OPreach
Dominican Preaching through Word and Image
Their Lives Are a Preaching on Forgiveness
The theme is forgiveness. We know that Jesus taught us to forgive, but when the rubber hits the road, we end up feeling like the sentiment on these bumper stickers that I saw this summer at Descanso Gardens in Southern California.
So, I ask you
- Did the driver and the passenger agree with the sentiments reflected on the side of the car they were sitting?
- If so, would you want to be a rider in that car?
- Is this what we are experiencing as we travel through life today?
- How is it riding in that car?
- Are these the competing voices inside of the heart and mind of the driver?
- How is it living inside my own skin listening to the competing voices?
Right now I’m reading the book Amish Grace, by Donald Kraybill. It’s all about forgiveness. “In the Amish view . . . people receive forgiveness from God only if they extend forgiveness to others.” In other words, they put the words given to us in The Lord’s Prayer into action. The lives of the Amish are a preaching on forgiveness.
Many wondered, following the tragic events of October 2, 2006, if the families of the West Nickel Mines School were merely putting on a show of forgiveness. But no, it is clear that this was something they practiced.So that when they found themselves between a rock and a hard place, their practice of the virtue of forgiveness won out. Thomas Aquinas, that great Dominican theologian from the 13th century would agree that if we practice the virtues, we will be able to exhibit them when it is difficult.
I wonder which virtues I’m cultivating . . .
There’s a wonderful Cherokee story called, “Which Wolf Will You Feed?”* I need to choose one or the other, or they may devour one another. It would be like sitting between those two bumper stickers!
*It can be found many places on the internet; here’s one link.
They’re singing our song!
How wonderful it was to hear the strong and clear voices of the Prima Voce Choir from St. Mary’s High School in Stockton on Sunday at our celebration of 135 years of presence and ministry in the Diocese of Stockton. They sang a song that is special to the Dominican Sisters of San Rafael, “Hail Holy Queen,” and English translation of a special arrangement of the Latin “Assumpta Est.” It was a delightful surprise to the sisters, and a culmination of an afternoon of celebrating our heritage in Stockton. (Here’s the You Tube link: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=f01-H8ksA9M)
We also enjoyed a surprise visit from our foundress, Mother Mary Goemaere – remarkably well-preserved for a woman 202 years of age! Bishop Blaire presided over Mass. And as we listened to stories from our history, we were reminded that “the more things change, the more they stay the same.
What a joyous occasion!
Counterpoint Images – Photo Montage as Preaching
Sunday’s second reading from Philippians tells us:
“Have in you the same attitude that is also in Christ Jesus, Who, though he was in the form of God, did not regard equality with God something to be grasped. Rather, he emptied himself, taking the form of a slave, coming in human likeness; and found human in appearance, he humbled himself, becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross.”
In Sister Adele’s words (some forty years ago):
“My fifty years of life fall into nearly equal parts: a quarter of a century at Dominican college in the ministry of teaching, and a second quarter of a century at the same location in a ministry of preaching -“preaching” that is via the visual arts.
While awed by the world’s natural beauty, a real reflection of the Divine, I feel my kind of art must present more than a straight picture of nature. For this reason, I fracture my original image with another, carefully chosen one, enabling me to utilize the counterpoint capability of the montage technique, to create my Counterpoint Imagery.”
To fulfill the preaching component of this art ministry, the art must be made available for public viewing, hence it is available at this link:
- Sister Adele Rowland, OP
The Artist
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