St Dominic's is a welcoming community of devoted Catholic Christians looking towards evangelisation and justice.
The Dominican
Archive
2023
ALL IS BRIGHT
God’s invisibility is often taken as evidence for his lack of credibility. God is not to be believed and his Church mistrusted because he cannot be gotten to
LOVE'S PURE LIGHT
It’s ten years since we received the papal letter, Lumen Fidei (The Light of Faith). Lumen Fidei completes the trilogy of papal exploration of the theological virtues in a twenty-first century context, following Deus Caritas Est (God is Love, 2005) and Spe Salvi (Saved in Hope, 2007).
INTERNATIONAL DAY OF PERSONS WITH DISABILITIES
On the 3 December we celebrate the International Day of Persons with Disabilities. In Australia the growing cry for justice for those with a disability from both the disabled themselves and families and caregivers led to another Royal Commission.
THE DAWN OF REDEEMING GRACE
At St Dominic’s this Christmas, we stand under two great images of Christian faith: the star and the cross. They are signs to us commemorating the dawn and dusk of a divine life wrought on the earth, the earthly life of the Son of God, Jesus.
GLORIES STREAM
With the arrival of the Son of God lauded by his angels’ song, it seems to us that heaven has been emptied out on the earth. After all, who is left there if God and his angels are thus present to us?
AN EFFECTIVE KING
Kings are written up in extremes: either they are tyrannous dominators as in film sagas and deep histories, or they are neutered constitutionalists. In our own day, the Papacy is one of the last absolute monarchies left in the West.
ISAAC AND HIS SON, JACOB
Our series on St Paul’s le9er to the Romans con>nues at chapter nine, when the business of the le9er resumes. Up to this point, Paul has laid out how all Chris>an believers are equal in mortality through sinfulness and now also in life through faith.
BUT WHERE SHALL WE PUT IT?
To date and as far as I’m aware, St Dominic’s has never had a pipe organ: we’ve made do with electric instruments.
PRISON SUNDAY 2023
The Australian Catholic Bishops introduced an annual Prison Sunday in 2016, during the Year of Mercy introduced by Pope Francis. “We need to nourish the roots of our hope so that they can bear fruit ... despite whatever evil we have done. There is no corner of our heart that cannot be touched by God’s love,” Pope Francis said at the Kme.
FIFTY YEARS OF PRIESTHOOD IN THE DOMINICAN ORDER
Fr Mark O'Brien reflects on fifty years as a priest in the Order of Preachers.
AND MERCY MILD
It’s rare that papal documents have much of an impact on their first recipients. Just last week, Pope Francis released an exhortaGon addressed “to all people of good will on the climate crisis” (Laudate Deum).
SHINING BEFORE ALL
As it happens, today would be the feast of Pope St John Paul II. I had the privilege of meeting him while I was on a holiday after finishing my degree.
THE PRAYER FOR THE DISTRACTED
I clearly remember my first set of rosary beads. They were for my first Holy Communion, which was celebrated on a Sunday in October: the assistant priest was assigned to the Mass; the PP was nowhere to be seen!
POSTCARD FROM JERUSALEM In the finest traditions of postcards, this one arrives after we've returned. Our flight home seemed shorter, by much more than the hour billed on the ticket.
WORLD DAY OF REFUGEES AND MIGRANTS
In his 2023 statement on migrants and refugees Pope Francis reminds us that the decision to migrate should be free, yet in many cases, it is not.
POSTCARD FROM NAZARETH
Greetings in the Lord to you all at St Dominic's from the cradle of our faith, Nazareth.
Australia’s Catholic bishops have called on the nation to seek “a new engagement” with Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples in their annual Social Justice Statement.
SAFEGUARDING SUNDAY
This weekend, the Catholic Church in Australia marks Safeguarding Sunday
INDWELLING
We’re familiar with the notion of indwelling insofar as we know that the Sacraments of Baptism and Confirmation entail the bestowal of the divine Spirit
SOCIAL JUSTICE SUNDAY
Australia’s Catholic bishops have called on the nation to seek “a new engagement” with Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples in their annual Social Justice Statement.
CERTAIN SLAVERY VS FREE SERVICE
What do we do with our freedom from sin and reconciliation with God? Are those twin realities just for our own benefit and enjoyment?
