|
|
 |
Novices profess simple vows to Dominican order
By Daniel Petty
For Brothers Wesley Dessonville, Patrick Hyde and James Dominic Rooney, living the life of a Dominican friar requires living with one foot in the future—existing in anticipation of Jesus Christ’s return to earth.
That, said Dominican prior provincial Father Michael Mascari, is a formidable challenge for most Catholics—and will be for the brothers.
But it’s a task that the three will successfully embrace and live up to, providing those around them with a living example of Christ’s spirit, Father Mascari said in his homily during the brothers’ first profession on Aug. 15 at St. Dominic Church in Denver.
“They will live now not only for themselves, but they will live only for God,” the priest told a congregation of several hundred, including the brothers’ families. “They will strive to live with one heart and one mind, according to the Rule of St. Augustine, because that’s how life is lived in the kingdom of God.”
In the ceremony, the brothers pledged a vow of obedience to God, the Blessed Virgin Mary, St. Dominic, and the master of the order in formally entering the Order of Preachers, whose only vocation is preaching the word of God.
“They will strive to preach and to teach and to share their gifts with other people,” Father Mascari said, “and to strengthen the weak, console those who mourn and respond to the needy. And everywhere, build up God’s people.”
The brothers have relocated to St. Louis, Mo., to continue discerning while beginning their theological studies, which will require another six years, one of which will be spent in an internship in a parish community.
Brother Rooney, 23, of Toledo, Ohio, earned a bachelor’s degree in philosophy from the Catholic University of America in 2008, then finished a master’s in philosophy last year from the University of Toledo in his hometown.
“The whole purpose of the Dominican Order is preaching,” Brother Rooney said. “Things like community life wouldn’t make sense without that, because it’s supposed to be a support for preaching and study.”
He said he was attracted to the Dominicans because of their vocation of preaching, the kind of vocation that Christ and his apostles practiced while living simply and in community.
Both Brothers Hyde and Dessonville worked in schools before entering the Dominican Order: Brother Dessonville for three years in Fargo, N.D., teaching high school religion and philosophy, and Brother Hyde for a year on a Navajo Indian reservation in Arizona, teaching middle school English and religion for the Mercy Volunteer Corps.
“The community itself works as a spiritual director and helps you discern,” said Brother Dessonville, 28, a Dawson, Minn., native. “It shares your weaknesses and strengths. At this point, the three of us have felt that call from God—it’s our path to love and growing in holiness.”
Brother Hyde said he felt drawn toward community life after spending his year on the reservation, itself a kind of close community, albeit an exceedingly difficult one.
“In a way, I wasn’t really part of a community because of the living situation (on the reservation),” said Brother Hyde, 24, of St. Louis. “I was living separately, outside of a community. Doing that made me want to join this community even more.”
At its essence, living in the community involves imitating Jesus Christ to the best of their abilities—through working, praying and evolving in holiness together. At St. Dominic’s, that also includes discerning with a deeply loyal parish community that, for more than 120 years, has supported the Dominicans.
“They see it as part of their vocation to help us in formation,” Brother Hyde said.
FOR MORE INFORMATION:
Want to learn more about the Dominican Order? Call Father Louis Morrone at 303-477-4219 or visit http://www.op.org/novices/
|
||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||