Reflections – Contemplatio
Holy Thursday 2024
Many of us have had the privilege of sitting by the bedside of our dearly beloved family members and friends as they near that sacred moment of death. Our ears perk up and strain to hear their last departing words to us that we might treasure them in the days and years ahead-never to be […]
Lenten Vespers, Week 5
Gospel: John 12: 20-33 If a grain of wheat falls to the ground and dies, it produces much fruit. Happy St. Patrick’s Day! Of course, we know that Patrick is the patron saint of Ireland, which fostered Irish culture and food, and Irish bread, which comes from wheat. Jesus in John 12:24 alludes to his […]
Lenten Vespers, Week 4
Sister Claire MacDonald, Dominican Sister of Sparkill, preaching at Vespers for the third week of Lent. Seek the Lord whose mercy abounds. Call aloud to God who is near. Today is the day and now the proper hour to forsake our sinful lives and turn to the Lord. These revised lyrics of the popular Saint […]
Lenten Vespers, Week 3
Sister Diane McSherry, Dominican Sister of Sparkill, preaching at Vespers for the third week of Lent. Make a Change Do you recall a time in your life when you were treated unfairly, and you expressed your anger in an uncharacteristic way? Maybe you kicked the door or threw your phone. You may have fantasized getting […]
Lenten Vespers, Week 2
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 […]
Lenten Vespers, Week 1
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 […]
A Stroke of Genius
We invite you to listen to Sister Margo Saich illuminating some of the artistic work done by our Sisters at Dominican Convent. As Administrator, Sister Margo has been able to showcase the Sister’s art throughout the house. Today on the Feast of Blessed Fra Angelico, our Dominican Brother and patron of artists, we lift up all […]
Ash Wednesday Gospel Thoughts
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 […]
Speaking Up for Freedom
Sister Claire MacDonald, OP offered these thoughts as part of her reflection at Mass on the Feast of St. Josephine Bakhita on February 8. Josephine Bakhita (d. 1947) was not her given birth name, but the name imposed on her by the slave traders who seized her as a young child from her village in […]
The Feast of the Presentation of the Lord
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).