In 1971, the director of the so-called Department of Government Efficiency was born in Pretoria, South Africa. That same year, another South African, my Dominican brother Albert Nolan, was 1,000 miles away, mentoring students at Stellenbosch University on the country’s southern coast. Stellenbosch was the center of theological study for the Dutch Reformed Church, the […]
Sr Beth Murphy
Sister Beth Murphy, OP, is the communication director for the Dominican Sisters of Springfield.
Posted inArts & Culture
Church unity: Celebrating “the golden cord”
A few weeks back, a Secrets of the Dead episode sucked me in mid-program when I saw they were exploring the ruins of a basilica thought to be the location of the Council of Nicaea. It wasn’t, as it turned out, but the episode was a reminder to me about the outcome of that council. […]
Posted inArts & Culture
Mary reflects what Christmas means
At this time of year memory returns me to Kinesa al-Saa’ – the Church of the Clock – priory church of our Iraqi Dominican brothers in Mosul for more than 200 years. My first encounter with this historically complex edifice was 24 years ago. Over a series of visits, I was privileged to spend many […]
Posted inArts & Culture
Synod: A different field of vision
For most earthlings, the Oct. 27 closing of the Roman Catholic Church’s synod on synodality will have been a tinier blip on the radar than the outcome of the Nov. 5 U.S. presidential election. Whatever your feelings about that election – and I have plenty, as you might – I suspect that over time the […]
Posted inArts & Culture
An anchor of hope?
Confession: I’m scrambling to get this column to IT and make a deadline for a presentation I’m to give at the Communicators for Women Religious Conference in Chicago next week, so I’m double-dipping. The conference theme is “Navigating the Winds of Change.” Months ago, I had to give the organizers a title. Hastily, without much […]
Posted inArts & Culture
Being “doers of the word”
Years ago, a brother Dominican claimed Aristotle was supposed to have said, “Laughter is the mind’s ascent to truth.” I take his word for it, because I’ve never been able to find proof. But it accords with my experience. When a laugh reverberates through me without warning, something has rung the bell of truth. This […]
Posted inArts & Culture
Reality imbued with the hidden presence of God
Days after hanging out with 50,000 other Catholics at the Indianapolis Convention Center for the 10th National Eucharistic Congress, I was back in Springfield with a much smaller crowd. About 200 of us assembled on a sticky Monday afternoon to honor the life of Sonya Massey, grieve her loss and call for accountability. The gathering […]
Posted inOpinion
What’s next for Iraq Christians?
Iraqi prime minister Haider al-Abadi declared victory over the Islamic State, or Daesh, in early December. Shortly after that, two western Dominican Friars arrived in the country to visit the Iraqi Dominican sisters, brothers and priests with whom the Dominicans of Springfield have built relationships since 2001. Springfield Dominican Sisters Beth Murphy and Marcelline Koch, […]
