| Summer 1999 | Volume 41, 1 |
Spiritual Reflections
with Father Dick de Ranitz, O.P.
Dear brothers and sisters,
Please ponder with me these words of Jesus: "...No one pours new wine into old wineskins. Otherwise, the new wine will burst the skins, and it will be spilled, and the skins will be ruined. Rather, new wine must be poured into fresh wineskins. [And] no one who has been drinking old wine desires new, for he says, 'The old is good."' Luke 5:37-39.
The new wine is the life and ministry of Jesus. His Spirit, his teachings, his acts of kindness and forgiveness, his responding to all people, his image of God as a loving parent "Abba," his willingness to relativize laws for the sake of charity.
The old wineskins are the patterns of thinking and doing things that have been repeated so often that they have become ossified. Rigid. Brittle. Often, non-thinking. Some people have a tendency to get into a rut and as one teacher of mine said: "The only difference between a rut and a grave is, one has a lid."
The more deeply Jesus entered into his mission of teaching and healing, the greater the opposition became. What is interesting is that most of the opposition came, not from the regular people, but from the religious leaders. Their wineskins were being stretched to the limit and were beginning to break. Remember the last sentence from the quotation from Luke: "No one who has been drinking old wine desires new, for he says, 'The old is good."'
The problem with insisting on the old wine is that the Spirit is always new, challenging us, stretching us into places we had never been before, inviting us to meet new people we have never met before "The one who sat on the throne said, "Behold, I made all things new.' Rv. 21:5.
This does not mean that we are to irreverently toss aside everything of the past. Our society is doing too much of that, and the result is we are becoming a rootless people. Jesus reminds us that anyone instructed in the kingdom of heaven is able to bring from their storeroom "both the new and the old." Mt. 13:52. Tradition is important. But authentic tradition is always self-renewing.
As Dominicans we are dedicated to preaching the Gospel. The NEWS. The GOOD NEWS. It is imperative then for us as Dominicans not to have shut minds. Our minds must not become like old wineskins. We must be open and eager to identify and embrace the really new ways the Spirit of Jesus may be manifesting today. Sometimes our attention can get focused more on the skins than the wine. The skins are the ways we have been doing things, our patterns that allow for no surprises.
The wine is the living presence of God!
Now We Are Online!
Thanks to the expertise, time, and effort of Fr. Albert Judy, O.P. of the Priory in River Forest and Steve Smith of Denver's St. Dominic Chapter, we are on the world wide web. We are extraordinarily fortunate that they choose to share their talents, and we remain in their debt. Our Central Province Dominican Laity is the only one in the United States to have the online distinction. Visit us at http://www.op.org/oplaity/ and say prayers of thanksgiving.
- BAY CITY, MI BL. JOHN DOMINICI CHAPTER
- Sick: Louann Adcock's mother
- DENVER, CO ST. DOMINIC CHAPTER
- Congratulations: James Steffens who celebrated 40 years as a Lay Dominican on May 25
- Final Professions: Eugene Dell, Edward Heywood, Martha Richards, and Steven Smith, who made their final professions on May 2
- DUBUQUE, IA ST. ROSE OF LIMA CHAPTER
- Spirituality was the topic of a Day of Renewal conducted by Fr. Richard de Ranitz, O.P. on April 16.
- FARMINGTON HILLS, MI THE BLESSED SACRAMENT CHAPTER
- Received: Ed Shea on March 14
- Sick: Marie Gannon, Georgina McDermit, Barbara Norton, and Barbara Parsons
- On June 12, a Day of Recollection was preached by their spiritual director, Fr. Jesse Cox, O.P., with the topics of the Sacred Heart of Jesus and the Immaculate Heart of Mary.
- MILWAUKEE, WI QUEEN OF THE ROSARY CHAPTER
- Sick: Mary Jean Lesko, sister-in-law, and Joan Gates, wife of Joe Gates; and Bernice Strasser
- MINNEAPOLIS, MN HOLY ROSARY CHAPTER
- Sick: Janine Walker, daughter-in-law of Florence Walker
- Deceased: Valery Zubrycki
- Sr. Marta, Lakeville Mother of Mercy Church, spoke at an evening gathering in honor of St. Catherine of Siena held on April 30. A pot luck dinner followed Evening Prayer.
