July 3rd, 2009 by Father Bill Garrott, OP
Eleven men begin their postulancy July 5 at Providence College in Providence, R.I. Read the brief biographies of these 11 to find out what sort of men God is drawing to the Province of St. Joseph.
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Huy Hoang, 22
I was born in Lemoore, California but was raised in Woodbridge, Virginia. I am the older brother of my twelve-year-old sister Theresa. Continue Reading »
July 3rd, 2009 by Br. Peter Martyr Joseph Yungwirth, O.P.
Br. Albert Duggan, O.P. and Br. Peter Martyr Joseph Yungwirth, O.P. were assigned to work with the Missionaries of Charity in the Bronx through the summer. After spending two weeks working in a soup kitchen and a night shelter, the brothers just finished a week of preparation for a summer camp which the Missionaries run every year.
On Thursday, the brothers spent a day of retreat with the other camp counselors spiritually preparing to help the poor children of the South Bronx find the Lord this summer. The retreat day included a trip to the Shrine of the Immaculate Heart of Mary in Washington, NJ and was full of prayer and adoration. Please pray for the brothers, the Missionaries of Charity, and the other camp counselors as they seek to bring the Gospel to the children of the South Bronx this summer.
(A group picture of the camp counselors - Br. Albert is too the left, and Br. Peter Martyr is a bit hidden toward the middle of the back row.)
(Br. Albert adoring the Most Blessed Sacrament.)
June 29th, 2009 by Fr. Pius, OP
This summer, St. Thomas Aquinas Church in Zanesville, OH, is offering a series of summer lectures during the month of July. The lectures will be on the Mondays and Thursdays of July (except July 9). The talks will be done by friars visiting St. Thomas during the summer: Rev. Br. James Brent, OP, Br. Justin Brophy, OP, and newly ordained Fr. Anthony Giambrone, OP. The schedule of talks will be:
Thursday, July 2, 2009. What is happiness? Can I be Happy? Br. Justin Brophy, OP, will explain how happiness is the goal towards which all human beings strive and how that affects the way we ought to live our lives and our relationship with God.
Thursday, July 16, 2009. Free will has a purpose. It was given by God in order that we might make our way out of ‘slavery in Egypt’ to the ‘Promised Land’ of worship into his presence. Rev. Br. James Brent, OP, will present this talk about how to find real freedom.
Thursday, July 23, 2009. In the Gospel of John tells us: “He who believes in me … out if his heart shall flow rivers of living water.” Learn the meaning of these words from Rev. Br. James Brent, OP, and discover what it means to find Christ.
Thursday, July 30, 2009. The U.S. Bishops are completing a new translation of the Mass into English, which will likely be completed by next year. This will be a significant change in the words we hear at every Mass. Br. Justin Brophy, OP, will explain why these changes are being made and will also highlight the major differences between are current translation and the new translation that will be replacing it.
Fr. Anthony Giambrone, OP, will present a series of talks on the place of Scriptures in the Church. His lecture will include the proper interpretation of Scripture, the origins of some of the books of Scripture, and how we understand the inspired text in the context of God’s revelation of Himself. Fr. Anthony is in Zanesville for the summer as he prepares for further studies in Scripture in Jerusalem this fall.
All talks are in Rosary Hall (in the Church undercroft) at St. Thomas Aquinas parish beginning at 7:00pm.
June 28th, 2009 by Father Bill Garrott, OP
Fr. Romanus Cessario, O.P., gave the following talk on Dominican spirituality at a vocation weekend in Washington, D.C.. Click here to listen: Dominican Spirituality
Fr. Cessario is Professor of Systematic Theology at St. John’s Seminary School of Theology in Brighton, MA. He is Senior Editor of Magnificat, the largest monthly Catholic devotional in circulation in the United States. He is also Associate Editor of The Thomist which is the distinquished theological journal published by the Province of St. Joseph. He has published many articles for theological journals and has authored many books including Introduction to Moral Theology; Christian Faith and the Theological Life; Perpetual Angelus: As the Saints Pray the Rosary and most recently from Magnificat Press The Seven Last Words of Jesus. He earned is his Doctorate in Sacred Theology from the Université de Fribourg (Switzerland) in 1980.
