My Brothers, what do you seek?
Moved by God's mercy, we have come here to experience your way of life, following the example of St. Dominic, St. Catherine of Siena, Fr. Jean Joseph Lataste, and others who have gone before you, and who have illuminated the life of the Order and of the Church, first so that we may give witness to our faith, and effectively hear the needs of people of our time, and so that we may early serve the truth. Therefore, carefully considering the particular goals of the apostolate of the Church today, we seek to be aided, moved and in a special way, to show forth true compassion toward all anxieties, to strive vigorously for freedom, and to promote justice and peace.
These are the words our "cloistered brothers" used when making their promises.
It wasn't the words that made Sister Ruth cry. It wasn't the power of the consecration, that almost choked Fr. Wayne Cavalier, O.P., the Mass celebrant, up. It wasn't the act of putting the scapular over the head of a candidate, that choked him up. And it wasn't just emotion wrought by the charismatic music that tugged at everyone's heart.
It was the Holy Spirit touching us.
Whew! He's powerful. Our prayers to the Holy Spirit were answered when we invoked him to strengthen the bonds made in Baptism. We were touched.
Today we witnessed the Reception and Perpetual Promises of our "cloistered brothers" into the Lay Fraternities of Saint Dominic. A few months ago, Moses, one of my cloistered brothers said, "When I heard "for life!" my heart stopped. I realized that this was another life sentence. Whoa! Do I really want this? I have to think about this--really think about this."
Today, we heard him proclaim in a loud voice his promises to Sister Ruth, and Father Wayne Cavalier, O.P. (in place of the Master of the Order). Yes, today he was the one who freely, whole heartedly, chose another life sentence.
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