by Megan McElroy, OP, Prioress, Dominican Sisters of Grand Rapids
“Be the Light of Christ and lift up people who feel hopeless and wounded.” ~ Megan McElroy, OP
When I think of St. Dominic, I imagine he had a huge capacity for being a friend to anyone he met. As he modeled for his followers, we Dominicans of today are called to befriend one another and the world widely.
Whether vowed members of the Dominican Order of Preachers, Dominican Associates, partners in ministry, Dominican youth, or volunteers, we are daughters and sons of Dominic, sisters and brothers to one another. As such, our formation as preachers invites us to do a whole lot of befriending.
One of the ways is that we are called to befriend the Word of God. We are preachers of God’s saving Word. The Scriptures form the core of our lives in that we pray the Scriptures in our celebration of the Liturgy of the Hours and in our celebration of the Eucharist.
We are also called to spend time with the Word, the Scriptures, to await a word that God has for us every day. In his encyclical, The Joy of the Gospel, Pope Francis has said, “The best incentive for sharing the Gospel comes from contemplating it with love, lingering over its pages and reading it with the heart. If we approach it in this way, its beauty will amaze and constantly excite us.” (EG, 264.)
Today, we may be exhausted and want to take a break from all that’s going on around us. But now is the time to lay claim to our discipleship and to embrace it more ardently than ever before, for faith shapes who we are and how we show up in the world.
The desire of the Dominican Sisters and Associates of Grand Rapids is for our presence to nurture Hope in the world. For hope is that aspect of faith which makes us certain that the world is cared for and loved by God. Hope obliges us to work toward the realization of the promises found in Jesus: freedom, peace, justice, and reconciliation.
Megan McElroy, OP