June 27th, 2009 by Br. Peter Totleben, OP
Thomistic Circles is a work of the Pontifical Faculty of the Immaculate Conception at the Dominican House of Studies, in Washington, D.C. Serving as a forum for the exchange of theological and philosophical ideas, it seeks to consider contemporary cultural and intellectual issues from within the Thomistic tradition. As a work of the faculty, it involves collaboration from a variety of scholars from other institutions as well, and invites the participation of students at the PFIC, as well as outside guests who wish to register. It is a series of events meant to facilitate the development of the Thomistic Institute at the Dominican House of Studies.
Thomistic Circles Schedule, Academic Year 2009-2010
September 24, 2009
Honorary Lecture by Dr. Alasdair MacIntyre
“What Should a Philosophical Education be Nowadays ?”
Dominican House of Studies, 7 PM
June 26th, 2009 by Rev. Aquinas Guilbeau, O.P.
Click below for the audio of today’s show. After examining the readings for the Thirteenth Sunday in Ordinary Time, I was joined in the studio by Thomas Peters, a popular Catholic blogger known as the American Papist. Thomas and I discussed how the new media can be a helpful tool in the work of evangelization. And at the end of the show Fr. Bill Garrott, OP, the vocation director for the Province of St. Joseph, joined me to discuss the Jubilee Year for Priests.
Click below and enjoy!
PROGRAM NOTE: “Word to Life” will not air next week due to the Fourth of July holiday.
June 26th, 2009 by Br. Peter Totleben, OP
In March 2007, Providence College sponsored a symposium on the theme “Divine Impassibility and the Mystery of Human Suffering.” The symposium was organized by Fr. Thomas Joseph White, O. P.
The question of whether or not God suffers - whether His very deity places Him beyond the reach of suffering and evil - has serious implications on how we can correctly perceive human suffering. Though classical doctrine long held that God is impassible - that is, He does not suffer - most twentieth-century theologians have asserted just the opposite, declaring that God does indeed suffer and in so doing shows true solidarity with the suffering of human beings. Some contemporary theologians, however, have begun to argue forcefully once again in favor of divine impassibility.
James F. Keating and Thomas Joseph White, O.P. have gathered here a selection of essays that consider how God’s suffering or lack thereof can relate to our redemption from and through human suffering. The contributors - Catholic, Protestant, and Orthodox - tread carefully but surely over this thorny ground, defending diverse and often opposing perspectives. Divine Impassibility and the Mystery of Human Suffering is an excellent contribution to the latest stage in this difficult and important theological controversy.
The book can be pre-ordered from Amazon here.
June 25th, 2009 by Rev. Aquinas Guilbeau, O.P.
At yesterday’s General Audience, Pope Benedict XVI shared with those present his hopes and expectations for the Jubilee Year for Priests he has called the Church to observe.
As we have come to expect from the Holy Father, his concerns are primarily theological and spiritual; only in a second moment does he turn to practical matters. In this context, he explains that, contrary to popular practice, priests and their people must first understand who and what the priest is before they can appreciate fully the value of what he does. Here, the pope holds to the old Thomistic adage that a thing acts according to its being. Applied to the lives of the ordained, the adage would have us say that priests act according to who they are. Therefore, Pope Benedict explains, the entire Church—priests and laity alike—must recognize priests first and foremost as sacred persons set apart to offer the Eucharistic sacrifice, which requires of them a deep and unshakable interior union with Christ. This is key for understanding priestly ministry properly, the pope says, for it is out of the identity and interiority of the priest that the vast range of his service flows, including his preeminent task of proclaiming the Word.
In sum, Pope Benedict has set as a goal of the Jubillee Year for Priests the reconciliation of two seemingly divergent understandings of the priesthood—one based on the priest’s identity and the other on his service. The two are not opposed, the Holy Father explains. The ministry of the Word and the ministry of the Eucharist are not opposite and competing forms of service. As we see in the Mass itself, the two are inextricably linked. So too in the life of the priest. The priest’s ministry of the Eucharist underlies, and at the same time is prepared for by, his ministry of the Word.
