Dominican Friars
Province of St. Albert the Great, USA

A Word of Hope

30 August • Bonds of Love Beyond Marriage

A Word of Hope

Recorded at the National Diocesan Vocation Directors Conference in Huntington, New York, Fr. Samuel draws from St. Paul's letter to the Thessalonians and Genesis. His homily explores why "it's not good for the man to be alone" applies beyond marriage to all human relationships, including celibate religious life. Learn how God reveals His love through our love for one another and why even vocations directors need fraternal support. A thoughtful reflection on community, loneliness in ministry, and the universal human need for connection.

## Chapter Breakdown

### Chapter 1: "Conference Context" (0:00 - 0:37)
- Saturday, 21st week in ordinary time
- National Diocesan Vocation Directors Conference
- Dominican participation in diocesan gathering
- Huntington, New York setting

### Chapter 2: "The Loneliness of Ministry" (0:37 - 1:01)
- Vocations direction as solitary work
- One director per province/diocese reality
- Finding fraternal support at conference
- Prayer, learning, and mutual support

### Chapter 3: "St. Paul on Fraternal Charity" (1:01 - 1:26)
- 1 Thessalonians reading introduction
- "Taught by God to love one another"
- Fraternal charity as heart of humanity
- No need for written instruction

### Chapter 4: "Genesis: Not Good to Be Alone" (1:26 - 2:07)
- First "not good" in creation account
- Beyond marriage interpretation
- Application to celibate vocations
- Universal human need for connection

### Chapter 5: "Faith as Community" (2:07 - 2:53)
- Not "me and God" faith
- Deep connection and union with others
- Learning from and needing others
- Receiving and giving love
- God's love revealed through human love

## Tags
#FraternalCharity #DominicanOrder #VocationsMinistry #ReligiousCommunity #CelibateLife #MinistrySupport #1Thessalonians #Genesis #NotGoodAlone #VocationsDirector #DominicanBrotherhood #ReligiousConference #CatholicVocations #MinisterialLoneliness #ChristianCommunity

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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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  •

    16 Feb • Seeing the Kingdom of God

    In Luke's version of the Beatitudes, Jesus matches "blessed are you poor" with "woe are you rich," because riches obscure the Kingdom like a thick fog obscures a view. Jesus came to blow away the fog and reveal God's compassion which is available to all, but best seen by those who hunger for it.
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    15 Feb • The abundance of God's compassion

    4000 people (1000 from all four directions) came to hear Jesus preach for three days, and in the end, had no food. Before they left, Jesus multiplied the loaves and the fishes so that there was an abundance of food for all, symbolizing the abundance of God's blessings for all the world. We carry on this mission today when we as Church and individually feed those in need.
  •

    12 Feb • What makes us pure or impure?

    Jesus taught his disciples that nothing that enters us from without can make us impure. Rather, the malice and bad thoughts in our hearts that come out in our words and actions make us impure. This is a call to us to let go of the superficial things of religion and examine our own hearts and actions.
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    9 Feb • Graced to be more

    After a miraculous catch of fish, Peter tells Jesus, "Leave me Lord, I am a sinful man." Instead, Jesus invites him to be his disciple and opens him up to be more than he thought he ever could be. That is what grace can do for us.
  •

    9 Feb (extra) • Journey of self-discovery

    In an extra video for today, we hear about the call of the Prophet Jeremiah. God knows Jeremiah better than he knows himself, and Jeremiah will discover his own strengths as he lives out this call. Let us find ourselves by following our call.
  •

    8 Feb • Shepherds needed

    Today we celebrate the great Saint Josephine Bakhita, a former slave who converted to Christianity and joined the Canossian Sisters, and was known as a saint in her own day because of her faith and cheerfulness. In today's Gospel, Jesus and the apostles try to get away to a quiet place, but the crowd finds out and are assembled when they arrive, so Jesus teaches them because "they are like sheep without a shepherd." In our troubled, chaotic times, the world needs more shepherds.
  •

    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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