THE JOURNEY ~ The road went through hell but I learned that All Things Are Possible with God.

BOLATTE PRISON HORSE PROGRAM ~ ITALY

2012-01-14T12:42:00.000-06:00

PRISONERS CHANGING THEIR LIVES THROUGH DANCE

2011-10-31T05:51:00.001-05:00

The Dominican Priests and Brothers ~ a Family

2011-10-29T22:46:00.004-05:00

Corpus Christi Monastery ~ Bronx NY ~ Come, Be Apart of the Life

2011-09-28T14:54:00.001-05:00

FEEL CALLED TO BECOME A DOMINICAN BROTHER OR PRIEST?

2011-06-27T20:51:00.000-05:00

TO HONOR GOD

2011-06-23T07:52:00.000-05:00

VENI SANCTE SPIRITUS ~ COME HOLY SPIRIT

2011-06-12T20:18:00.000-05:00

Take a few moments to listen and let the Peace of the Spirit fill your hearts

ON DEATH ROW

2011-05-31T17:23:00.002-05:00

Since the late 1970s, penology in the United States has steadily turned away from hope in the power of rehabilitation and reform and has instead embraced an ideology of incapacitation and revenge. In the face of such cynicism and indifference to the plight of the incarcerated (and their families), Catholic prison ministry calls out more than ever for American priests to become involved in what some have termed the “prison-industrial complex.”

It is in this darkness that I see the light of God every day shining forth. Since my first experiences in prison ministry, I have learned over and over to see the face of Christ in the prisoners as well as in those who guard them. This Easter provided a good example. I have been working with a man on death row (, who studied Catholicism in his cell and desired to be baptized. I got permission from the warden to baptize him on Easter Monday.

Death row is a maximum-security area. All who enter it must don a stab-proof vest before meeting with inmates who are always kept locked up separately from staff - in other words: there is no human contact. Even when out of their cells, the prisoners are handcuffed and shackled with waist and leg chains.

Baptizing him had to be accomplished within these security constraints. With his hands cuffed behind him, and attached to a chain around his waist, he was escorted down the tier of cells to the entryway of the building housing the “Condemned” prisoners. A few staff, by his invitation came to witness his baptism. The normally noisy hallway became quiet and uncharacteristically peaceful as we began. He read a passage from Romans 6: “Are you not aware that we who were baptized into Christ Jesus were baptized into his death?” I had to hold the book for him as his hands were handcuffed behind his back.

The words of the ritual were hauntingly powerful as we stood against a black-painted wall, a wall that hid from our view the old Gas Chamber behind it. “If we have been united with him through likeness to his death, so shall we be through a like resurrection.” The words of St Paul challenged the whole machinery of death around us.

The words blessing the water were similarly a rejection of the power of death, violence and revenge: Light, Hope, Healing, Rebirth, Joy, Peace, Love, each word, each symbol hit like a sledgehammer against what promised only despair, only death. We who were gathered in that dark corner in that gloomy building that morning witnessed in the Baptism a clear sign of God’s grace shining into one of the darkest corners of our world. “Do you reject Satan? I do. And all his works? I do, and all his empty promises? I do.” This is why I love being a priest.

In a final breathtaking sign, as I prepared to anoint him with Chrism, he said, “Can you bless my hands as well?” In order to do so, he had to turn and offer me his hands, handcuffed behind his back. The same hands that took lives received the anointing with the chrism of salvation. The promise of liberation from those shackles brought tears to my eyes.

Catholic chaplain

HEART for SERVICE. Called to Serve

2011-05-31T13:16:00.000-05:00

Untitled from Grand Rapids Dominican Sisters on Vimeo.

The Dominican Sisters ~ Grand Rapids are offering a service program open to college-age women (and recent graduates) The goal of the program, Called to Serve, is to offer young women, within the context of a Catholic Dominican community, an opportunity to:

create community
serve those who are most vulnerable
pray together
study the issues that affect those we are serving

A TRIBUTE TO SERVICE DOGS

2011-05-29T15:21:00.002-05:00

GOD and Dog

2011-05-25T21:47:00.005-05:00

ST DOMINIC'S DAY ~ MAY 24

2011-05-24T17:55:00.002-05:00

Feast of St. Dominic August 8th
St Dominic Day May 24 - Translation of his relics

Dominic Guzman

St. Dominic feeding the poor

During the year Catholics the world over set aside days to mark and remember the efforts of saints who worked for God and the Church. The day set aside for the remembrance of a specific saint is known as a Feast Day, and time is set aside to attend mass, say special prayers, or participate in special meals or celebrations.

St. Dominic, the founder of the Order of Preachers (the Dominicans) was a man who led an austere life dedicated to God. He traveled widely, but always in humility, without pomp or retainers, and often even without his shoes.