GENERAL AUDIENCE ADDRESS
June 24, 2009
Dear brothers and sisters,
Last Friday, June 19, the solemnity of the Sacred Heart of Jesus and the day traditionally dedicated to pray for the sanctification of priests, I had the joy of inaugurating the Year for Priests. The year was proclaimed on the occasion of the 150th anniversary of the “birth into eternal life” of the Curé d’Ars, St. Jean-Baptiste Marie Vianney. Entering into the Vatican basilica for the celebration of vespers, almost as a first symbolic gesture, I paused in the Choir Chapel to venerate the relic of this saintly pastor of souls: his heart. Why a Year for Priests? Why particularly in memory of the holy Curé d’Ars, who apparently did nothing extraordinary?
Divine Providence has ordained that this personage would be placed beside that of St. Paul. As the Pauline Year is concluding, a year which was dedicated to the Apostle of the Gentiles, the epitome of an extraordinary evangelizer who made various mission trips to spread the Gospel, this new jubilee year invites us to gaze upon a poor farmer turned humble pastor, who carried out his pastoral service in a small town.
If the two saints are quite different insofar as the life experiences that marked them — one traveled from region to region to announce the Gospel; the other remained in his little parish, welcoming thousands and thousands of faithful — there is nevertheless something fundamental that unites them: It is their total identification with their ministry, their communion with Christ. This brought St. Paul to say: “Yet I live, no longer I, but Christ lives in me” (Galatians 2:20). St. John Vianney liked to repeat: “If we had faith, we would see God hidden in the priest like a light behind glass, like wine mixed with water.”
The objective of this Year for Priests, as I wrote in the letter sent to priests for this occasion, is to support that struggle of every priest “toward spiritual perfection, on which the effectiveness of his ministry primarily depends.” It is to help priests first of all — and with them all of God’s people — to rediscover and reinvigorate their awareness of the extraordinary and indispensable gift of grace that the ordained ministry is for he who receives it, for the whole Church, and for the world, which would be lost without the real presence of Christ.
June 24th, 2009 by Br. Peter Totleben, OP
During our recent Provincial Assembly, the friars of the Province took the time to honor the jubilarians in their midst. Fr. Luke Tancrell, OP preached a beautiful homily at Mass, where he reflected on his fifty years of priesthood.
June 24th, 2009 by Br. Peter Totleben, OP
A crowd of over 400 gathered Tuesday night at the Church of St. Vincent Ferrer for a special pre-screening of “The Human Experience.” Preceeded by a holy hour led by the Frassati Fellowship and the Franciscan Friars of the Renewal, the pre-screening attracted a wide variety of viewers: regular parishioners, youth groups from Long Island, young professionals from around the city, priests and religious, and even a few Hollywood producers. The film clearly struck a chord with the audience, as was evident by the sustained applause and interesting Q & A afterwards.
Produced by Grassroots Films, “The Human Experience” follows two brothers around the world as they seek to experience human life through the lives of those less fortunate: the homeless in New York City, crippled orphans in Peru, and lepers in Ghana. What they learn is that despite the variations of culture, class, and health among peoples, one thing unites the experience of all human beings: the desire for love, even for what some Dominicans have called “the love that never ends.” Combined with commentary from various scientists and scholars, the brothers’ testimony identifies love as the foundation of human experience—love at its fullest, love in suffering, love in the truth, love that transcends human limitation and reveals man’s higher and other worldly hopes.
Click here for the film’s homepage and trailer. See it if you can, and pray that this pro-life, pro-family, pro-faith film may soon find a distributor.
June 19th, 2009 by Fr. Pius, OP
It is most fitting that the Year For Priests, inaugurated by His Holiness, Pope Benedict XVI, begins on the Solemnity of the Heart of Jesus. In his book The Priest in Union with Christ, Dominican priest Fr. Reginald Garrigou-LaGrange explicitly connects the holiness of the priest to devotion to the Sacred Heart of Jesus. There he encourages devotion to the Eucharistic Heart of Jesus-that heart that gave us and continues to give us the gift of the Eucharist-as an “effective means of attaining priestly perfection.” Accordingly, he recommends the Prayer to the Eucharistic Heart of Jesus not only for priests, but for all who wish to grow closer to Christ in the Eucharist:
PRAYER TO THE EUCHARISTIC HEART OF JESUS
June 19th, 2009 by Fr. Dominic Legge, O.P.
