Vocation Office Newsletter February 2022

laudare, benedicere, praedicare TO PRAISE, TO BLESS, TO PREACH

February 2022 Stained glass window from St Mary's Basilica in Phoenix, AZ. Photo by Fr. Lawrence Lew, O.P.

F E B R U A R Y 2022 1/ 2/ THE PRESENTATION OF THE LORD 3/ 4/ 5 / St. Agatha 6 / FIFTH SUNDAY IN ORDINARY TIME 7 / Anniversary of Deceased Fathers and Mothers of the Order of Preachers 8/ 9/

10 / St. Scholastica 11 / 12 / 13 / SIXTH SUNDAY IN ORDINARY TIME 14 / Saints Cyril and Methodius 15 / 16/ 17 / 18 / Bl. John of Fiesole (Fra Angelico) 19 / 20 / SEVENTH SUNDAY IN ORDINARY TIME 21 / 22 / Chair of Saint Peter 23/ St. Polycarp 24 / 25 / 26/ 27 / EIGHTH SUNDAY IN ORDINARY TIME 28/ Celebrations from the Dominican calendar appear in italics.

Reading Scripture

“in the Temple”

F

ebruary 2nd is the feast of the Presentation of the Lord Jesus in the Temple. Like Mary and Joseph, we have delighted in the closeness and loveliness of our Infant King during the forty days since Christmas. Now it is time to share him with the world.

God himself is brought into his Temple by his parents, in accordance with ancient Israelite law and custom, and Heaven and Earth tremble in awe.

This feast was chosen by Pope St. John Paul II as the World Day for Consecrated Life. In union with Jesus, religious men and women desire to live “in the Temple,” seeking the perfection of worship and charity for the glory of God and the salvation of the world. Like Simeon and Anna, we desire to recognize Jesus in each person, and in all the circumstances of life, and to share him with others.

Through Baptism, each of us, whatever our individual vocation in life, was “presented” to the Lord and transformed into a living Temple, filled with the

"In Baptism, each of us was 'presented' to the Lord and transformed into a living Temple, filled with the indwelling presence of the Trinity." indwelling presence of the Trinity. However, this is such a supernatural reality that it is difficult for us to grasp, and even more difficult to live out in daily life.

Many truths of Christianity have what can seem a double obscurity for us today – they are both supernatural, beyond our vision, and rooted in ancient rituals and concepts.

Praying with the Old Testament is a wonderful way to develop a deeper understanding of these truths, and the spiritual maturity necessary to live them out. The events, laws, rituals and wisdom of the Old Testament

bear witness to God’s patient work, preparing the human race for the coming of his Son. Beginning with just one man, Abraham, God gradually draws his people away from idolatry, fear and self-reliance, and teaches them about himself – “the Lord, slow to anger and abounding in steadfast love” (Exodus 34:6).

The Incarnation was the culmination of this process.

Jesus not only took to himself our human nature, but even the human condition of being rooted in one particular time and place. The historical, geographical, cultural and religious context of his life were not an accident, and he deliberately used all of these in proclaiming the Gospel and establishing the Church.

We are blessed today with a growing number of Catholic resources that help unpack the Old Testament roots of our faith - the purpose of sacrifice, the significance of bread and wine, the hierarchy of the Church, the role of Mary, the power of the Holy Spirit.

“The New Testament is hidden in the Old,” St. Augustine teaches us. But we must not also forget the second half of his teaching: that “the Old is made manifest in the New.” In addition to reading the Old Testament in order to better understand the New, we are also able to use our knowledge of the New Testament to better understand the Old.

The laws which Mary and Joseph were following in presenting Christ in the Temple can seem archaic or even barbaric – why would God demand that parents “ransom” their first-born sons? Why would a woman need to be “purified” after childbirth? But as Christians, we can read these laws in the light of their fulfillment.

Jesus, the only-begotten Son of the Father, was given by the Father as the “ransom” for humanity, the proof of his perfect love for the Father, and the Father’s perfect love for us. How fitting, then, that all families – both before and after Christ – imitate the obedience of the Son, and place their trust in the love of the Father, by presenting their own sons in the Temple.

