Preaching


The OP after our names stands for “Order of Preachers,” the formal name of the religious order founded in 1216 by St. Dominic. As Dominicans, we preach with our lives—in both word and deed—guided by a search for truth (veritas) and a commitment to contemplate and share the fruits of our contemplation (contemplate et aliis tradere). 

Our Dominican lives are shaped by the interconnecting movements of study, prayer, communal life, and ministry. 

Dominic so firmly believed in the importance of study to the preaching mission that he provided a rule of “dispensation” from other responsibilities in the event they interfered with study. We are women committed to study. Through prayer and contemplation we interiorize our learnings and enter into communion with the Source of all truth. Our communal life orients us to the common good of the whole Earth community. And in ministry, our preaching takes effect.

As women of the Gospel, our preaching is also expressed in word. Read reflections on the Word of God posted by Adrian Dominican Sisters and Associates on the Praedicare Blog below.

 


Palm Sunday 2020

Palm Sunday Preaching by Mary Margaret Pachucki, OP

Sister Mary Margaret Pachucki, OPApril 5, 2020

Isaiah 50:4-7
Philippians 2:6-11
Matthew 26: 14-27:66

Today marks the beginning of Holy Week, a time of remembering the Passion, Death and Resurrection of Jesus though sacred rituals, readings from Scripture and shared prayer. This year we will journey through Holy Week in a much different way because of the “social distancing“ that is necessary to turn the tide of the spread of the coronavirus in our world. Instead of gathering together as a faith community in a church or chapel on these sacred days, we will spend Holy Week on our designated floors, in our rooms or in our homes. In these places, many of us will able to connect with each other through technology for these liturgical celebrations and prayer. However, we come together, we are and remain a community of faith joined by our shared belief in the Risen Christ.

With the start each year of Holy Week, we turn intently toward Jesus. We are not just remembering an historical event that happened over two thousand years ago. We are celebrating and taking part in the life, death and resurrection of Jesus as it happens today to us and for us.

The blessing of this week is that it calls us to look carefully at Jesus. We watch, not just to admire, but also to learn, to penetrate the mind, the thinking, the attitudes and the values of Jesus so that we, in the very different circumstances of our own lives, may walk in his footsteps. In a way the real key to Holy Week is given in today’s Second Reading, which seems to be a hymn, incorporated by Paul in his letter to the Christians at Philippi. It expresses the “mind,” the thinking of Jesus, a “mind” which Paul urges us to have also if we want to identify fully with Jesus as disciples. “Let the same mind be in you that was in Christ Jesus.”

Elisabeth Johnson in her commentary on this passage writes, “Paul envisions the life of the community being formed by the mind of Christ – by a spirit of humility and loving service to one another rather than competition and grasping for power and control.” On this Sunday marking Jesus' passion, we are called to reflect on what it means to bear this name above all other names. Does our life together reflect "the same mind that was in Christ Jesus"? Are we looking to the interests of others rather than our own interests? Are humility and servanthood evident among us?

Having the mind of Christ ought to shape not only the internal life of a congregation, but its relationship with its community and the world. By following Jesus in identifying with the lowly and giving ourselves away in humble service to a suffering world, we honor "the name that is above every name."

If we are to be Jesus’ disciples, we are invited us to walk in his way, to share his sufferings, to imitate his attitudes, to “empty” ourselves, to live in service of others – in short, to love others as he loves us. This is not at all a call to a life of pain and misery. Quite the contrary, it is an invitation to a life of deep freedom, peace and happiness. If it were anything else, it would not be worth considering.