This summer, a small group of friars have gone abroad for intensive summer language studies. Today, for the feast of the Sacred Heart, a small group met in Toulouse, France, for a brief trip to the tomb of our brother, St. Thomas Aquinas, the angelic doctor. At the conclusion of our prayers at his final resting place, we stood and sang the Dominican Salve Regina and the O Lumen, an ancient antiphon to our Holy Father St. Dominic — at which point, several others in the beautiful church known as the Jacobin began to snap pictures, while others sat quietly in prayer. For us, it was a moment of grace: this ancient Dominican church, for centuries the home of the Dominicans in Toulouse but now (sadly) owned by the French government, for a few minutes again resounded with the beautiful notes of the most ancient Dominican chants in honor of our patron.
Brothers Jerome Zeiler, Austin Litke, and Jordan Schmidt are in Toulouse for the summer at the Dominican priory in Toulouse. Fr. Dominic Legge is passing through Toulouse (after a retreat at Lourdes) on his way to study German at the priory in Cologne, Germany.
June 19th, 2009 by Rev. Aquinas Guilbeau, O.P.
Today, Pope Benedict XVI will officially open the Jubilee Year for Priests. Called in part to commemorate the 150th anniversary of the death of St. John Vianney, this year of prayer and renewal has as its goal the greater sanctification of priests worldwide. The Holy Father has called all members of the Church to enter into the spirit of this jubilee year by praying for priests, fostering vocations, and deepening our love for the sacraments, especially the Eucharist.
To open the jubilee year, Pope Benedict has penned a letter to all of the Church’s priests, encouraging them in their ministry and sharing his own love for his priestly vocation. You can find the Holy Father’s letter posted below.
On this Solemnity of the Sacred Heart, may the Eucharistic Heart of Jesus manifest itself again as the source of priestly holiness in the Church. May all priests surrender to this Heart’s merciful graces, both for their own happiness and for the spiritual well being of their flocks.
Click here for the official website of the Jubilee Year for Priests.
POPE BENEDICT XVI’S LETTER TO PRIESTS
Dear Brother Priests,
On the forthcoming Solemnity of the Most Sacred Heart of Jesus, Friday 19 June 2009 - a day traditionally devoted to prayer for the sanctification of the clergy - I have decided to inaugurate a “Year for Priests” in celebration of the 150th anniversary of the “dies natalis” of John Mary Vianney, the patron saint of parish priests worldwide. This Year, meant to deepen the commitment of all priests to interior renewal for the sake of a more forceful and incisive witness to the Gospel in today’s world, will conclude on the same Solemnity in 2010. “The priesthood is the love of the heart of Jesus”, the saintly Cure of Ars would often say. This touching expression makes us reflect, first of all, with heartfelt gratitude on the immense gift which priests represent, not only for the Church, but also for humanity itself. I think of all those priests who quietly present Christ’s words and actions each day to the faithful and to the whole world, striving to be one with the Lord in their thoughts and their will, their sentiments and their style of life. How can I not pay tribute to their apostolic labours, their tireless and hidden service, their universal charity? And how can I not praise the courageous fidelity of so many priests who, even amid difficulties and incomprehension, remain faithful to their vocation as “friends of Christ”, whom He has called by name, chosen and sent?
I still treasure the memory of the first parish priest at whose side I exercised my ministry as a young priest: he left me an example of unreserved devotion to his pastoral duties, even to meeting death in the act of bringing viaticum to a gravely ill person. I also recall the countless confreres whom I have met and continue to meet, not least in my pastoral visits to different countries: men generously dedicated to the daily exercise of their priestly ministry. Yet the expression of St. John Mary also makes us think of Christ’s pierced Heart and the crown of thorns which surrounds it. I am also led to think, therefore, of the countless situations of suffering endured by many priests, either because they themselves share in the manifold human experience of pain or because they encounter misunderstanding from the very persons to whom they minister. How can we not also think of all those priests who are offended in their dignity, obstructed in their mission and persecuted, even at times to offering the supreme testimony of their own blood?
June 18th, 2009 by Fr. Gabriel Gillen, O.P.
A presentation by Archbishop Charles Chaput, Archbishop of Denver. As a way of introduction, let us recall very briefly some comments that the Pope himself made in his Homily for the inauguration of the Pauline year on June 28, the feast day of St. Peter and Paul.
June 18th, 2009 by Fr. Gabriel Gillen, O.P.
