Faith & Film: Gone Girl

David Fincher is a talented director who has made good movies about unlikable people (“The Social Network”). He also directed some episodes of a good TV series about unlikable people (“House of Cards”). Now Fincher directs another story about unlikable people, “Gone Girl.” These may be the worst yet. You wouldn’t want this couple moving into your neighborhood!

Gillian Flynn adapts her best-selling novel for the screen. It is set in a small Missouri city on the fifth anniversary of Nick and Amy Dunn. Nick goes to work on an ordinary summer morning at the bar he manages with his twin sister, Margo. A neighbor alerts Nick that something seems amiss at home. Nick returns home to find a smashed glass-top table and a speck of blood on the cabinet. Amy is gone. The police begin to investigate, and Nick becomes the prime suspect in the disappearance and perhaps murder of his wife.
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November 5, 2014

St. John Chrysostum School celebrates 100 years

Sparkill Dominicans

sparkill_mooney_sm A recent article in the New York Daily News featured St. John Chrysostum School in the Bronx, New York. The school, founded in 1914 by the Dominican Sisters of Sparkill, New York, is celebrating 100 years of Catholic education to pre-kindergarten through eighth grade students in the Bronx. Sister Mary Elizabeth Mooney, OP, has served as the school’s principal for the last 40 years. Read article, view photos

November 5, 2014

Five days at St. Albert's Priory

Western Province

What do an oceanographer, a geophysicist, a microbiologist, a scholar, and a chemist have in common? They are all Dominican Friars of the Western Province at St. Albert’s Priory in Oakland, California. Anthony Clark spent five days visiting St. Albert’s Priory. He writes about his experience in a recent article in the Catholic World Report: “One cannot help but feel optimistic about the future of the Church in the hands of such holy and intellectually vibrant men. Saint Thomas Aquinas, OP, famously wrote that, ‘it is better to enlighten than merely to shine, so is it better to give to others the fruits of one’s contemplation than merely to contemplate.’ This describes well the attitude of the priests and brothers I met during my stay at St. Albert’s Priory.” Read article, view photos

November 5, 2014

Sister Maureen helps women rebuild lives after prison

Sister Maureen O’Connell, OP (Adrian), gave a keynote address Oct. 14 on childhood trauma and the need for access to trauma-informed care at a national conference in Nashville, Tennessee. Sister Maureen is the founder and executive director of Angela House, a transitional, residential facility in Houston, Texas, for women upon their immediate release from incarceration. She is also a former police officer and chaplain for the Chicago Police Department. Read more

November 5, 2014

Dominican Sisters in Iraq – Displaced Christians face challenge of winter

Sister Habiba, one of four Dominican Sisters of St. Catherine of Siena ministering to displaced Christians in Iraq, was interviewed for a recent article in the National Catholic Reporter’s Global Sisters Report. Displaced themselves, the sister are now facing the grave challenge of winter weather as they struggle to provide shelter and sustenance to Christian families in Ainkawa. Read article Sister Attracta Kelly, OP, prioress of the Adrian Dominican Sisters, received a letter of gratitude from the Iraqi Dominican Sisters for generous support from the Dominican Family. But the needs are still great as the cold weather sets in.