He was dedicated to education, believing that knowledge would open peoples' eyes to the truth about the Lord. He is the patron saint of scientists, astronomers and astronomy, all of which reflect his love of learning and spreading knowledge.

St. Dominic's Feast Day is August 8th. Originally celebrated on August 4th, the day of his death, it was moved to the 8th after the liturgical reforms of the Second Vatican Council. He died on August 6th, 1221, on the Feast of the Transfiguration. The Feast of St. Dominic is widely celebrated, as he is a powerful figure in Church history.

He was well-known even in his lifetime as a great and holy man; so much so that Dante's poem Paradiso includes lines about Saint Dominic and his work. On the Feast Day of St. Dominic many people say prayers for guidance and light, much as the saint himself did.

saint dominic quotes:
"Arm yourself with prayer rather than a sword;
wear humility rather than fine clothes."

St Dominic Quotes:
"I kept on digging the hole deeper and deeper looking for the treasure chest until I finally lifted my head, looked up and realized that I had dug my own grave."
- [Doubt]

A man who governs his passions is master of his world. We must either command them or be enslaved by them. It is better to be a hammer than an anvil.
-Quote of St. Dominic de Guzman

Blessed Pope John Paul II, A FRIEND OF THE POOR

2011-04-30T20:28:00.003-05:00

Sr Pauline Quinn op recieving Communion by Pope John Paul II

To experience meeting him after working so long and hard in Rome helping the poor made me have faith that God will not abandon me.

How Great God Is To Have Created This...

2011-02-24T06:58:00.003-06:00

NOT BROKEN

2011-01-25T14:06:00.000-06:00

Amando IBANEZ OP ~ NOT BROKEN. A MOVIE TO SEE

Man of Peace: Don Samuel Ruiz 1924-2011

2011-01-25T13:31:00.000-06:00

A Man of Peace: Don Samuel Ruiz 1924-2011
Tuesday, 25th January 2011 - 18:39
It was a remarkable mass for a remarkable man.

The news spread rapidly yesterday morning of the death of Bishop Samuel Ruiz. He died at the age of 86, the day that marked 51 years since his ordination as Bishop of the Diocese of San Cristobal. By 2:30 the Mexico City church had filled with an unusual group of religious leaders, peace activists and figures who have marked Mexican politics over the years. All recalled their work alongside Tatik ('father' in Tzeltal) with a bittersweet blend of loss and gratitude. (...)

Click Here for the whole article

CONVERSION OF ST PAUL ~

2011-01-25T10:40:00.001-06:00

"...a great light from the sky suddenly shone around me. I fell to the ground and heard a voice saying to me, ‘Saul, Saul, why are you persecuting me?' I replied, ‘Who are you, sir?' And he said to me, ‘I am Jesus the Nazarene whom you are persecuting.'" (Acts 22:6-8) Who are you that am I persecuting?

That is another way to phrase the question. What did Saul of Tarsus discover in his conversion, in his turning? He turned to face the true subject of his persecutions of the Church: not Stephen at whose stoning he assisted, not the Christians of Damascus he wished to arrest, but he who was within them, strengthening them: Saul turned to face Jesus Christ. This is the secret that was unveiled to the apostle Paul, that set him free, that blinded him: the mystery hidden to unaided reason, but enlightening the inward eyes of faith: The mystery of Christ dwelling in his Church.

Complete text click here...

LEAVING ALL THINGS BEHIND

2011-01-25T10:02:00.002-06:00

Do Not Forget Them...

2011-01-14T06:22:00.002-06:00

My friend Sr Giovanna works in Southern Sudan, helping people. We do not know the sadness and real sorrows that other people face in countries that have no one to protect them. Do not forget them.

Pray for Sr Giovanna and others who are in such dangerious places of the world that they may be safe, helping those who have been hurt...

From: Giovanna
Sent: Friday, January 14, 2011 5:32 AM
To: Sr Pauline Quinn op
Subject: from Sr. Giovanna..

Dear Sr. Pauline, I was happy to hear from you. Yes, I am also working with displaced refugees from Congo due to the attacks of the rebels from North Uganda, the Lord's Resistance Army. Let us pray for each other, God bless
Sr. Giovanna

FILM ABOUT ST DOMINIC ~ OFFICAL TRAILER

2011-01-02T18:12:00.001-06:00

Down’s Syndrome Girls Respond to a Religious Vocation

2011-01-02T10:54:00.002-06:00

Little Sisters Disciples of the Lamb

The Little Sisters Disciples of the Lamb are a contemplative community that enables girls with Down’s syndrome to respond to a religious vocation.

To Offer Oneself to God in witness to the Gospel of Life

Together for a contemplative life

To consecrate one’s life to God, offering it for love of the weakest and most deprived of our neighbours, this is our vocation! By accompanying them, we want to enable young, intellectually disabled girls to offer a consecrated life to God and to the Church.