- RIVER FOREST, IL ST. VINCENT FERRER CHAPTER
- Received: Debbie Sus on June 12 at the Priory
- First Profession: Cynthia Avellana, Irene Botuyan, Jennifer Howell, Brenda Intengan, Albert Sullivan, and Vicia Torralba on June 12
- Final Profession: Frank and Martha Pappadopoli on June 12
- Sick: Judith Heyworth, Jill O'Brien's sister
- ROCKFORD, IL ST. PETER MARTYR CHAPTER
- Final Profession: Adele Hayes and Harvey Newcomb on June 12 at the Priory in River Forest
- Congratulations: Mary Didier, newly elected Moderator, and other Chapter officers
- Fr. Dick de Ranitz, O.P. preached on forgiveness and healing for a March 13 Day of Recollection.
- ST. LOUIS, MO QUEEN OF THE ROSARY CHAPTER
- Congratulations: Ellen Caffrey and Trisha Moore, who made their first professions on May 2
- A Day of Recollection on May 2 was preached by Fr. Albert Moraczewski, O.P.
- SPRINGFIELD, IL OUR LADY OF THE SACRED HEART CHAPTER
- Deceased: Candace Randolph's father, Charles Hering
- OUR PRIVATE MEMBERS:
- Congratulations: John Janso, River Grove, IL, who celebrated 60 years as a Lay Dominican; Marion Keegan, Springfield, MO, who celebrated 52 years as a Lay Dominican; and Kathleen T. Purtell, Milwaukee, WI, who celebrated 76 years as a Lay Dominican.
- Sick: Rosemary Byrne
- Deceased: Elizabeth McGrade, Oshkosh, WI
- PRAYERS REQUESTED FOR:
- A return to health for Bro. Regis Hovald, O.P., River Forest, IL
- The repose of the soul of Fr. Victor LaMotte, O.P., River Forest, IL
- An increase in membership of the Dominican Laity
Dear Sisters and Brothers in Christ,
I want to thank everyone for the many prayers, cards, and Masses for my Dad, my family, and me. When my Dad was diagnosed with pancreatic cancer, we knew it would be only a matter of time, and we had nearly a year to be together. Your prayers meant much to all of us.
My prayers for you and yours,
Candace Randolph, O.P.
President
In Loving Memory of Valery P. Zubrycki
From Minneapolis, MN's Holy Rosary Chapter, Evelyn Kelly, O.P. and Ed McDermott, O.P. share with us news of the passing of Valery Zubrycki on March 9, 1999. Valery was received into the Dominican Laity on April 25, 1954 and made first profession in May, 1955. Several members of the Chapter were in attendance at the Memorial Mass celebrated by Father James Wolnik and assisted by Bishop John Kinney of the St. Cloud, MN Diocese. Valery had a great devotion to the rosary, and her well-worn one was included with the offertory gifts. She had been married for 51 years and, though they had no children, had close ties to a large number of nieces and nephews. Teaching for 31 years, she contributed generously to many of her students' education.
Biographies
Celia Hix lives in St. Paul, MN and is a member of the Holy Rosary Chapter, Minneapolis, MN. Now in her 90's, Celia was 75, when she began volunteering two days a week at the Dorothy Day Center. A magazine article describes her work:
"Ten years passed before she retired from her work at the Center. During those years, Hix says she learned a tremendous amount about herself and the innate goodness in people."(Editor's note: Our thanks to Evelyn C. Kelly, secretary of the Holy Rosary Chapter, Minneapolis, MN for sharing this inspiring tribute to the serving heart of Celia Hix.)"'When I first started volunteering, my attitude was -- You are unfortunate; I have been blessed. I'm going to see what I can do to help you.' It was, she admits, a somewhat patronizing way of viewing the Center's guests. 'I felt like we were on different levels of experience. Over the 10 years I was there, a slow conversion came over me.'"
"'After you've heard that many stories and have done that much deep listening, you come to the place where you identify so completely with them that you feel that we are all one. They suffer. I suffer also. We're all in this together.'"
"One day two men came in. They were having trouble speaking English. They wanted to go up north to work in the beet fields. They asked if I would give them food to take along as they were going to hitchhike. All I could give them was canned food, but one of them had a can opener. He said with a smile, 'We'll make a fire.' Then they went with me to the dining room for some dinnerware and bread. I was so worried about them, I asked, 'How else can I help you?' The one man, who was in great cheer, said to me, 'You help us. Food here, job there.' Then he pointed to his heart and said, 'God here.'"
"Hix recalled another time when a large woman came in and demanded to receive food. 'She rubbed me the wrong way. I helped her all I could without a kind feeling. She turned and gave an all-enfolding hug. I was so ashamed of myself. I asked myself, 'Am I here because I want to be thanked? Because I want them to be grateful?' Nobody better be grateful to me for volunteering there. I got so much more than I ever gave. That whole experience has become a part of me."