A presentation by Father Peter Cameron, OP, Editor-in-chief of Magnificat, on Saint Paul’s faith and his unique role in the diffusion of Christianity. The event was held at The American Bible Society Auditorium in New York City.
June 18th, 2009 by Fr. Gabriel Gillen, O.P.
Gregory Schnakenberg, Bruno Mary Shah, Anthony Giambrone, Thomas Petri and Jonah Pollock, were ordained to the priesthood by His Excellency Archbishop Celestino Migliore, apostolic nuncio and permanent observer of the Holy See to the United Nations. (Watch the video in iTunes for HD)
June 16th, 2009 by Fr. Pius, OP
The Holy See has announced that our brother, Very Rev. Augustine DiNoia, OP, has been appointed to be the Secretary of the Congregation for Divine Worship and the Discipline of the Sacraments. Previously, Fr. DiNoia had served the Holy See as Undersecretary of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, a position he held when the current Holy Father was its Prefect.
Previously, Fr. DiNoia had served the director of the Intercultural Forum for Studies in Faith and Culture at the Pope John Paul II Cultural Institute in Washington, DC. He was also the executive director of the Secretariat for Doctrine and Pastoral Practices for the National Conference of Catholic Bishops (now the USCCB). In addition to his many years of teaching there, Fr. DiNoia also served a term as President of the Pontifical Faculty of the Immaculate Conception at the Dominican House of Studies.
Fr. DiNoia earned his doctorate in theology from Yale University. In 1998, the Order of Preachers bestowed on him the title of Master of Sacred Theology, a sign from his brother Dominicans of the great esteem in which they hold his theological acumen.
As is customary, Fr. DiNoia will be consecrated as an Archbishop, to serve in his role as Secretary of the Congregation. He will be made the titular archbishop of Oregon City. His ordination will be on Saturday, July 11, 2009 (the Memorial of St. Benedict) at 2:00pm at the Basilica of the National Shrine of the Immaculate Conception in Washington, DC.
For a collection of a number of talks given by Fr. DiNoia, see the web page of the Pontifical Faculty of the Immaculate Conception, here.
June 15th, 2009 by Fr. Pius, OP
Archbishop Jean-Louis Bruguès is a Dominican who currently holds the position of Secretary in the Congregation for Catholic Education of the Holy See in Rome. He is a Dominican of the Toulouse Dominican Province in Southern France. He was appointed the to the Congregation for Catholic Education by Pope Benedict XVI in 2007. Earlier in June, Abp. Bruguès delivered the following speech to seminary rectors in Rome in which he gives a frank assessment of seminary and catechetical education.
It is always risky to explain a social situation on the basis of a single interpretation. Nonetheless, some keys open more doors than others do. I have long been convinced of the fact that secularization has become a key word for thinking about our societies today, but also about our Church.
Secularization represents a historical process that is very old, having emerged in France in the middle of the 18th century before spreading to all modern societies. Nevertheless, the secularization of society varies greatly from one country to another.
In France and Belgium, for example, it tends to prohibit signs of religious membership in public, and to push faith back into the private sphere. The same tendency can be seen, but with much less strength, in Spain, Portugal, and Great Britain. In the United States, however, secularization harmonizes easily with the public expression of religious convictions: we saw this also during the last presidential election.
Over the past decade, an extremely interesting discussion has emerged among the specialists. Until it began, it seemed that it had to be taken for granted that European-style secularization constituted the rule and model, while the American kind constituted the exception. Now, however, there are many - Jürgen Habermas, for example - who think that the opposite is true, and that the religions will play a new social role in postmodern Europe as well.
June 15th, 2009 by Fr. Pius, OP
This past Sunday the Dominican parish church of St. Thomas Aquinas celebrated the feast of Corpus Christi with a Eucharistic procession through downtown Zanesville. Fr. Pius Pietrzyk, OP was the main celebrant for Mass and the procession. The procession stopped for benediction an an outside altar in front of the parish office building (the former Dominican Sisters convent) before finishing with a final benediction in the main church. For the procession, the parish used a traditional umbralino (an ornate liturgical umbrella) to cover the priest as he carried the Blessed Sacrament, as well as to add visible solemnity to the procession. A great number of parishioners turned out for the procession. Click on the picture below for a slideshow of photographs from the procession.