To allow those who have the “last place” in the world, to hold in the Church the exceptional place of spouses of Jesus Christ. To allow those who depend on others for their everyday life to take in charge, in their prayer, the intentions that are entrusted to them. To allow those whose life is held in contempt to the extent of being in danger from a culture of death, to witness by their consecration to the Gospel of Life.

The Institute of the Little Sisters Disciples of the Lamb, a contemplative vocation, offer young girls with Downs the possibilty of realising their religious vocation. This realisation is made possible only by the support of sisters without this disability, who have responded to a special call to consecrate themselves to God with their disabled sisters to form one community with them.

Today, more girls with Down’s Syndrome are knocking at our door. To respond to their request, our family needs new vocations. Vocations to share a contemplative life with “the smallest in the Kingdom”.

Together in work and prayer

Guided by the wisdom of St Benedict, we teach our little disabled sisters the manual labour necessary for their development. We live poverty in putting ourselves at their disposal. With them, we share the work of everyday life.

The office, adoration and the praying of the rosary are adapted to their rhythm and their capacities. In a spirit of silence, our prayer feeds every day on the Eucharist and on the meditation of the Gospel.

Close to the abbey of Fontgombault, we benefit from its spiritual support.

The Institute of the Little Sisters Disciples of the Lamb

The community was founded in 1985, and canonically recognised in 1990 as a public association by the Archbishop of Tours. It settled in Blanc in 1995, and was erected as a religious institute of contemplative life by the archbishop of Bourges in 1999.

The Little Sisters now have at their disposal a priory on the edge of the town. Here, for a period of vocational discernment, they can receive young girls touched by the spirit of poverty and dedication, ready to offer a whole existence to the service of Christ in the person of their sisters with Down’s Syndrome.

At the school of St Therese of the Child Jesus

We follow every day the “little way” taught by Saint Therese; knowing that “great actions are forbidden to us”, we learn from her to receive everything from God, to “love for the brothers who fight”, to “scatter flowers for Jesus”, and to pray for the intentions entrusted to us.

[Text from a leaflet produced by the community, trans. bat Ionah. ]

The community was founded with the encouragement of Jerome Lejeune, and is currently supported by, among others, the Lejeune Foundation, according to this page. One sister made her perpetual profession last June.

Bishop Raul Vera Lopez op is a fighter for Human Rights and Social Justice

2010-11-19T17:10:00.007-06:00

FEARLESS MEXICAN BISHOP RECIEVES THE 2010 RAFTO HUMAN RIGHTS AWARD. José Raúl Vera López (65), the Catholic bishop of Saltillo, Northern Mexico, is awarded the Rafto Prize 2010 for his struggle for human rights and social justice. He is an uncompromising critic of power abuse and a fearless defender of migrants, indigenous peoples, and other groups at risk in Mexican society.

Human rights crisis in Mexico
SPEECH BY FR. RAÚL VERA LÓPEZ, O.P. BISHOP OF SALTILLO, MEXICO

Rafto Symposium 2010
Grand Selskapslokaler, Bergen, Norway
5 November 2010

As Mexico celebrates the bicentennial of its independence and the centennial of its revolution, the reality is that we are seeing the most aggressive human rights violations against its population and against migrants who pass through its territory.

Talking about human rights in the world today, particularly in Mexico, is inevitably to denounce the violent death and exclusion of millions of men, women and children. This situation challenges us to confront the structural causes leading to systematic violations of human rights and seek solutions at local, regional and international levels. Such a challenge can only be addressed by discovering the worth and dignity of human nature as the base from which to articulate efforts as an international society to defend and promote human rights collectively and in an organised manner.

Keys to understand the Mexican crisis
Mexico is currently suffering the consequences of a socio-political and socio-economic structure that generates systematic violation of human rights. The political regime strives to follow one rule: that of impunity and injustice. The effects of this choice are the dismantling and weakening of the state through questionable democratic processes. Dismantling the state enables mechanisms for the operation of highly profitable businesses enriching only a few people and a lack of regulations to determine the origin and destination of profits. The entire situation creates an environment of growing poverty for the vast majority of the Mexican population, institutionalised violence, and a culture of murder.

The current institutional war against organised crime in Mexico is having disturbing consequences for the population. I perceive this institutional war as a mere simulation, because the main elements supporting and feeding the power of criminal mafias are not being targeted, namely: flow of money and political support. Organised crime mafias have infiltrated Mexican political structures, and public institutions in charge of law enforcement and security to an alarming extent. Economic power used by mafias to corrupt people at all levels is increasing exponentially. They can corrupt public officials, private companies and also the business and financial centres that do their money laundering. This economic power helps them renew their structures when they lose members or when one of the senior bosses is killed or imprisoned. This is why, in reality, government actions have little or no effect on the mafias.

