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Dominican Inquirer
Technically speaking, this is really more of an independent, unstructured, investigation of a particular Lay Dominican Fraternity, where you can attend meetings as a guest with no particular commitment ... sort of a "try it before you buy it" approach to see if you and the fraternity members are even remotely compatible. Given some of the conflict within the American Church today ... this might not be a given. As might be expected, there can be strong personalities and intense beliefs about how to approach the faith within the fraternities that can reflect the same divisions that are seen in the Church at large. However, there are also some additional questions to contemplate to see if you might be a fit for the Dominican Family in general. Each of the Major Orders that have tertiaries (third orders) share their specific charisms (gifts) with their lay members, so in addition to a general desire for a deeper spiritual devotion to the faith, there are elem...
Thirtieth Sunday in Ordinary Time (Cycle C)
The Pharisee and the Tax Collector Lectionary: 150 Reading 1 - Sirach 35:12-14, 16-18 [sic] Responsorial Psalm - Psalm 34:2-3, 17-18, 19, 23 Reading 2 - 2 Timothy 4:6-8, 16-18 Alleluia - 2 Corinthians 5:19 Gospel - Luke 18:9-14 '... for whoever exalts himself will be humbled, and the one who humbles himself will be exalted.' In today’s Gospel, Jesus presents us with the parable of the Pharisee and the tax collector. This story is closely connected to the one which comes just before it about the persistent widow who secures a just decision from a dishonest judge. While the first encourages us to pray and never give up. The second reminds us how, and in what manner, we ought to pray. However, to fully understand the example Jesus gives us, we should look more closely at first the century audience that He initially spoke to. A faithful Jew at that time would have assumed two things: That the Pharisee was a very holy and devout man. And that...
Third Sunday in Ordinary Time (Cycle A)
Word of God Sunday Lectionary: 67 Reading 1 - Isaiah 8:23—9:3 Responsorial Psalm - Psalm 27:1, 4, 13-14 Reading 2 - 1 Corinthians 1:10-13, 17 Alleluia - Matthew 4:23 Gospel - Matthew 4:12-23 The Promise of Salvation Under a New Davidic King. The people who walked in darkness have seen a great light … In the first act of creation, God created light and “saw that the light was good. God then separated the light from the darkness.” (Genesis 1:4) … However, light and darkness are more than just opposites; they are symbols, metaphors, and emotional currents that have shaped our understanding of the world around us for centuries. Within the stories we tell each other, we find a natural contrast between what is seen and what is hidden, between safety and the unknown, between clarity and mystery. This duality of light and dark exists because of one’s relationship to the other … and our experiences of the two. For those of us who have spent any time on the w...
Pentecost Sunday (Cycle A) - Mass during the Day
Pentecost (Day) Lectionary: 63 Reading 1 - Acts 2:1-11 Responsorial Psalm - Psalm 104:1, 24, 29-31, 34 Reading 2 - 1 Corinthians 12:3b-7, 12-13 Alleluia Gospel - John 20:19-23 Receive the Holy Spirit LESSON: The Church's Work: Reuniting Mankind Today our 50 day Easter season concludes with Pentecost Sunday, commemorating that day in the early Church … when the Father and the Son poured out the Holy Spirit in a special way upon the Apostles … who then took up the mission of proclaiming the Gospel throughout the whole world. This makes Pentecost one of the most significant moments in our Christian faith. However, before it was a Catholic feast, it was a Jewish feast … and when we look at Pentecost in that context, we add a deeper and richer understanding of what it all means for us today. In its Greek origin, the word “Pentecost” means simply “fifty” … and … for Christians … occurs 50 days after the Easter Resurrection of our Lord Jesus and marks ...