June 13th, 2009 by Br. Peter Totleben, OP
By Catholic News Service
WASHINGTON (CNS) — In a recent interview with Catholic News Service, Dominican Father Thomas Joseph White was asked what three or four points he might drive home if a parish invited him to speak on the strengths of St. Thomas Aquinas’ thought today. The 38-year-old theologian, who teaches at the Pontifical Faculty of the Immaculate Conception in Washington, had this response to the question posed by David Gibson, former Editor of Origins, the CNS documentary service.
Well, it’s a very hard question. There are many things you could say that characterize Aquinas’ thought, but let me propose these three. …
The first, I would say, is Aquinas’ insistence on the harmony of faith and reason.
June 13th, 2009 by Br. Peter Totleben, OP
David Gibson Catholic News Service
WASHINGTON (CNS) — A conviction that the 13th-century writings of St. Thomas Aquinas can foster a fruitful dialogue with contemporary culture is the true cornerstone of the newly built Academic Center and Theological Library recently inaugurated at the Dominican House of Studies in Washington.
Participants in the inaugural weekend activities probed the challenges and possibilities the Thomistic tradition encounters in today’s world.
The Dominican house is a landmark of Michigan Avenue in northeast Washington, adjacent to The Catholic University of America. When construction of the new building commenced, some surely wondered whether plans to attach it directly to the Dominicans’ much older building could succeed without damaging the property’s overall beauty and balance. Continue Reading »
June 5th, 2009 by Rev. Aquinas Guilbeau, O.P.
Fr. Aquinas Guilbeau, OP, discusses the readings for the Solemnity of the Most Holy Trinity with Fr. Bryce Sibley, pastor of the Church of St. Anne in Mamou, LA, and Fr. Gabriel Gillen, OP, an associate pastor of the Church of St. Catherine of Siena in New York City.
“Word to Life” airs live every Friday afternoon on The Catholic Channel, Sirius 159 and XM 117.
May 29th, 2009 by Rev. Aquinas Guilbeau, O.P.
Fr. Aquinas Guilbeau, OP, discusses the readings for the Solemnity of Pentecost with Fr. John Farren, OP, and Fr. John Corbett, OP.
“Word to Life” airs live every Friday afternoon at 1:00 PM Eastern on The Catholic Channel, Sirius 159 and XM 117.
May 22nd, 2009 by Rev. Aquinas Guilbeau, O.P.
Fr. Aquinas Guilbeau, OP, discusses the readings for the Solemnity of the Ascension with Fr. Brian Mulcahy, OP, and Fr. Francis Belanger, OP.
“Word to Life” airs live every Friday afternoon at 1:00 PM Eastern on The Catholic Channel, Sirius 159 and XM 117.
May 20th, 2009 by Fr. Dominic Legge, O.P.
In his General Audience today, Pope Benedict gave a preview of his message for World Communications Day (this coming Sunday) — a word of encouragement for Catholic bloggers:
“Young people in particular, I appeal to you: bear witness to your faith through the digital world! Employ these new technologies to make the Gospel known, so that the Good News of God’s infinite love for all people, will resound in new ways across our increasingly technological world!
You can find the full message, which was delivered in English, here.
(By the way, the photo above is from the Vespers Service in the National Shrine during the Pope’s visit to Washington, D.C. last year. Our own Fr. Pius Pietrzyk, then a deacon, is second from the left.)
May 15th, 2009 by Rev. Aquinas Guilbeau, O.P.
Click below to hear Fr. Aquinas Guilbeau, OP, discuss the readings for the Sixth Sunday of Easter with Fr. Dominic Legge, OP, and Fr. Paul Keller, OP.
“Word to Life” airs live every Friday afternoon on The Catholic Channel, Sirius 159 and XM 117.
May 8th, 2009 by Rev. Aquinas Guilbeau, O.P.
Click below to hear today’s edition of “Word to Life.” Joining me in the studio to discuss the readings for the Fifth Sunday of Easter were two Dominican friars from the Vicariate of Eastern Africa, Fr. Charles Kato, OP, and Fr. Jude Mmassy, OP. They live and serve in Kenya. During their segment, they shared much about the life of the Church in Africa. They stressed especially its youth and its ability to bring peace and stability to society. Fr. Charles and Fr. Jude concluded their interview with lively exhortations to unity and conversion.