The government is confronting organised crime primarily in a warlike manner; using armed forces, with little or almost no law enforcement, and appearing increasingly weak before the power of criminal gangs. As a consequence, the population is at the mercy of mafias without anyone or anything protecting them. This situation facilitates the violation of the rights all people have to life, peace, freedom, security and integrity. The Mexican state currently does not protect or guarantee the life or property of its citizens. The country is falling apart. The common agreement now seems to be focused on a false “legality” deprived of any ethical dimension, used to prosecute those (companies, public institutions and officials) who make it possible for organised crime to obtain financial resources and weapons. But that alleged “legality” actually ensures priority is given to the accumulation of more wealth by renegade associations of large companies, with the subsequent reduction of workers’ rights.

For over 30 years, the neoliberal economic model has been adopted and assumed in Mexico with all the severity that one can imagine. It has lead to systematically growing poverty, widening social inequality and amplification of inequality in general. The Free Trade Agreement between the United States, Canada and Mexico (NAFTA) has benefited large capitals, but has reduced the quality of life of over 80% of the population. Male and female workers have been left to the mercy of employers, whose rights are openly and non-ethically protected by the authorities above those of the workers. This lack of protection for workers and reduction of labour rights is regrettable.

Lack of protection is a widespread situation in Mexico. Freedom of association, which already had many threats before, is currently subject to persecution, reduction and excessive control. Independent trade unions that care for workers and were out of governmental control are being dismantled and removed. Peasants and indigenous people are being denied progress and access to a decent quality of life. There is also exclusion among young people living in urban areas; the rector of the Universidad Nacional Autónoma de Mexico (UNAM) reported that nearly three million young people cannot access the education system and have no job either.

Another situation occurring at an alarming increasing rate in the State of Coahuila and northern part of Mexico is forced disappearances. Diocesan Centre for Human Rights, Fray Juan de Larios, has documented 84 cases of missing people only in the State of Coahuila. Press sources speak of more than a thousand people missing across the northern border, but so far neither the state nor the Federal Government has conducted investigations. Instead of working to protect families, both levels of government have managed to make the situation invisible by creating information blackouts for the media. Assault, intimidation, threats and kidnappings of male and female journalists have increased over the past two years. Not to mention the murder of two reporters in the Diocese of Saltillo and three attacks on the media (two on print media and one on television media) working in the State of Coahuila. Amnesty International (AI) in its 2010 report spoke of at least a dozen journalists murdered nationwide in 2009 in relation to public safety issues and corruption. According to the Foundation for Free Expression (FUNDALEX) so far, in 2010, ten journalists have been killed in the country, making Mexico the most risky country for this activity.

These facts demonstrate the Mexican state’s current inability to ensure its citizens’ safety and freedom of expression, information and truth, something which we all have and which are essential in respect of future actions and complaints. It signifies a waiving of the duty to protect human rights. It also is linked to the corruption of officials who, instead of promoting and enforcing the rule of law, have decided to ally themselves with the criminals to their benefit, enabling them to impose their rules on society.

Kidnapping of migrants: "A humanitarian tragedy"
In late 2007, organised crime groups began to take over territories through which migrants frequently passed. Then, kidnapping and extortion started to take place systematically. In May 2009 the National Commission on Human Rights (CNDH) estimated that over a period of six months, 9,758 migrants were kidnapped throughout the country. This number shows that systematic crimes against migrant populations in Mexico are widespread.

Brutality is a feature of this problem. Victims suffer all kinds of torture, cruel and degrading treatment, psychological and physical punishment, and murder. These events take on a more serious dimension when it is known that organised crime operates in collusion with or with the consent of local authorities. Victims have said that municipal police can be directly linked to the crimes and that agents of the National Migration Institute (INM) and the Federal Police (PFP) quietly observe from their checkpoints as men, women, children and adolescents are taken hostage, and undertake no action to free the victims and stop offenders.

Victims are mostly migrants from Central American countries such as Honduras, El Salvador, Guatemala and Nicaragua, but also include people from South American countries. More than two months ago the news published the abominable and outrageous slaughter of fourteen women and fifty-four men from Central America, Ecuador and Brazil. Their bodies were found on a ranch in Tamaulipas State, north-eastern Mexico; they had been shot dead. Besides serving to prevent migrants entering into the United States, the purpose of the kidnappings is to obtain money from their relatives who are waiting for them there. This started in 2007, but was poorly organised; it was well known that migrants were being kidnapped but the mechanisms they nowadays use to carry out this type of kidnapping had not yet been established.

