Advent

Advent Week 2: How Were You a Peacemaker?

by Sister Catherine Walsh | December 14, 2024 | Advent, Advent Podcast, Spirituality | 0 Comments

Peace is a responsibility that everyone shares.

Advent Week 1: How Have I Been Hope This Week?

by Sister Catherine Walsh | December 6, 2024 | Advent, Advent Podcast, News, Spirituality | 6 Comments

Hope challenges us, doesn’t it?

Introducing Our New Email Series: You Are the Light of the World, Reflections on the Beatitudes

by Gina Ciliberto | December 7, 2018 | Advent, Gospel Reflections, Spirituality | 0 Comments

Let’s grow closer to God this Advent.

7 Ways to Rethink Gift-Giving this Christmas

by Gina Ciliberto | December 23, 2017 | Advent, Christmas, Personal Spirituality, Spirituality | 0 Comments

The sale was a way to de-clutter, but it also had a spiritual aspect: the season of Advent is coming up, and we are especially mindful of Mary and Joseph having been told that there was no room in the inn. With that in our hearts, we're...

Advent Reflection: Be Open to a Choir of Angels

by Sister Debbie Blow | December 12, 2017 | Advent, Gospel Reflections, Spirituality | 0 Comments

As we know, Advent is a Season of waiting, of hoping, of preparing and of giving. I'd like to share what happened yesterday. This particularchoir of Angels included people from New Hampshire, Schroon Lake, Peru, Plattsburgh, Ausable, and Chateaugay Lake - just to name...

Advent Reflection: Prepare Your Heart for Newness

by Margaret McHale | December 2, 2017 | Advent, Gospel Reflections, Personal Spirituality, Spirituality | 0 Comments

Is there some part of you seeking an escape from the stress of a lengthy Christmas to-do list and the prattling advertisements that saturate the airwaves long before December? Are you distracted, perhaps even burdened, by how upbeat everyone is...

We Sold Our Stuff and Donated the Proceeds to Charity

by Gina Ciliberto | December 2, 2017 | Advent, Christmas, Personal Spirituality, Spirituality | 0 Comments

This Saturday, December 2nd, we hosted a large tag sale at The Mariandale Center. Our tables at Mariandale were covered: we had dishes, decorations, and knick-knacks for sale galore. Yet, in such a season of abundance, we yearn to simplify our...

Hope During Advent: What We Learn from Expecting New Life

by Gina Ciliberto | December 21, 2016 | Advent, Personal Spirituality, Spirituality | 0 Comments

When asked about what gives her hope, Sister Veronica Miller is quick to point out new life. “The whole cycle of pregnancy gives me hope,” she says. “The pregnant woman doesn’t know the baby yet but she loves it and waits for it— that’s hope. And the couple’s devotion...

During Advent, Time and Waiting are Gifts

by Sister Debbie Blow | December 7, 2016 | Advent, Justice, Poverty, Spirituality | 0 Comments

Advent is often touted as the Season of Waiting, but sometimes we forget exactly what waiting means because most of us live in an instant society. Many get what they want when they want, and truly have a minimal experience of waiting for anything. However, I was...

Advent Reflection Week Four: Preaching through Ministry

by Gina Ciliberto | December 19, 2015 | Advent, Spirituality | 0 Comments

As members of the Order of Preachers, our ministry is the Word of God. Therefore, preaching is at the heart of Dominican life. In fact, we were founded to be “useful to the souls of others.” In his message in celebration of the opening of the Jubilee, Bruno Cadoré,...

Ideas for Gifting on a Sister’s Budget

by Gina Ciliberto | December 17, 2015 | Advent, Christmas, Personal Spirituality, Spirituality | 0 Comments

When Dominican Sister of Hope Linda Rivers, OP entered the convent, her allowance was $0. Eventually, she was given a budget, but it was measly, to say the least. The allowance meant for personal items wasn’t nearly enough to purchase Christmas gifts. So, Sister Linda...

Ditch the Christmas Gifts; Here’s a Present You Can Give All Year Through

by Gina Ciliberto | December 15, 2015 | Advent, Christmas, Personal Spirituality, Spirituality | 0 Comments

After living together for forty-five years, the five Dominican Sisters of Hope in the Guzman Community have often turned to each other for gift suggestions. Sometimes, they give ornaments, books, or even donations to their favorite charities (theirs is the local...

Advent Week Three: What must I do?

by Gina Ciliberto | December 14, 2015 | Advent, Spirituality | 0 Comments

As we enter the third week of Advent, the prayer invites us to rejoice, a strange request as Advent is a time of reflection, remembering, and getting ready. We reflect on our life to discover what is present or missing on our spiritual journey. We remember God’s...

Advent Week Three: Common Life

by Gina Ciliberto | December 14, 2015 | Advent, Spirituality | 0 Comments

Common life is about the willingness to share our lives with one another. God is not found in isolation. The journey we are on is not meant to be walked alone. For Dominicans, the communal dimension of our religious life challenges to us to be of “one mind and one...

Advent, A Season of Service: Focus on Social Justice

by Gina Ciliberto | December 9, 2015 | Advent, Justice | 0 Comments

Second Sunday of Advent “The winding roads shall be made straight, and the rough ways made smooth, and all flesh shall see the salvation of God.” Luke 3:1-6 Reflection by Paul Stage, Director of Campus Ministry at Saint Xavier University, and Former Christian...

A Dominican Advent: the Importance of Study

by Gina Ciliberto | December 9, 2015 | Advent, Spirituality | 0 Comments

We already know that, for Dominicans, study is paramount. Saint Dominic himself believed that study was an essential part of the Holy Preaching. In the thirteenth century, this inclination towards study was no small feat: most clergy at the time were uneducated. Saint...

Audio Reflection: Full of Grace

by Gina Ciliberto | December 8, 2015 | Advent, Spirituality | 0 Comments

In the sixth month, the angel Gabriel was sent by God to a town in Galilee called Nazareth, to a virgin engaged to a man whose name was Joseph, of the house of David. The virgin’s name was Mary. And he came to her and said, “Greetings, favored one! The Lord is with...

Advent Week Two: The Chosen

by Gina Ciliberto | December 5, 2015 | Advent, Spirituality | 0 Comments

Flickr: Waiting for the Word The angel was frightened by this assignment more than any he had he up to this point in eternity. In fact, it made the other assignments seem like child's play. At times, he wished he could be like the other angels – you know – come in...

Advent Week One: Praying like Saint Dominic

by Gina Ciliberto | November 26, 2015 | Advent, Spirituality | 0 Comments

In The Nine Ways of Prayer, Simon Tugwell, OP offers us a glimpse of St. Dominic. A prayerful man, Dominic often prayed through gestures most often while lying prostrate before God. ‘His heart,’ we are told, ‘would be pricked with compunction, and he would blush at...