Dominican Friars
Province of St. Albert the Great, USA

A Word of Hope

A Word of Hope

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:

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  •

    7 Feb • Grace restores possibilities

    Herod had John the Baptist killed because he felt cornered by previous bad choices. Sin reduces our possibilities, leading us into one bad choice after another. Grace opens us up to see the infinite possibilities for the good that exist at any moment.
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    6 Feb • Repentance for the sake of healing

    Jesus sent out the twelve two by two to proclaim repentance and to heal people. Most of us know something in us is not what we want it to be. This call of repentance is a joyful wake up call to us that Jesus is ready to help us overcome our own darkness.
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    5 Feb • Collaborate in your own healing

    In today's Gospel Jesus returns to his hometown. After being initially impressed, the town turned suspicious of him, and Jesus could not do any great miracles because of their lack of faith.Two lessons: 1) jealousy is not helpful and not of God, and 2) we have to trust God in faith for God to be able to heal us.
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    3 Feb • God's healing can reunite us with our loved ones

    Jesus healed a Gerasene demoniac who then wanted to follow him. Instead, Jesus sent him back to his own family. The healing that comes from Jesus doesn't just cover over our sins, but empowers us to reunite with those we have hurt and bring them with us back to God. Is there someone with whom you need to reconcile?
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    2 Feb • Pointing to something beyond

    As Jesus is presented in the Temple, the prophets Simeon and Anna see that his presence points to something beyond the moment—it point to eternity. Today we also celebrate consecrated religious persons whose lives point as well to the blessings of God in eternity.
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    30 Jan • Light easily overcomes darkness

    Jesus told his disciples to let their light shine and not hide it under a bushel basket. Light easily overcomes darkness. It only takes the light of one candle to overcome the darkness of a room. So if we put our light on a lampstand—the light he gave us—darkness has no chance.

  • 29 Jan • Finding the Good Soil in each of us

    Today we have the Parable of the Sower, where the Word of God is planted like seed on different kinds of soil. Some of each kind of soil is inside each of us. So let each of us dig deep and find the good soil in our own hearts and work to cultivate the good soil in other people's hearts.
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    28 Jan • My mother, brother and sister

    In today's Gospel, Jesus tells us that whoever does the will of God is his mother, brother and sister. As related by Fr. Scott, Fr. Brendan tells us of an interreligious group founded my muslims in the Chicago area that does amazing work bringing God's compassion to war-torn areas of our world. Certainly, these people are Jesus' mother, brother, and sister.
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    26 Jan • The Word of God gives us roots and wings

    Today we celebrate Word of God Sunday and hear how Jesus was handed the scroll of Isaiah in the synagogue in Nazareth, found the passage "I have come to bring good news to the poor," and declared that he was fulfilling that passage that very day. Scripture tells us who we are, giving us roots, but every time we return to it scripture also gives us wings, sending us out to fulfil its promises in our own age.
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    24 Jan • People are not your enemy

    In our Gospel today, Jesus calls the 12 apostles to be with him, to preach, and to cast out demons. Only demons are their enemies, not people who disagree with them or even oppose them. For these people, the apostles should give witness to their joy and friendship with Jesus to perhaps win them over. This is good advice for us today as well.
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    23 Jan • God wants love in action

    The psalmist says, "Here I am Lord, I come to do your will." That is what God is looking for, and what we saw in the human response to the tragic fires in Los Angeles. People came from all over to help, to donate money, to distribute food, to so something to help in response to the devastation. God surely smiled.
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    21 Jan • St. Agnes, witness to faith

    The Letter to the Hebrews recalls how Abraham trusted God's promise to him and so obtained it. St. Agnes, a 4th century martyr, also trusted God and witnessed her faith to the end, and so obtained the promise of salvation. We should seek that which allows us to trust God's promise and we will find peace, and joy, and ultimately, salvation.
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    20 Jan • The question of fasting

    People came to Jesus and asked why his disciples did not fast. He replied that they could not fast while the bridegroom was with them, indicating himself as the divine presence with them. But, why do we fast? To show that God is first in our life, before our own desire for food and gratification.
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    19 Jan • Mary, untier of knots

    At the wedding feast at Cana, Mary sees a problem and solves it—getting Jesus to perform his first miracle of changing water to wine. We can turn to Mary to petition her son to solve the problems or "untie the knots" in our own lives, but we then have to trust that God hears and do what Jesus says.
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