About two years ago, details of the terrible tragedy unfolded and became known. Members of organised crime gangs, with the reluctant consent of state agents, had been establishing contacts to carry out kidnappings and gruesome tortures to ensure that migrants supply phone numbers of their relatives in the U.S. These are then blackmailed to release the kidnap victim. This information has been obtained thanks to family members who have paid a ransom or to complaints made by victims who were released or somehow managed to escape and found protection in shelters and institutions specially organised to help them. Now we know that the police themselves were a tool used to “hook” migrants (they call “hitch” the person making the first contact between the kidnappers and migrants) and delivered them to the kidnappers. Mexican immigration agents often act as accomplices. Organised crime also forces some migrants to act as “recruiters” with the delusion that they will provide guidance to fellow migrants moving to the U.S., posing as “coyotes” or “boats” , but they are actually taken to the kidnapping gangs.

In Mexico, the railroad is no longer used to transport people. Migrants travel on freight trains, hidden inside or up on the roof. Organised crime members agree with train drivers to take migrants with them and let them get off where vehicles are waiting for them. They are taken to “safe houses” (where up to 300 people remain locked up) where they are tortured into supplying phone numbers of relatives in the U.S. who are asked to pay an average of 3,500 dollars, but may be up to 8,000 dollars, per person. Sometimes 200 or 300 dollars are accepted if the family has no means to pay more. The regimes enforced in these “houses” represent true slavery: women are forced to cook small rations of food for male and female hostages, women are constantly raped, and men do cleaning tasks and forced labour.

There are probably qualified medical staff available in those “houses”. Some of the migrants, who have no family in the US, are made to pay by the removal of a kidney, which is then sold in the market for organ trafficking. The same thing happens with pregnant women: they sell the newborn baby. They even dismember people while they are alive. They gradually cut off body parts until they are beheaded. They do it in the presence of all the other people in the "safe house", in addition to torture and control them. This way, they get intimidated and end up “freely” giving up phone numbers of their friends or relatives in the U.S. Those who have no connections in the U.S. or simply refuse to deliver contact information are invited to join the criminal organization, offering them robust amounts of money as salary.

Causes of the tragedy
Forced migration is caused mainly by the global economic model of the free market, since states no longer have control money flow mechanisms. Within our system of production and consumption, the producer of goods and services primarily aimed to respond to consumer needs within the parameters of the consumer's quality of life. Since consumers are the workers, maintaining their purchasing power, through their salaries, used to be important. Within the economic model of the free market, the concept of service that keeps the balance between laws of supply and demand is missing.

State intervention becomes necessary to keep the balance between exchange value (value obtained by producers for providing goods and services) and the utility value (value that consumers obtain from the goods and services they have purchased). The idea of state intervention is to maintain the balance between supply and demand in the context of justice and law. The current economic model requires the state solely to protect large producers who (without any public control) have overstated the exchange value in order to swell the capital needed to stay in the game of the free market. This exaggeration in exchange value affects utility value as well, because when the spirit of service is missing, producers seek as much profit as possible, at the cost of the intention of consumer’s quality of life.

In their pursuit of exaggerated profit, producers of goods and services do not care about the quality of life of those who work for them; they do not care about fair wages. Producers want the state to keep wages low and facilitate reduction of employment benefits. Thus, workers are left with no chance of progress or any possibility of achieving a decent standard of living. States are obliged to “deregulate” fiscal controls (having no tax regulation) so that capital can multiply. This deregulation not only entails tax exemptions for which investors must pay, but also the loss of public control over capital gains in the speculative market (before the New York Stock Exchange crisis, this used to be an absolute principle, now they are trying to correct the situation using state measures that are still very weak).

Within this economic model, human beings and their needs come second, becoming only tools that help a few families in the world increase their wealth. Countries with weaker economies are the ones more severely tempted to impose deregulation of their fiscal controls. They control neither foreign nor domestic investment capital and policies of privatisation are imposed on them, so that services normally provided by the state are taken over by large private companies. I believe that in this way political systems which should care for the integral development their population, are at the service of those who gain by the economic system. This is unfair, because the social responsibility of the state is reduced to a minimum. In this situation, many people are driven to forced migration, not only in the search for a job, but for more decently paid work and a better quality of life.

In addition to money flow mechanisms at an international level (with no control from the state) there are illegal flows generated by organised crime. The global economic model maintains conditions that allow these illegal flows of money to be laundered into legal money, with which criminal organisations buy weapons that are more powerful than those used by the police and armies of many nations. They can also corrupt security forces, politicians, public officials, business and operators in financial centres. With laundered money they hire young people as assassins and gangsters, because many youngsters have no offer of honest work.