Mary, free from the corruption of sin from the moment of her conception, was the only person who truly did not need purification in any sense of the word.

Yet after holding her priceless child in her arms for forty glorious days, she hands him over to the arms of strangers. She refuses to cling to the gifts of God. How fitting, then, that all women – both before and after Christ – imitate her trusting surrender by asking God to purify us of our attachments to people, possessions and preferences.

The feast of the Presentation provides us with an “icon” of the meeting between the Old and New Testaments. Simeon and Anna, having lived their lives “in the Temple,” faithful to the covenant, are able to recognize Jesus as the fulfillment of all their hopes, the one who makes sense of their suffering and longing.

Mary and Joseph see Jesus lifted up in the arms of the priest and prophetess, and are drawn into a deeper understanding of his identity and mission.

May our reading of scripture, both Old and New Testaments, open our hearts to the transforming action of the Holy Spirit, who desires to lead us out of idolatry, fear and self-reliance, into the freedom of the sons and daughters of the Heavenly Father.

highlights from

SEEK22 Columbia, SC

Wichita, KS

This year's FOCUS conference, SEEK22 was held in various locations throughout the country and world.

Our sisters were blessed to be present at some of the gatherings, including Georgia Southern University, Knoxville, TN, Wichita, KS, Pittsburgh, PA, Dallas, TX, Flagstaff, AZ, Memphis, TN, and Columbia, SC .

Dallas, TX

Be with

Him

by Sister Mary Gianna, O.P. “He appointed twelve [whom he also named apostles] that they might be with him and he might send them forth to preach.”

Mark 3:14

I

love to ponder this line in the Gospel, because it reveals Jesus’ first intention

in calling his disciples. Above all, he wants them to be with him. When I was in high school, I had a growing desire to sit in the presence of the Lord in the Blessed Sacrament. If someone had asked, “Why do you feel so drawn to do that?”, my honest answer would be, “I just want to be with him.” I couldn’t explain why, but I was so happy and peaceful in his presence. I felt utterly understood and utterly loved. The more visits I made to the Eucharistic Lord, the more I believed that he actually wanted to be with me, too. He was claiming my heart for himself, and the possibility that I could somehow belong totally to him filled me with joy, freedom, and life.

As college decisions approached, I asked the question, “What will I do with my life?” I was attracted to nursing because I loved the idea of caring for, nurturing, and accompanying people with the love of Jesus. However, throughout nursing school, I had a sense that the Lord was doing something deeper in me. More than giving me skills for a career of serving him, he was giving me a desire for a vocation of belonging to him.

Whenever I would see religious life literature with the words, “Bride of Christ,” a little thrill would go through my heart. When I met our community and encountered women living this total and joyful dedication to the Lord, I knew with growing clarity and peace that the Lord was indeed inviting me to this life of being with him.

Over the years, my sisters have helped to confirm that my deepest identity is in being His Bride.

When I am tempted to worry about how

much I am producing or accomplishing, I go to the Lord in the Eucharist and spend time just being with him. He reminds me that my greatest delight is to remain in his loving presence and that my greatest mission is to be his. Then I am ready to be sent forth again to preach, like the disciples. As a Dominican Sister of St. Cecilia, I have been called to preach by teaching, serving in the infirmary, assisting in the novitiate, and now in Scotland, by offering youth ministry, catechesis, talks and retreats. What I do will always change, but what endures through my life as a sister is that always and everywhere I belong to the Lord as his beloved. Through my very consecration I care for, nurture, and accompany souls with the love of my Spouse. I hope to witness in my vocation to the ultimate desire of the human heart: “to dwell in the house of the Lord all the days of my life” (Psalm 27:4).

...“to dwell in the house of the Lord all the days of my life” (Psalm 27:4).

March for Life 2022

TOP / Sisters from the Motherhouse attend the March for Life.

CENTER / Fr. Bonaventure Chapman, OP gives a talk on pro- life philosophical arguments. Students from schools where the sisters and friars serve attended the talk and holy hour that followed.

LEFT / Guests join the sisters for prayers and dinner at Our Lady Queen of Preachers in Washington D.C. the day after the March for Life.

University of Virginia

University of Mary Washington

Tennessee Tech University

Mississippi State University