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According to Luke’s Gospel, Jesus reached the moment in his ministry when he was ready to choose from among his many disciples, the chosen Twelve. Notice that he spent his whole night in prayer before he made these final decisions. Saint Paul tells us today that we have all been called to be the heirs

Sister Margaret Palliser shared the following reflection for the Feast of St. Rose of Lima. Born in Lima, Peru, in 1586, by all accounts, Isabel Flores de Oliva was a beautiful infant, a beautiful child, a beautiful young woman. With a Puerto Rican father and an indigenous mother of Incan ancestry, she inherited the fine features and fair complexion that marked that combination of lineages.

St. Kateri by Kevin Gordon at https://www.saint-kateri.com/ Who among us doesn’t struggle to be Christ-like in our world? We are all made in God’s image and likeness (Genesis 1:27) and connected, yet each has a different heavenly helper, such as Mary or some holy ancestor. For me, my mom and dad always helped me, along

Sister Aileen Donovan preaching on Foundation Day, 2024 Following are reflections shared by Sister Aileen Donovan on Mass at Dominican Convent on the occasion of our congregational Foundation Day and Sister’s Jubilee celebration. Good morning. How good it is to be together in celebration! Our 2016 Direction Statement began, “Filled with the Spirit and compelled

God blessed them and said: “Be fertile and multiply; fill the earth and govern it. . .  God looked at everything and found it very good. Evening came, and morning followed—the sixth day. . . . On the seventh day, God completed the work . . . and found it to be very good.”  (Genesis

Here is Sister Margaret Carey’s reflection shared at mass on the Feast of Saint Catherine of Siena. Catherina and Giovanna Benincasa were born prematurely in Siena on March 25, 1347, in the Tuscany region of Italy. Giovanna lived less than two years and Catherine lived 33 years and died on April 29, 1380. The Precious

Sister Margaret Glynn, Dominican Sister of Sparkill, preaching at Vespers for the second week of Lent. Today’s readings recount two radically different experiences of God. One touches on the gruesome practice of child sacrifice to a relentless and vengeful God, the other a moment of revelation where the divinity of the Son is both seen

Sister Dorothy Maxwell, of the Sisters of Saint Dominic, Blauvelt, preaching at Lenten Vespers. The First Reading For The First Sunday of Lent Genesis 9:8-15 The first reading for today’s Liturgy is taken from the book of Genesis and informs us of the covenant made with Noah after he obeyed the directive to build an

In modern society, it is common for people to overthink and feel the need to openly demonstrate their kind acts. Just as the Gospel shared, that is not what God calls us to do. He calls us to do kind acts for His praise and glory, not our own. We may take actions and say

Today the Gospel draws our attention to two senior citizens whom we have known as Anna and Simeon. We are told they were both dedicated to Temple worship for their entire lives. Simeon had been a faithful priest for the better part of his eighty-four years and Anna who had been married and widowed at an early age was also in the upper stratosphere of aging as well (not unlike us).

Painting of Thomas Aquinas by Sandro Botticelli, ca. 1481-2 Sister Margaret Palliser shared this reflection with our Sisters and Associates at Mass today. On this feast day, just how are we to think about our illustrious Dominican brother Thomas in this Aquinas Jubilee Year celebrating the 800th anniversary of his birth, the 750th anniversary of

Sister Joan Correia delivered the following words at the Epiphany Mass for our Sisters and Associates. Merry Christmas and Happy Feast of the Epiphany!  This is a perfect day for us to celebrate Christmas, as a community, for both feasts are so clearly linked together.  It is wonderful to have everyone here with us for

Sister Helen Robert Boyd shared this reflection at Sunday’s evening Vespers at Dominican Convent in Sparkill. Today Christians throughout the world celebrate the Third Sunday of Advent traditionally known as Gaudete Sunday from the introductory phrase of the liturgy, “Rejoice in the Lord!” All the readings of today call for us to rejoice! Even the

Today we celebrate what William Wordsworth called, “our tainted nature’s solitary boast.” Our world today has very little to boast about so it is refreshing to know that there was someone in the history of humanity who deserved such an acclamation, none other than our own Blessed Virgin Mary, our heavenly mother. As his poem