Everything is against Central and South American migrants, fostering a climate of terror and suffering on their transit through Mexico. They walk in the hope of achieving what has been called the “American Dream”, that is, going to seek a better life for themselves and their families in the U.S. Even when we consider it a tragedy that they cannot find a decent life in their own countries, the suffering they face in the hands of organised crime and a whole system of oppression during their migration is an even worse tragedy.

Tackling the tragedy
Those aspects of our laws that criminalise migrants have disappeared. Until recently it was considered a crime to enter Mexico without proper admission requirements. After a legal reform it turned out to be just an administrative transgression. Various civil society organisations are working on creating a document that certifies immigration status in order to protect migrants during their passage. Mexico has signed international agreements assuming the responsibility to protect the human rights of migrants who illegally enter its territory. Only in this way we can avoid the position of helplessness into which migrants are forced when crossing our country.

Migrants in Mexico face very dangerous conditions when using trains. They have to get on and off trains when they are actually moving, then find a place to travel by walking on the roofs, moving from carriage to carriage, at great personal risk. Often they fall onto the train tracks and suffer injuries, get mutilated by wheels, or even die. Because they do not have legal identification cards and thus can be arrested and deported to their countries of origin, they transit on foot through isolated places, through forests, jungles, mountains and deserts, which not only expose them to the dangers of dehydration and disease, but also of assaults and robberies, in which some of them are killed and most women sexually abused. Facing continuous complaints for violations of human rights against migrants, the Mexican government created a temporary visa, which allows migrants who have been victims of such violations to remain in Mexico while perpetrators are prosecuted. They have even access to work. Unfortunately, even though those visas are granted and victims protected, no trials are conducted and no damages are received by injured persons. This visa represents a bureaucratic procedure that aims to portray Mexico as a defender of human rights of migrants, but it does not provide real protection.

To prevent further violations of migrant’s rights it is necessary to change public immigration policies. The Mexican government should stop attempting to manage migration flows by acting as a retaining wall for migrants attempting to reach the U.S. By continuing to do this Mexico will not defend rights; rather it will continue to feed the culture of human rights violations and impunity and being an accomplice in these crimes. There are people in Mexico asking migrants for immigration papers without being authorised by law to do so. They do it only out of the suspicion that a person may be foreigner. Punishment for those actions is urgent. The only officials authorised to require documents to prove legal presence in Mexico are officials of the National Migration Institute. The Mexican government is responsible for human rights violations when implicitly collaborating with this “containment” policy aimed at preventing Mexican, Central and South American migrants from “reaching the United States”.

A complaint was presented at the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights (IACHR) for kidnapping and other violations against the human rights of migrants passing through Mexico. In March this year information on this grave “humanitarian tragedy” was reported during a thematic hearing at the Commission, where the Mexican Government and immigration officers were denounced for being accomplices in the kidnappings, extortion and murders. There was no reaction, answer, or denial from the Mexican authorities who were present. The Mexican state is accused of violating international covenants that ensure the security of any person in its territory, thus strong condemnation by the international community is needed.

Let Us Become a Servant of the Lord, Helping One Another

2010-10-26T17:23:00.001-05:00

For Anyone Who Is Fearful

2010-10-20T19:29:00.002-05:00

THE DIVINE OFFICE ~ UNITE THE WORLD IN PRAYER

2010-09-25T20:41:00.005-05:00

CLICK HERE FOR AUDIO AND WRITTEN DAILY PRAYERS THAT ARE SAID AROUND THE WORLD EVERY DAY. JOIN IN AND BE A PART OF SOMETHING GOOD

The Dominican Order ~ they come from many countries

2010-09-18T17:39:00.000-05:00

Interview With Fr Bruno Cadore, New Master of the Dominican Order

2010-09-07T12:20:00.003-05:00

THE VIDEOS FROM THE ORDER OF PREACHERS, (DOMINICANS)

2010-08-26T23:55:00.004-05:00

GOD BLESS CARLOS AZPIROZ COSTA FOR ALL HE HAS DONE AS MASTER OF THE DOMINICAN ORDER

In preparation for the General Chapter 2010 the General Council along with some brothers who have the expertise in media decided to share about our life here in Santa Sabina and some perspectives we have from our experiences of visitations and encountering the brothers. The purpose was to make some videos to generate interest and enthusiasm not only for the Chapter Fathers but also for those who would not be able to participate in the Chapter.

The Mission: What is the mission of preachers for the 21th century?

Study: Which is the place of the intellectual life in the Catholic Church?

Consecrated Life: How do we live our life in society today?

Government of the Order: What is so unique about Dominican style of government?

GOVERNMENT

CONSECRATED LIFE

MISSION PART 1

MISSION PART 2

STUDY PART 1

STUDY PART 2

St Catherine of Siena

2010-07-13T10:05:00.001-05:00

The Dominican Order ~ The Importance of Study

2010-07-13T10:00:00.001-05:00

The Dominican Channel

2010-07-13T09:50:00.002-05:00

FEEL THE CALL TO BECOME A PRIEST??