At the end of the show, Fr. Gabriel Gillen, OP, from the Church of St. Catherine of Siena in Manhattan, offered a brief glimpse of the homily he has prepared for this weekend.
“Word to Life” airs live every Friday at 1:00 PM Eastern on The Catholic Channel, Sirius 159 and XM 117.
May 1st, 2009 by Rev. Aquinas Guilbeau, O.P.
Fr. Aquinas Guilbeau, OP, discusses the Mass readings for the Fourth Sunday of Easter with Fr. Gabriel Gillen, OP, a parochial vicar assigned to the Church of St. Catherine of Siena in Manhattan, and Fr. Mike Werkhoven, pastor of St. Paul the Apostle Church in Memphis, TN, and one of the personalities featured on Catholic Cafe.
“Word to Life” airs live every Friday afternoon at 1:00 PM Eastern on The Catholic Channel, Sirius 159 and XM 117.
May 1st, 2009 by Fr. Dominic Legge, O.P.
Here is a lecture delivered a few weeks ago in a course on the Development of Western Civilization at Providence College by Fr. Dominic Legge, OP.
Fr. Dominic Legge on Sacraments and the Reformation: Play Now | Play in Popup | DownloadApril 27th, 2009 by Br. Peter Totleben, OP
Br. Bruno Mary Shah, OP has a piece entitled “Prudence and the Providence of Plot” published in the Lent 2009 issue of Dappled Things, a quarterly literary magazine for young Catholic writers. Check out Br. Bruno’s article and the journal.
April 25th, 2009 by Br. James Brent, O.P.
Fr. Chris Saliga, O.P. is the Catholic Chaplain and a Lecturer in Mdical Ethics at Walsh University in North Canton, OH. He also writes for the Catholic Bioethics Channel at Catholic exchange (an archive of his many articles is available). He has written a longer paper that promotes the Catholic understanding of a controversial life issue. The paper is entitled “Autonomy, Freedom, and Rational Suicide: Human Flourishing within End of Life Contexts: A Catholic Perspective.”
The paper is co-authored with three Walsh University students — Jeffery Hover, Jeremiah Curtis, and Ellyn Mayher. Together they will present their paper at the annual meeting of the Society for Spirituality and Theology and Health to be held at Duke University (June 3-5, 2009).
The abstract of the paper goes as follows:
April 25th, 2009 by Br. Peter Totleben, OP
April 24th, 2009 by Rev. Aquinas Guilbeau, O.P.
It was a great joy and honor to have Fr. Carlos Azpiroz Costa, OP, the Master of the Order, in the studio for today’s broadcast. Fr. Carlos is in the United States making a fraternal visit to our province. He was in Washington last weekend for the dedication of the new wing at the House of Studies, and now he is visiting various priories and communities along the East Coast. Click below to hear Fr. Carlos share his thoughts on the Dominican Order and also on the readings we’ll hear at Mass this Sunday.
Joining Fr. Carlos to discuss the readings was Fr. Brian Mulcahy, OP, the Socius of the Province of St. Joseph.
“Word to Life” airs live every Friday afternoon at 1:00 PM Eastern on The Catholic Channel, Sirius 159 and XM 117.
April 23rd, 2009 by Br. Peter Totleben, OP
On Friday, May 29, 2009, five of our student brothers will be ordained to the priesthood at St. Dominic Church in Washington, DC.
Please pray for our brothers as they make their final preparations for ordination!
April 21st, 2009 by Father Bill Garrott, OP
After delivering his keynote address at the academic convocation during the grand dedication of the new academic center and theological library on Saturday, April 18, Fr. Augustine DiNoia, OP, Undersecretary for the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith (CDF) was interviewed on both the nature of his position in the Curia and the role of the Dominican House of Studies at this stage of the Order’s history. Fr. John Farren, OP, Vicar for Advancement for the Province of St. Joseph, leads the interiview which last just over 10 minutes.
April 15th, 2009 by Father Bill Garrott, OP
Fr. Gabriel O’Donnell, OP, Dean of the Pontifical Faculty of the Immaculate Conception chants the prayer of the Prophet Jeremiah in English based on the setting from the Dominican Liturgy. This was sung during Lauds of Holy Saturday.
April 14th, 2009 by Father Bill Garrott, OP
April 14th, 2009 by Br. Peter Totleben, OP
Once again, the Schola of the Dominican House of Studies sang a full program of music for the liturgies of the Easter Triduum. You can hear some of their performances here.
