The Dominican Young Adult group from Kentucky made a spring break trip to New York to attend the Commission on the Status of Women at the United Nations. During that time, they met at Mariandale with the Molloy Chapter of Dominican Young Adults, some of whom they knew from the National College “Preaching in Action” conference. The students created a video of their experience and posted in on YouTube. View video

International Dominican Youth Movement

By Gina Fleming, OP

Have you heard the news? “The International Dominican Youth Movement” is having its gathering in Bogota, Columbia July 7–15. This is the Dominican version of “World Youth Day.”

Every three or four years, Dominican Youth Groups (ages range from 16 to 20+) from around the world meet. During this week they have opportunity to pray together, study and learn with and from one other, converse with one other, and to simply have fun. These are young people who are on fire with the Dominican charism and are committed to passing it on to future generations within their culture. They are accompanied by vowed Dominicans, women and men, who have mentored them in their parishes.

In 2009, several of us from the Dominican Young Adult USA group attended the international conference held in Fatima, Portugal. It was a week full of presentations which provided great follow up conversations, prayer, service trips, and wonderful fellowship. I must say, the gathering was one of the highlights of my Dominican life thus far!

If you have never experienced one of these gatherings, I encourage you to come and join us! It is an opportunity to be around these young people and feel their enthusiasm for our Father Dominic and to meet some of our younger Dominicans from around the world. For more information, visit idymop.org or contact me at domsis@aol.com.

Sister Gina Fleming, OP, is director of Dominican Young Adults USA.

By Sister Gina Fleming, OP (Amityville)
Director, Dominican Young Adults USA

Students from the Molloy College Chapter of Dominican Young Adults began their new year with a week of service. Jan. 3–5, students volunteered with Our Lady of Perpetual Help parish in Lindenhurst, New York, to assist some of the families whose homes were devastated by Hurricane Sandy.

Day one was spent picking up and delivering furniture to needy families. The students were very touched by the greeting that they received in particular from the families who were receiving the furniture. As one student said, “It was like you were giving the families a million dollars. They were so grateful and appreciative of our efforts to help them.”

The next two days were spent at an older gentlemen’s home which was in terrible need of repair. The walls had been gutted, leaving just the two by fours and a tremendous amount of work to be done. The gentleman’s nephew and some friends had started to put insulation in when we arrived. Without skipping a beat, the students picked up masks, and with a little bit of instruction, were measuring, cutting and installing the insulation where it was needed in all four first floor rooms.

The next day we went ahead and started to put up the drywall over the insulation. Screw guns and hammers could be heard throughout the house. By the time we left, the entire first floor had been insulated and sheet rock covered all the walls. To say the least, the students felt greatly accomplished, but once again, it was the gratefulness of the family that really touched them.

On one of the evenings, we traveled to St. Ignatius Martyr Parish in Long Beach. Sister Diane Morgan, OP (Amityville), a pastoral associate at the parish, met the students in the church and spent some time describing some of the devastation her community has had to endure. In addition, the pastor and two of the secretaries from the parish spoke to us about their own personal experiences during and after the storm and how they are coping now. Later on that evening we shared pizza with four other members of the parish who described the destruction done to their homes and how their lives have been dramatically changed by Sandy. Three of the four are still displaced, living with family members in other parts of Long Island, and there was no timeline discussed as to when they could or would return to their homes.

Despite all the tears and loss, it was clear what was holding these people together: FAITH. They had faith in their God, faith in their families, and faith in their parish community. They would survive all of this and still continue to HOPE because of their faith. I believe, without a doubt, that listening to these people and their stories was an experience these students will always remember.

During the three days that the students volunteered, they stayed with the Amityville Dominican Sisters at our Dominican House of Hospitality. The four sisters who live in the house welcomed the young people with open arms. We ate together, prayed together and shared a wonderful spirit of laughter and fun during our time together. The students shared in the tasks involved in preparing our evening meal (cooking, cleaning up, etc.) and were happy to do so. They made themselves comfortable in the house and seemed very at ease being there. Each night they shared their thoughts about the day and how they were moved by their experiences. It was a truly holy time for all of us as they spoke openly about their faith and how they experienced God in their encounters with the many people they met.

On Friday evening, as the students began saying goodbye, it was clear by the hugs and kisses that they enjoyed their time at the house and bonded with the sisters who live there. An open invitation was made to the group to come visit us again soon. Plans are already in the works to do something similar in the spring semester. Though they ate us out of house and home, the house was so eerily quiet after they left that we could truly say “We missed them already.”

By Sean Mundy

On Monday, Nov. 26, seven young adults from the DYA Chicago group entered into an experience not quite knowing what to expect. We knew we were being invited to do service by setting up an overnight shelter for the homeless of Oak Park, Illinois. The site was at the First United Methodist church, which sets up a temporary overnight shelter each night of the week for homeless through an organization called West Suburban Pads. Upon arrival, we started helping set up the sleeping pads for the guests that night.

We made sure the mattress pads had pillows, sheets, blankets, and towels. There were to be about 60 guests that night. After the pads were set up, we assisted the dinner crew in various tasks to ensure that the guests would have enough food and drink. The other volunteers (who seemed to do this regularly) were a well-oiled machine,each providing food and drink and each completing their assigned duties (preparing salad, heating up lasagna, making the vegetables, pouring out the milk, juice, or water into pitchers, etc.). Then the guests began arriving as we brought out the meal. The people we were serving were so appreciative.

I didn’t think “you’re welcome” was an appropriate response for the many thanks that the people we were serving were offering. I just wanted to tell them that I appreciated their company as fellow brothers and sisters in Christ.

The night was about much more than a temporary bed, a hot meal, or a game being played. It was about relationships, human dignity, and love. This is certainly not a service trip we are likely to forget. For more information about how to help this amazing organization, visit their web site.

Karen Gargamelli, a former Dominican volunteer, was recently interviewed by Mercy Sister Camille D’Arienzo for the National Catholic Reporter. The article, titled “Former Dominican volunteer uses law degree to help low-income New Yorkers,” highlights Karen’s work as co-founder and co-director of Common Law, Inc., which offers free legal education and legal assistance to low-income New Yorkers. Read article