"Hix said she treasures the time she spent at the Dorothy Day Center listening to the stories and learning about the courage and strength so many of the guests possessed."
"'If I had inherited what they have. I couldn't have done as well. What courage and good cheer it takes.'"
"One Christmas Eve, Hix was talking with two men, and she asked them where they lived. When she learned they lived in a cave across the river, she remarked how sorry she was. 'It's not so bad,' they told me. 'It's kind of nice really.' I found that they were comforting me. One man was wearing a Marquette sweatshirt. I asked if it was for the University. He said, 'One need not be illiterate to live in a cave.'"
"She remembered another man who described for her the various trials he had been through and how he had persevered and become aware of his many strengths. 'He said to me, 'I'm a wonderful person, really. But it's like nobody knows it.' His words, Hix said, had a profound effect on her."
"In addition to being inspired and educated by the people she met, Hix said she was grateful that many of the guests knew she cared about them. One man, Rueben, who visited the Center on and off for years, told Hix, 'I wouldn't be alive today if you weren't praying for me.'"
Taken from International Dominican Information, number 278, June, 1990
(Editor's note: The late Fr. Damian Byrne, O.P., former Master of the Order wrote the following letter, dated May 20, 1990, on the occasion of the beatification of Pier Giorgio Frassati.)
Dear Brothers and Sisters,
Today, His Holiness John Paul II beatified Pier Giorgio Frassati (1901-1925), who was a member of the Dominican Laity. He was born in Turin and died there 4th July from polio.
Pier Giorgio was the son of Senator Alfredo Frassati, who was the founder of the newspaper, La Stampa. At the age of 18 years and while he was a university student in engineering, he came in contact with the Order. He studied our charism and received the habit on 28th May 1922 as a member of the Dominican Laity. He was given the name Fray Jeronimo out of esteem for the great Savonarola, whose works he had studied. In addition, he was well versed in the works of St. Catherine of Siena and St. Thomas Aquinas.
During his short life as a Dominican, only three years, Blessed Frassati was a model of a modern member of the Dominican Laity. His life was an advent of the Fundamental Constitution
of the present Dominican Laity. His understanding of himself as a person called to holiness [by] virtue of his Baptism and Confirmation gives witness to the very theology of the laity that we find in the teachings of the Second Vatican Council.
His ministry and spirituality were centered on the Eucharist and helping the poor. His prayer life was of an austere nature, which was in a way driven by his great love of Jesus and Mary. But this love was not limited to a false piety which finds comfort only in oneself. His prayer was a call to action.
There was no fear of this world within him. He was challenged by the cultural and political movements of the 20th century. He is not a holy person of the far distant past, but a person who knows our times. He is of our century and knows where the needs of reform are today and can be a model for our true vocation as Dominicans.
As members of the laity, you, in a particular way, have responsibility for the social commitment which can be realized in your own associations in the daily life of the world. The challenge to present to the people of our own time the divine message of redemption and salvation is more urgent than ever.
It is for the laity to translate into action the social teachings of the Church. It is for you to develop a culture of truth, in collaboration with the other members of the Dominican Family, which must replace the present culture of lies. This will necessarily involve you in the struggle against injustice, violence, racism, sexism, classism and corruption in all aspects of human life. It will require that you construct new social structures, which protect life in all its stages. It will be your task to reform our mentality in regard to the use of ecology.
If like Blessed Frassati, you embrace the ministry of the laity which is proper to your state in life, the world will surely be a better place in the 21st century. In a special way, like him, we must take care that the young receive the values of the Gospel, so that they can continue the process of divine compassion for humanity.
On this day of his beatification, I wish to place the Dominican Laity under the special protection of Blessed Pier Giorgio Frassati. Pope John Paul II, while still a Cardinal, called him "a man of the eight beatitudes." May these blessings of Christ reign in your hearts and be expressed in the context of your Dominican lay vocation.
With my prayers and best wishes and to all the members of your families.
Fraternally in St. Dominic,
Damian Byrne, O.P.
Master of the Order
TRADITIONS OF LAY SPIRITUALITY BY RUTH KUMMER, O.P.
THE BLESSED SACRAMENT CHAPTER,
FARMINGTON HILLS, MI
On Wednesday, April 28, 1999 at St. Andrew's Parish in Saline, MI, a group of nearly 40 people gathered to explore traditions of Lay Spirituality. Though Augustinians and Benedictines were not present, their representatives sent materials and a letter of response.
