue University, where he studied electrical engineering. Listen to their stories as they share them through video. From Dominican Daily
Good Friday
Join members of the Dominican Sisters of Houston justice and peace community in a Good Friday Walk for Justice on April 6. Please meet at noon at City Hall in downtown Houston. As we walk the traditional Stations of the Cross, we look to Jesus to help us reconcile the evil in ourselves and our world with his way of justice and nonviolence. The Dominican Sisters will be leading Station 3. For information contact Sister Ceil Roeger, OP, croeger@domhou.org.
On Saturday, Feb. 25, members of the Dominican Family in Houston engaged in a day of service. The organizing team presented four options for participation: 1) visit Angela House, 2) engage in outreach to day laborers, 3) learn more about the death penalty abolition movement, and 4) spring “cleaning” of the meditation gardens on the grounds of the Dominican Sisters of Houston.
Angela House
Angela House was founded in 2001 by Adrian Dominican Sister Maureen O’Connell, OP, with the mission “To provide, with sensitivity to the unique needs of women after their incarceration, a safe place where they can live, grow and become the kind of person they want to be.” Sister Maureen gave the history and the projection for the future of Angela House. Family members then worked at sorting donations of clothing arranging them according to size and use. Other shopped for needed items for the residents. According to Georgia Skopal, “It was a good morning for the five of us learning more about the purpose of Angela House and to get to know each other through story-telling and working together.”
Houston Interfaith Worker Justice Center
Dominican family member Laura Boston welcomed other members of the Dominican family and several Jesuit volunteers to the Houston Interfaith Worker Justice Center, where she is executive director. Laura introduced the group to the function and activities of the center and to some of the issues day laborers face in Houston. Following Laura’s briefing and introductions, the larger group split into three groups. Visits were made to sites where day laborers gather to be picked up for work. Volunteers talked with the men waiting for work, distributed booklets describing workers’ rights and the activities of the center. They also interviewed many of the individuals. After a couple of hours, the group returned to the center to debrief about their encounters and to participate in a brief reflection framed by scripture readings. The members of the group found most of the workers to be very open, friendly and willing to share their concerns. Among the reported accounts of issues were the impact of family separation, the consequences of loss of job opportunities in their home countries, and harassment by police officers and others. While some workers report having been cheated out of their earnings, others described how grateful they are for work and how they are often treated fairly. Members of the group felt honored to meet these workers and be well received by them. They were moved by the ability to put faces and stories to the often featureless and common perceptions of immigrant day workers.
Presentation: Abolishing the Death Penalty
Dave Atwood, founder and former president of the Texas Coalition to Abolish the Death Penalty, gave a brief history of his own advocacy on behalf of the men and women on death row. One of the areas that Dave covered is the disparity in the system that disproportionately sentences the poor and people of color to death row. Dave discussed several cases where men have been exonerated and other cases where there are strong arguments to support the possibility that Texas has wrongly executed several individuals. Dave presented the group with various actions they can take to advocate for the end of the death penalty, including writing letters to newspaper editors and local and state representatives.
Meditation Garden: Spring Cleaning
The fourth group spent the morning and into the afternoon getting the meditation gardens ready for spring. Family members were joined by sisters as they went about the tasks of giving the benches a fresh coat of paint, pulling weeds and planning fresh flowers. The power washers removed ground-in dirt from the sidewalks. After lunch, it was time to gather the oranges for the Dominican Sisters Marmalade.
All who participated in the events found them to be enriching experiences.
Story and photos submitted by the Dominican Sisters of Houston.
“Amour” is a critically acclaimed film, which just won the Oscar for foreign language film. Even though it’s set in Paris, and the dialogue is in French, it was the official selection of Austria! I understand that writer-director Michael Haneke is German by birth, but lives in Austria. There’s the connection!
Georges (Jean-Louis Trintignant) and Anne (Emmanuel Riva) are retired music teachers in their 80s who live in a Paris apartment. Anne suffers a series of strokes. At first, she is paralyzed on her right side. She continues to deteriorate to the point where she is totally bedridden, unable to feed herself. When she returns from the hospital after her first stroke, Anne makes Georges promise that he will never again take her to a hospital, or any institution. Understandably, she wants to live the rest of her life at home.
This decision takes a terrible toll on Georges. He becomes a prisoner in the small apartment, rarely leaving. Their only relative is a daughter, Eva, who lives in London, and visits occasionally. Georges grows to resent Eva, and will not return her calls. In her final visit, Georges refuses to let Eva see her mother, saying she would not want anyone to see her in her current state. However, Georges eventually relents and allows Eva into the bedroom. Georges also fires a nurse, accusing her of being cruel to Anne. The only support he has is another nurse who comes three times a week to care for Anne, and a neighbor who helps bring in the groceries.
While the dedication of Georges for Anne is admirable, for sure, the movie is very difficult to watch. Not wanting the story of Anne and Georges to seem sympathetic or even maudlin, Haneke’s film is extremely stark, bleak, and harsh. It’s the only film I can remember in which there is no musical score to speak of, with the exception of some sporadic piano music played by a former student. I found the movie excruciatingly difficult to sit through.
Finally, out of desperation and frustration, Georges commits a horrific act. While the act may be understandable, after all Georges has suffered, it cannot be condoned.
The actors give very good performances. Riva received an Oscar nomination as a woman, once beautiful, intelligent, and talented, who declines with age and infirmity. Trintignant is equally good as a man doing his best to honor his wife’s request, but at an awful cost. As it plays out, “Amour” is really Georges’ story, as a devoted husband who honors his wife’s request. He dedicates his life to serving her. “Amour” is a testament to the need for community. Had a community been present to Georges, either at home or in a hospital or hospice, perhaps he would not have committed his terrible, desperate act.
While I certainly understand and am sympathetic to the plight of men and women like Georges and Anne, I cannot recommend this movie. Subject matter like this demands a real beauty of language or style in order to succeed. Unfortunately, I only found “Amour” to be depressing, without being enlightening.
Tom Condon, OP
For those interested in a guided retreat this summer, Wisdom House is offering the following:
Guided Retreat—Meister Eckhart: A Prophet for Our Age
August 10-17, 2012
This retreat will explore Eckhart’s teaching through his mystical works. We will stand on the periphery, as did his spiritual students, while he points us to what is beyond our minds, yet to be known through our experience. “God,” he says, “is no further off than the door of the heart.” Our exploration will reveal Meister Eckhart’s practices while we listen with the ears of our heart.
Retreat Director: Rev. Ward Bauman, director of the Episcopal House of Prayer in Collegeville, Minnesota. During his time as a parish priest in the San Francisco Bay area of California, he developed an organization for interfaith dialogue as well as a spiritual life center for prayer and renewal. He has a passion for working with people in pursuit of a more profound spiritual life. He is translator with Lynn Bauman and Cynthia Bourgeault of “The Luminous Gospels: Thomas, Mary Magdalene, and Philip.”
For more information about this retreat and other directed retreats this summer, visit www.wisdomhouse.org or contact Wisdom House by phone or e-mail.
Wisdom House Retreat and Conference Center
229 East Litchfield Road
Litchfield CT 06759
860-567-3163
programs@wisdomhouse.org
USA
A web crossroads for the Order of Preachers
