Dominican Friars

Province of St. Albert the Great, USA

A Word of Hope

30 June • Be a person of life, and let the dead bury the dead

On this Memorial of the First Martyrs of Rome, we hear Jesus tell a reluctant disciple, "Let the dead bury the dead, you come follow me," reminding us that we do not celebrate the martyrs' deaths but the fact that life and the faith endure no matter what. Christians are called to go out and preach that Good News. In parallel, the first reading recounts Abraham bargaining with God to not destroy Sodom because of the sins of the society for the sake of the just people who also live there. We are not to look only at the sins of a society without also seeing the good in it as well, and rather than simply condemning the sin, we can call forth and nurture the good.

00:00 Introduction & Location
00:17 Memorial of the First Martyrs of Rome
00:45 Gospel: "Let the dead bury the dead"
01:27 Celebrating life, not death
01:52 Call to preach and teach life
01:54 First Reading: Abraham pleads for Sodom
02:32 God's mercy and bargaining to save the just
02:47 Seeing both sin and goodness in society
03:14 Be people of life and hope

A Word of Hope with dove

Every day the Chicago Dominicans offer "A Word of Hope" video to bolster our faith through these trying times. We welcome any feedback you have at hope@opcentral.org . You can see them all below, or you can see other preaching by a particular person by clicking on his name, and you can have them emailed to you each morning by signing up for our email service:

8 Sept • Love is the highest gift

Sep 18, 2024 by Fr. Dominic Holtz, OP

Paul tells us that the greatest gift of the Holy Spirit is the gift of love (charity), which is the capstone of every other gift.
17 Sept • Together we are the Body of Christ

Sep 17, 2024 by Fr. James Marchionda, OP

Paul reminds us today that though we are many different parts, together we are the one Body of Christ. So we do not approach God individually, but as a part of the Church. Let us celebrate the gifts God has given each of us as well as gifts God has given others, so together, we can be more than any of us are individually.
16 Sept • Members of the One Body of Christ

Sep 16, 2024 by Fr. James Marchionda, OP

Paul upbraids the Christian community at Corinth for allowing division among its members when celebrating the Lord's Supper. Do we let our personal preferences get in the way of fostering unity in the Church even today?

Based on 1 Corinthians 11:17-26, 33
15 Sept • Solid in His Faith

Sep 15, 2024 by Fr. Bob Keller, OP

Peter confesses Jesus as the Messiah, but then rebukes him when Jesus predicts the suffering and death he must endure. Jesus is solid in his faith and so can accept the violence of others and respond in love. Peter is not solid in his faith. Are we? If we follow Jesus, we will not be ashamed when the world bullies us, or taunts us, or inflicts violence upon us, and we, like Jesus, will respond with love.
14 Sept • The cross, a sign that violence is best counteredred with nonviolence

Sep 14, 2024 by Fr. Bob Keller, OP

On this Feast of the Exultation of the Cross, we are pushed to ponder why we should celebrate this violent means of death. One thing it teaches us is that by dying this way, Jesus shows us a better way to counter the violence we see in the world by not responding in violence, but through inner strength, keeping our eyes on God's plan and responding to all things with love.
13 Sept • Follow and become like Jesus

Sep 13, 2024 by Fr. Jordan DeGuire, OP

Jesus asked his disciples to follow him and learn to be like him. We do not have to be perfect disciples when we start, we simply need to keep learning from the one teacher, Jesus, and to lead others to follow him as well.
12 Sept • Loving your enemies is not easy

Sep 12, 2024 by Fr. Jordan DeGuire, OP

Jesus told his disciples that they must love their enemies, just as God is kind even to the wicked. This is no easy thing for us, but we can start by recognising that we are already loved, and thus can reflect that love to others. Then, we can practice by loving others with an open hand, or in secret expecting nothing in return.
11 Sept • Blessed are you!