ACCOUNTING FOR OURSELVES
It’s extraordinarily difficult to get a good reading on ourselves. As the old saying goes, can a fish describe the water it swims in?
YOUNG PEOPLE IN THE CHURCH TODAY
Let us explore the role of young Catholics in the Church today and what they are up to in Australia.
BLESSED JANE"S SON
The name which Blessed Jane gave her son is a symbol of our parish patron’s total dedication to the work of preaching.
WORLD DAY FOR GRANDPARENTS AND THE ELDERLY
The theme chosen for this year is “His mercy is from age to age”.
ABRAHAM
Abraham is key to Paul’s preaching because he is the evidence of someone being at rights with God without keeping the Mosaic Law.
THE ORIGINAL WAY TO HOLINESS
Having established in Romans 2 that all nations have equal need of the Saviour, Paul turns his attention to his own people, Israel.
ABORIGINAL AND TORRES STRAIT ISLANDER SUNDAY - A NEW LIFE IN CHRIST
Every year, on the first Sunday in July, Catholics across Australia affirm and celebrate the gifts of Australia’s First Peoples in the Catholic Church.
EQUALITY IN NEED
Neither a Jewish Christian nor a Gentile one has any advantage over the other.
THE NEW ISRAEL IN ROME
“To all God’s beloved in Rome, who are called to be saints” (Romans 1:7).
PRAISE THE SACRAMENT OF YOUR SALVATION, NEW ZION!
Our own St Thomas Aquinas (1225-1274) is responsible for many of the glorious traditional texts assigned to today’s great feast.
GOD IS NOT ALONE
The Spirit of God came to overcome the barriers which the disciples first encountered in the preaching of the Gospel: personal fear and diverse languages.
ARE YOU BAPTIZED
One of the first questions we ask someone who wants to become Catholic is, “Are you baptized?”
LAUDATO SI
On Wednesday, 24 May, we will celebrate the ninth anniversary of Pope Francis giving the world the Encyclical with the strange name, Laudato Si, literally “praised be”.
EXORCISM
Why does the Rite call for an exorcism?
BAPTISM: SIGN OF THE CROSS
Through Baptism we begin our new life in Christ as adopted children of God.
ST VINCENT DE PAUL SOCIETY:
Over 100 years of service to the poor.
VOCATIONS 2 (another perspective)
You might be wondering why we ought to consider seriously the vocations to the married, single or consecrated life.
VOCATIONS
During Eastertide, glorious in his Resurrection, Christ calls us to believe without seeing him, to renew the promises of our Baptism, to resolve again to conform ourselves to him.
NEW LIGHT
Alleluia: the Lord is risen! He is truly risen, alleluia!
FORGIVENESS
It was once bold of us to think that God would forgive our sins.
PENANCE
Towards the end of our confession, the priest assigns us a penance. Indeed, sometimes confession is called the Sacrament of Penance because of this part of its liturgy.
THE ABSOLUTION OF SINS
Thankfully, it’s not really up to any of us whether sins confessed will be forgiven. When sins are confessed, it is God who acts; when sins are absolved, it is God who forgives.
THE ACT OF CONTRITION
During confession, the priest will ask us to make an act of contrition. Many confessionals including our own have a printed act of contrition available, so that our penitents are at ease when they come.
CONFESSION
Repentance of the kind we are urged to make in Lent takes the form of sacramental confession for at least our mortal sins.
THE EXAMINATION OF CONSCIENCE
The first step we must make in Lent is repentance for our sins. Sorrow for sins is best expressed in the sacrament of reconciliation, where God’s grace is tailored to our personal story.
CHANGE OF HEART
On the eve of Lent we turn our minds towards our relationship with God, which is no static thing. Although God’s love for us is constant and copious, our love for him is not. It is subject not only to the affections we summon up or receive from time to time, but also by the state of our souls.
GOD’S PRESENCE AND ASSISTANCE
It’s time to start thinking about what observances we shall take up this Lent in order to grow in our spiritual self.
MEDITATION
Last week, we noted that we are beginning our preparation for Lent especially by considering our relationship with God.
FOR MANY
As we begin to prepare for Lent, we turn our minds to the quality of our relationship with God, for he is the origin and end of our life.