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Community Life is one of the most important aspects of Dominican Life and a distinguishing feature between the religious life and the life of the diocesan clergy. In the rule of St. Augustine, which we as Dominicans have as our rule, St. Augustine writes that above everything else the purpose of living together is to live in harmony.  Read more

You have probably heard that the life of a Dominican revolves around four ‘pillars’: preaching, study, community and prayer. But if this is what distinguishes the Order of Preachers, you might be wondering, what is it that other orders devote themselves to?  Read more

Over the summer, while on pilgrimage in Lourdes, a fellow friar sitting next to me said, ‘Isn’t extraordinary that God has a mother?’  Read more

“In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.” This opening verse of the Gospel of John—echoing the opening of Genesis’s account of creation—goes deep into the mystery of the life of the Trinity.  Read more

There is a distinction we can make between those in ‘public life’ such as politicians and celebrities and ‘the rest of us’ but this can be an unhelpful distinction. It can imply the Christian faith is part of one’s private life rather than one’s public life. Alternatively, we can think it is the duty of Christian politicians to fight our case whilst doing nothing in our personal day-to-day encounters. It implies one’s faith can be put aside for one’s politics. This cannot be so.  Read more

As a Dominican student brother, I have lived in the cities of San Francisco, Berkley, and now Oxford, all three of which can be characterized as rather secular cultures.  Read more

These last weeks have seen an intense focus on the plight of Alfie Evans and his family. Many questions have been raised. Questions about the relationship between parents, children, doctors and the legal authorities. Questions about when it can be legitimate to gently withdraw burdensome treatment. The need to restate that that the administration of water and food is a natural means of preserving life, not a medical act and should be considered morally obligatory in the case of those in persistent vegetative states.  Read more

While we normally think of the first of January as a time for establishing New Year’s resolutions, the period of Advent is an especially appropriate time for determining new-year resolutions for our spiritual lives. This is because Advent marks the beginning of our liturgical year, the season being a time of joyful anticipation of the birth of our Saviour.  Read more

Today marks the beginning of the Year of Consecrated Life! This is an opportunity for us all in the Church – no matter what our vocation in life – to think about and pray for those who live a consecrated life, whether in a religious order, as a lay consecrated person, or in any of the myriad ways that Christians commit themselves to a life of service in the footsteps of Christ. Read more