2010-07-13T05:59:00.001-05:00

FR TIMOTHY RADCLIFFE WITH THE DOMINICAN DOGS

2010-07-12T08:23:00.005-05:00

STAND UPRIGHT

Timothy Radcliffe O.P.

'There will be signs in the sun, the moon and the stars and on the earth distress among the nations confused by the roaring of the sea and the waves.' In the last few weeks many people's lives in England have been disturbed by floods, bringing chaos to their lives. In the time of Jesus 'the roaring of the sea and the waves' symbolized the collapse of our ordered world, the unleashing of destruction.

Our worlds may collapse for many reasons. Our marriage may breakdown; we may lose our jobs, discover that we have cancer, become estranged from our children. In all of these situations, we may feel overwhelmed by disaster, and that our lives have no meaning. Then, Jesus says, 'Stand up and raise your heads, because your redemption is drawing near.' When we feel bowed down, Jesus tells us to stand up erect, with our heads raised, because salvation is at hand.

So when our lives collapse and lose their meanings, when we feel flattened and bowed down, Jesus invites us to stand upright. And we can do this because, the Gospel says, we will see the Son of Man coming with power and glory. This refers to the end, God's final triumph over chaos and all that destroys human life. But it also refers to Jesus enthroned on the cross in glory. Everything was done to crush Jesus, to humiliate and bring him low, but it became a moment of glory. He was lifted up high on the cross, upright on the cross. The most ancient representations of the cross do not show a broken man, but Jesus as a king in glory.

We can stand upright too, because in his death Christ embraced all that could crush us. He was overwhelmed by chaos; the sun was darkened, the world collapsed. But he stood upright for all of us. He brought humanity to its feet. The Lord has suffered every humiliation that flattens us, and he stands erect, lifted up by his and our Father. Leo the Great said in his Christmas sermon: 'O Christian, be aware of your nobility. It is God's own nature that you share.' Nothing can ultimately bring us low, to the ground.

'Stand up and raise your heads' sounds very like 'Stand up on your own two feet'. But the English expression implies that being upright is an act of individual will-power, something we must do alone. But the Gospel invites to help each other to our feet. Peter heals the lame man outside the Temple: '"In the name of Jesus walk." And he took him by the right hand and raised him up. And immediately his feet and ankles were made strong.' Let us prepare for the coming of Christ this Advent by helping each other to our feet. The test of a true Christian love is that it makes those whom we love strong. Once in Rwanda during the massacres, soldiers burst into our priory and made all of the brethren lie flat on the ground, putting pistols against their heads. When the soldiers left, the brethren helped each other to their feet, and shared the joy of standing up together.

Thank You To American Airlines MILES FOR KIDS IN NEED and EARTH ANGEL AVIATORS

2010-07-05T11:08:00.009-05:00

WOODMAY LOIZER

All of us at PATHWAYS TO HOPE.ORG is very thankful to American Airlines Milies for Kids in Need and Earth Angel Aviators for their kindness in helping Woodmay Lozier a badly burned young teenager from Haiti for tickets to travel to the Shriner's Children's Burn Hospital in Sacramento, California, helping also Claire Labatte a regestered nurse and who speaks Creole and Sr Pauline Quinn op to be able to fly with Woodmay from Haiti to Sacramento.

Both AA Miles for Kids in Need and Earth Angel Aviators are wonderful organizations and if you can help them by donating to their organizations it will help them help other children in need..

EARTH ANGEL AVIATORS

MILES FOR KIDS IN NEED

Gregorian - Veni Creator Spiritus

2010-07-05T08:41:00.002-05:00

PRAISE THE LORD FOR ALL WE HAVE

2010-07-05T08:32:00.002-05:00

One of the tents amoung 50,000 tents in Haiti after the earthquake

YAHWEH, YOU ARE NEAR

2010-07-05T08:22:00.000-05:00

HERE I AM LORD ~

2010-07-05T08:02:00.002-05:00

IRISH BLESSING ~ THE PRIESTS

2010-07-05T07:36:00.000-05:00

AMAZING GRACE

2010-07-05T07:20:00.002-05:00

IF YOU ARE SAD, HERE IS A MESSAGE FOR YOU...

