Trust in Faith
Sister Kathleen Flood, OP
Glimpse the Quintessential
Preacher: Mary of Magdala
Sister Mary Ellen O’Dea, OP
Listening with Our Lives
Sister Ann Willits, OP
Announcing the Good News
Sister Helen Marie Raycraft, OP
Lay Preaching
Barbara Skierecki
The Word Is Near to You
Sister KC Young, OP
Theological Reflections
Preaching with Our Whole Lives
In Baptism we become members of the Body of Christ. We are initiated into the Scripture and Tradition of the Church that become as essential to our growth as family, friends, and meaningful work. During our lifelong journey as members of Christ’s Body, we are preachers. We preach by our focused, prayerful, and joyful attention to our lives. The ways in which we affect one another are a living Word that has no boundaries since we are part of the Body of God in the world.
In the Dominican tradition, preaching, or giving birth to the Word, is a daily opportunity for us. In our prayer, we are nestled at the heart of God as Jesus was. We open our hearts and minds to hear and see and speak as God’s wonderful Spirit prompts us. Study of Scripture and Tradition as well as the humanities and sciences enlarge our hearts and minds to the possibility of hearing the Word anew. We cannot preach unless we are aware of our own social location. We ponder the values and convictions that are non-negotiable. We beg for the grace to be converted through participation in the prayer of the Church, i.e., Eucharist, Liturgy of the Hours, lexio divina, as well as in dialogue with one another, our neighborhoods, country, and world.
Today our world needs a witness to the truth of God in our lives. In our Baptism, we become witnesses. We know the cost of birthing the Word, speaking it and being a Word of truth. Together our energy, commitment, and joy for the Word are naming the dynamism of grace flowing in and through our world. It is an amazing responsibility and an extraordinary joy to be part of preaching with our whole lives.
by Sister Mary Margaret Pazdan, OP