Let this week give us divine hope. No hardship, no burden, no cross not even the Coronavirus can conquer us if we remain steadfast in Christ Jesus, letting Him transform all we endure in life by His glorious embrace of His own Cross.


your Comment will be showing after administrator's approval







b i u quote


Save Comment
Showing 0 Comment



 

LINKS

word.op.org - International Dominican Preaching Page

Catholic Women Preach - Featuring deep spirituality and insights from women

Preach With Your Life - Video series by Adrian Dominican Sisters

 


 

Recent Posts

  • Founder's Day 2025 Mass, Preaching by Sister Bibiana Colasito, OP Posted 52 minutes ago
    Founder's Day Liturgy Preaching by Sister Bibiana "Bless" Colasito, OP Friday, June 27, 2025 Matthew 7:24-27   Good morning! On November 8, 2013, Super Typhoon Haiyan – locally known as Yolanda – struck the central part of the Philippines, a catastrophic storm that left a trail of destruction in its wake. My family was ...
  • Founder's Day 2025 Morning Prayer, Preaching by Sister Carol Gross, OP Posted 1 hour ago
    Founder's Day Morning Prayer Preaching by Sister Carol Gross, OP Friday, June 27, 2025 1 Corinthians 3:9c-11   As we watched the deconstruction of two buildings on the campus during the last few months, we saw how deep and strong those foundations were. Now we are watching new foundations being laid for the ...
  • Solemnity of the Body and Blood of Christ 2025, Preaching by Sister Marilyn Barnett, OP Posted 4 days ago
    Solemnity of the Body and Blood of Christ Preaching by Sister Marilyn Barnett, OP Sunday, June 22, 2025 Genesis 14:18-20 1 Corinthians 11:23-26 Luke 9:11b-17   I prepared this reflection on The Body and Blood of Christ well before the event that happed last night when we learned that President Trump ordered the bombing and destruction ...
  • Jubilee 2025 Liturgy Preaching by Sister Elise D. García, OP Posted 4 days ago
    Jubilee 2025 Liturgy Preaching by Sister Elise D. García, OP Saturday, June 21, 2025 Wisdom 7: 7-12 1 Cor 12: 4-14 John 19: 25-27 Happy Jubilee! In celebration of your 25, 60, 70, 75, and 80 years of magnificent service to the people of God as Dominican Sisters of Adrian – and some of you also ...
  • Liturgy for Deceased Jubilarians 2025, Preaching by Sister Marilyn Winter, OP Posted 3 days ago
    Liturgy for Deceased Jubilarians 2025 Preaching by Sister Marilyn Winter, OP Friday, June 20, 2025 2 Corinthians 5:1,6-10 John 17:24-26 Today we gather to celebrate, remember and pray for the sisters from our jubilee groups who are no longer with us in the body. It is a time to pause and reflect on ...
  • 2025 Easter Sunday Preaching by Lorraine Réaume, OP Posted 2 months ago
    Easter Sunday 2025 Preaching by Sister Lorraine Réaume, OP Sunday, April 20, 2025 Happy Easter! It might not feel as happy this year since the majority of our sisters has been in quarantine and so many have been ill. Yet it is still true – Christ is risen. We can say ...
  • 2025 Easter Vigil Preaching by Elise García, OP Posted 2 months ago
    Easter Vigil 2025 Preaching by Sister Elise García, OP Saturday, April 19, 2025 Luke 24: 1-12 We have been on quite a journey with Jesus this Holy Week – accompanying him, like the women, all the way from Galilee to Jerusalem – as we also struggle with a norovirus infection here on ...
  • 2025 Good Friday Preaching by Frances Nadolny, OP Posted 2 months ago
    Good Friday 2025 Preaching by Sister Fran Nadolny, OP Friday, April 18, 2025 On this very solemn day, I find it strange that it’s called Good Friday. We are remembering a death—a very horrible death—at the hands of people who were afraid of a new way of being. Remembering anyone’s day ...
  • 2025 Holy Thursday Preaching by Sara Fairbanks, OP Posted 2 months ago
    Holy Thursday 2025 Preaching by Sister Sara Fairbanks, OP Thursday, April 17, 2025 “Lord, you wash my feet? You will never wash my feet!” Peter’s words could well voice the frustration of the entire group. “You are the Christ, the Messiah of God! We don’t need you to wash our feet! ...
  • 2025 Palm Sunday Preaching by Corinne Sanders, OP Posted 2 months ago
    Palm Sunday 2025 Preaching by Sister Corinne Sanders, OP Sunday, April 13, 2025 Jesus was, at the end, as he was his entire life: Loving, self-giving, a teacher, kind, forgiving, and acting justly. And on this day, in his darkest moment, when despair and hopelessness could overtake, he leaned again into ...
Read More »