April 14th, 2009 by Father Bill Garrott, OP
April 13th, 2009 by Br. Peter Totleben, OP
The Friars at the Dominican House of Studies once again celebrated the Easter Triduum with beautiful and prayerful liturgies. Explore the links below to see how we worship.
Photos
During this most holy season of the year, the Dominican friars at the Priory of the Immaculate Conception would like to wish you an abundance of blessings.
April 12th, 2009 by Father Bill Garrott, OP
April 11th, 2009 by Rev. Aquinas Guilbeau, O.P.
Click below to enjoy a special Easter edition of “Word to Life.” Fr. Paul Keller, OP, Fr. Pius Pietrzyk, OP, and Fr. Gabriel Gillen, OP, joined me for a discussion of the Easter Triduum liturgies.
“Word to Life” airs live every Friday afternoon at 1:00 PM eastern on The Catholic Channel, Sirius 159 and XM 117.
April 9th, 2009 by Rev. Aquinas Guilbeau, O.P.
Posted below is the homily Pope Benedict XVI delivered at this morning’s Chrism Mass in St. Peter’s Basilica. The Holy Father’s reflections on “truth”—veritas—can help shape our Dominican prayer as we enter with the Church into these most holy of Christian days.
CHRISM MASS HOMILY
April 9, 2009
Dear Brothers and Sisters,
In the Upper Room, on the eve of his Passion, the Lord prayed for his disciples gathered about him. At the same time he looked ahead to the community of disciples of all centuries, “those who believe in me through their word” (Jn 17:20). In his prayer for the disciples of all time, he saw us too, and he prayed for us. Let us listen to what he asks for the Twelve and for us gathered here: “Sanctify them in the truth; your word is truth. As you sent me into the world, so I have sent them into the world. And for their sake I consecrate myself, so that they also may be consecrated in truth” (17:17ff.). The Lord asks for our sanctification, sanctification in truth. And he sends us forth to carry on his own mission. But in this prayer there is one word which draws our attention, and appears difficult to understand. Jesus says: “For their sake I consecrate myself”. What does this mean? Is Jesus not himself “the Holy One of God”, as Peter acknowledged at that decisive moment in Capharnaum (cf. Jn 6:69)? How can he now consecrate - sanctify - himself?
To understand this, we need first to clarify what the Bible means by the words “holy” and “consecrate - sanctify”. “Holy” - this word describes above all God’s own nature, his completely unique, divine, way of being, one which is his alone. He alone is the true and authentic Holy One, in the original sense of the word. All other holiness derives from him, is a participation in his way of being. He is purest Light, Truth and untainted Good. To consecrate something or someone means, therefore, to give that thing or person to God as his property, to take it out of the context of what is ours and to insert it in his milieu, so that it no longer belongs to our affairs, but is totally of God. Consecration is thus a taking away from the world and a giving over to the living God. The thing or person no longer belongs to us, or even to itself, but is immersed in God. Such a giving up of something in order to give it over to God, we also call a sacrifice: this thing will no longer be my property, but his property. In the Old Testament, the giving over of a person to God, his “sanctification”, is identified with priestly ordination, and this also defines the essence of the priesthood: it is a transfer of ownership, a being taken out of the world and given to God. We can now see the two directions which belong to the process of sanctification-consecration. It is a departure from the milieux of worldly life - a “being set apart” for God. But for this very reason it is not a segregation. Rather, being given over to God means being charged to represent others. The priest is removed from worldly bonds and given over to God, and precisely in this way, starting with God, he is available for others, for everyone. When Jesus says: “I consecrate myself”, he makes himself both priest and victim. Bultmann was right to translate the phrase: “I consecrate myself” by “I sacrifice myself”. Do we now see what happens when Jesus says: “I consecrate myself for them”? This is the priestly act by which Jesus - the Man Jesus, who is one with the Son of God - gives himself over to the Father for us. It is the expression of the fact that he is both priest and victim. I consecrate myself - I sacrifice myself: this unfathomable word, which gives us a glimpse deep into the heart of Jesus Christ, should be the object of constantly renewed reflection. It contains the whole mystery of our redemption. It also contains the origins of the priesthood in the Church.