Sep 11, 2024 by Br. Ed Van Merrienboer, OP

In Luke's version of the Beatitudes, we learn that God loves those who are materially poor, and Jesus challenges us to do something to help them here and now and to live with integrity.
10 Sept • Better to be cheated than to quarrel with one another

Sep 10, 2024 by Br. Ed Van Merrienboer, OP

When the Christian community began cheating one another and fighting among themselves, Paul called them to remember that they left that quarrelsome life behind when they became justified in the name of Jesus.
9 Sept • St. Peter Claver and the law of love

Sep 9, 2024 by Fr. Yamil A. Samalot Rivera, OP

Jesus was criticized for healing on the sabbath, but the law of love is the highest law and must come first and foremost. This dedication is shown in the life of St. Peter Claver, SJ who cared for enslaved people in the New World.
8 Sept • Break the barriers that hold back mercy

Sep 8, 2024 by Fr. Yamil A. Samalot Rivera, OP

In healing a deaf man who was not Jewish, Jesus broke down barriers to God's mercy. May we also not look to the law but at how best to share God's love to those who need it most, whomever and wherever they are.
7 Sept • Honor the intent of the law

Sep 7, 2024 by Fr. Paul Whittington, OP

The Pharisees criticized Jesus because his disciples picked grain to eat on the sabbath, and Jesus proclaimed himself lord of the sabbath. Following Jesus is more important than following the letter of the law.
6 Sept • Appreciating those whom God has put in our lives

Sep 6, 2024 by Fr. Paul Whittington, OP

St. Paul tells us that he does not care about being judged by any human tribunal. The only judgement that counts os God's. Do we judge other people or worry how they judge us?
5 Sept • Lift your expectations of God and yourself

Sep 5, 2024 by Fr. Charles Bouchard, OP

After a long night of catching nothing, Jesus miraculously provided his new disciples with a miraculous catch of fish. Sometimes we can be discouraged by low expectations for ourselves and for the world, but we are encouraged to trust that God's expectations for us are high, and that our expectations of ourselves and God should be even higher.
4 Sept • Can we work together for the good?

Sep 4, 2024 by Fr. Charles Bouchard, OP

Paul admonished the Christian community at Corinth because they let their differences become divisions, so that they could no preach the Good News effectively. Can we work through our differences this political season so that we might choose the candidates that will best unite us, rather than further divide us?
3 Sept • Should I worry about demons?

Sep 3, 2024 by Br. Joseph Trout, OP

In Luke's Gospel we hear of Jesus expelling demons. Is demonic possession real, or was it just some form of mental illness? What we can certainly say is that if demons are real, we don't have to worry about them if we trust in Jesus, because Jesus has power over all.
2 Sept • The humility to be open to learn

Sep 2, 2024 by Br. Joseph Trout, OP

The people of Nazareth thought they already knew Jesus, and so could not accept that he was more than they thought. We can discover amazing things by being open to being taught by God rather than holding on to our small ideas.
1 Sept • The religion God wants

Sep 1, 2024 by Fr. Scott Steinkerchner, OP

The readings today are all about what proper religious observance looks like: following God's law in caring for the vulnerable people in their afflictions. This is a simple message, but one that often gets overlooked in religious discussions.
31 Aug • Don't bury your faith

Aug 31, 2024 by Fr. Scott Steinkerchner, OP

In Jesus' parable of the talents, he warns us that if we seek to protect our faith by hiding it away we will loose it. Our faith is meant to be lived, and shared, and questioned and then it will grow.
30 Aug • Our faith makes sense, if you take the time to learn

Aug 30, 2024 by Fr. Samuel Hakeem, OP

In his First Letter to the Corinthians, Paul promises us that God's foolishness is wiser than human wisdom. There are many things in our faith that do not make sense at first pass, such as the mystery of the Eucharist, but we can study and learn and thus deepen our faith by understanding it better. Reason enhances faith, it does not oppose it, but not without spending time learning.
29 Aug • Stand against the flow

Aug 29, 2024 by Fr. Samuel Hakeem, OP

On this Feast of the Beheading of St. John Baptist we remember that our faith is often counter-cultural. Do we have the courage, as did John the Baptist, to speak that word of faith that might convert others?
28 Aug • Attending to the mundane

Aug 28, 2024 by Fr. Greg Heille, OP

On this Feast of St. Augustine, who gave the Dominicans its Primitive Rule of Life, we are challenged to examine what day to day mundane chores of life help us to go forth into the world in love and service?
27 Aug • What is important to us?

Aug 27, 2024 by Fr. Greg Heille, OP

On this Memorial of St. Monica, mother of St. Augustine, we are confronted with the question of what is important to us and how do we attend to it?
26 Aug • Facing affliction

Aug 26, 2024 by Fr. Brendan Curran, OP

The Apostle Paul praised the Thessalonians for their steadfastness of faith in the midst of persecution, and we hear of Christina, who today, lifts up hope in the midst of tragedy.

Subscribe to A Word of Hope