A Korean lay woman* presented how the lay Christian brought Christianity to Korea from China. Her mother's family is member of the recently canonized Korean martyrs, and her early childhood was spent growing up with the Maryknoll Dominicans.
We ascended Mt. Carmel with the formation director of Carmelites. The gentleman traveled from Flint, MI and stated that a chapter of Carmelites would be forming in the Ann Arbor Area from the Flint chapter. He set the tone by exploring the charism of Carmelites as a lay contemplative.
A second woman, representing a region of the Franciscans, presented St. Francis and his followers' charism. Since the area has an active chapter of Franciscans, the local formation director briefly presented materials available.
In historical time, a lay woman who works with Jesuits gave an introduction to the Jesuit Spirituality of the Exercises and an overview of the Ignites Loyola's contributions to God and the Church. Jesuits do not have groups such as Franciscans and Dominicans, but they do have Chasten Communities complementing their mission vision.
As facilitator, a brief introduction to St. Dominic and our charisms was given. The four corner stones of prayer, liturgical and personal; study, Scripture, works of the Church as well as one's personal stage in life; community, chapters of Dominican Family and their effect in other communities that Dominicans interface, and ministry, raising a family, living one's faith, or working in the marketplace was shared.
The formal portion of the meeting closed with the following prayer of St. Catherine of Siena, on the eve of her feast:
You want us to serve in your way, eternal Father, and you guide your servants in different ways along different paths. And so today you show us that we neither may, nor can in any way, judge what is within a person by the actions we see.
Rather, we should judge all things according to your will and most of all where your servants are concerned who are united with your will and transformed in it.
This is why the soul is happy when in your light she sees the light of the endlessly different ways and paths she sees in these servants of yours.
During the social portion, individuals were able to share, question, and contact the presenters, as well as be refreshed with goodies.
*Names were not given since releases were not available.
The Contemplative Life of the Ashram
Dominican Friars Jim Barnett and Don Goergen will be establishing a new contemplative community in Kenosha, WI. Beginning with the First Vespers of the First Sunday of Advent, they will be receiving guests who wish to share in their life, whether for one day, one week, one month, or one year. All are welcome for a respite or to make a personal retreat or take sabbatical time. Daily liturgical preaching and liturgy will be open to the public.
DOMINICAN LAITY AREA ELECTIVE MEETINGS
On April 11, 1999, the Lay Dominicans in Michigan gathered at the Monastery of the Blessed Sacrament in Farmington Hills for the election of their delegate to the Dominican Laity Provincial Council.
The day began with Sunday Eucharist, Fr. Dick de Ranitz, O.P. presider, followed by lunch. After lunch, Candy Randolph explained the duties and obligations of the delegate and alternates. Following nominations from the floor, each nominee spoke on their qualifications to serve.
Virginia Vipond (Grand Rapids Chapter) was elected delegate, Ruth Kummer (Farrnington Hills Chapter) was elected first alternate, and Lois Tomaszewski (Bay City Chapter) was elected second altemate. Congratulations and thanks to all three for their willingness to serve the Lay Dominicans in Michigan.
Following elections, our Dominican Cloistered Nuns gave a slide presentation on the Contemplative life. At the end of the slide presentation, some of the Sisters came to the Enclosure door to visit with those present and answer questions about their life of prayer and contemplation.
The day's program concluded with all of the Dominicans present gathering in the Monastery Chapel to celebrate Evening Prayer from the Liturgy of the Hours.
Special thanks to Ruth Kummer for offering her home and transportation to Candy. The Nuns' gracious hospitality was deeply appreciated by all. In addition, on behalf of all of the Lay Dominicans of the Central Province, thanks to Karen for all of her hard work.
Yours in Saints Dominic and Catherine,
Candace Randolph, O.P. Karen Sabourin, O.P.
President Vice President
At St. Thomas Priory on June 12, 1999, members of the Rockford, IL and River Forest, IL chapters gathered for the Northern Illinois Area meeting to elect their Dominican Laity Provincial Council delegate. The Chicago Chapter was not represented.
Mass included one reception into the Order, six first professions, and two final professions. What a joy to be present on such an auspicious occasion!
Guy Murphy (River Forest Chapter) was elected the area delegate for Northern Illinois with H. D. Newcomb (Rockford Chapter) serving as first alternate. Thank you for your interest in serving your fellow Lay Dominicans.
In Saints Dominic and Catherine,
Candace Randolph, O.P.
President
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Mary Lee Odders OP Editor
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Racine WI 53408-5451
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