2010-06-27T16:28:00.001-05:00

~ If we don't help victims of abuse by our love and compassion then we ignore Christ~

2010-06-26T16:05:00.004-05:00

A CATHOLIC BISHOP WHO CARES ABOUT THE POOR ~ BISHOP RAUL VERA LOPEZ OP

2010-06-22T05:56:00.004-05:00

CLICK HERE TO SEE HIM

Sex Trafficking IS a World Wide Problem

2010-06-20T11:33:00.002-05:00

The Elderly in Prison

2010-06-20T07:03:00.002-05:00

PLEASE HELP ME TO HELP WOODMAY A 15 YEAR OLD BADLY BURNED BOY FROM HAITI

2010-06-13T19:13:00.004-05:00

CLICK HERE TO SEE FULL STORY

OUR LADY OF PEACE

2010-06-12T18:22:00.004-05:00

Always strive for peace and reconcilation. When we are hurt, it can be difficult but not impossible. Focus on Our Lady of Peace...

photo and art by Sr Pauline

ST ROSE OF LIMA ~ A DOMINICAN

2010-05-21T07:37:00.001-05:00

READ THE STORY OF ST ROSE OF LIMA ~ CLICK HERE

WE ARE ON A JOURNEY OF HOPE ~ IF YOU MISSED THIS TRAIN, ANOTHER IS ON IT'S WAY... JUMP ON

2010-05-19T05:41:00.001-05:00

Everyone has their own journey that they are on and perhaps you would like to share your journey, too.

We might be on the same train which is taking us through this life as unique souls that we are.

Sr Paulina Quinn op

THE JOURNEY OF HOPE ~ Sr Pauline Quinn op

2010-05-15T22:19:00.002-05:00

Click here to view this photo book.

As a young girl I had a very difficult life. I was so dehumanized that I was not able to even speak. Through many different events in my life, I was able to pick myself up and slowly started to move forward. With the wind at my face, I never gave up and I went out and helped thousands. I am proud of myself because I trusted in God and He led me out of the storm and found ways to help others so they won't have to suffer as I did.

ABUSE OF POWER IN THE CHURCH ~ IF ABUSE IS IGNORED, MANY MORE PEOPLE ARE HURT

2010-05-11T07:28:00.004-05:00

Fr. Marcial Maciel Degollado (March 10, 1920 – January 30, 2008) was a bisexual [1]Mexican-born Roman Catholic priest who founded the Legion of Christ and the Regnum Christi movement. He was found guilty of having forced homosexual relations with underaged boys. Reports confirmed that Maciel maintained relationships with at least two women and fathered up to six children, two of whom he allegedly abused as well.[4] From 1956 to the end of his life he was engulfed in scandals after accusations of a lifetime of financial and sexual misconduct and drug abuse. On May 1, 2010 the Vatican issued a statement condemning Maciel as "immoral" and acknowledging that Maciel had committed "true crimes" and that he had led a "life deprived of scruples and authentic religious feeling". Pope Benedict also said he would appoint a special commission to examine the Legionaries’ constitution and open an investigation into the its lay affiliate Regnum Christi.[8]

In an April article in The National Catholic Reporter, U.S. investigative reporter Jason Berry wrote that "the charismatic" founder of the Legion of Christ "sent streams of money to Roman curia officials with a calculated end…Maciel was buying support for his group and defence for himself, should his astounding secret life become known." Berry and his late colleague Gerald Renner wrote the 2004 book "Vows of Silence: The Abuse of Power in the Papacy of John Paul II", which gave rise to the award-winning documentary "Vows of Silence" on Father Maciel and the Legion of Christ. Maciel's key supporters, who provided him with a protective shield, included Cardinal Angelo Sodano, Vatican secretary of state from 1991 to 2006; Cardinal Eduardo Martínez, prefect of the Congregation for Institutes of Consecrated Life and Societies of Apostolic Life; and Cardinal Stanislaw Dziwisz, the Polish secretary of late Pope John Paul II (1978-2005).[19]
Cardinal Ratzinger, now the pope personally stalled investigations into Maciel though he may have been forced to do this by other high ranking people in the Roman Catholic Church.

Cardinal Ratzinger — the future Pope Benedict XVI — halted the inquiry. “It isn’t prudent,” he had told a Mexican bishop, according to two people who later talked to the bishop.

For years, Maciel had cultivated powerful allies among the cardinals, through gifts and cash donations. Chief among these allies was the former Vatican secretary of state and the most powerful man next to Pope John Paul II, Cardinal Angelo Sodano, now the dean of the College of Cardinals.

The Cost of Father Maciel
Joseph Bottum

Cardinal Sodano has to go. The dean of the College of Cardinals, he has been found too often on the edges of scandal. Never quite charged, never quite blamed, he has had his name in too long a series of depositions and court records and news accounts—an ongoing embarrassment to the Church he serves. The Vatican has been responding in a disorganized way to the frenzy of recent press stories about often thirty-year-old abuse cases. What it should do is put its own house in order, moving out the unhelpful remnants of the bureaucracy that allowed those scandals to fester for so long.

The latest revelations concern the financial benefits Cardinal Sodano received from Fr. Marcial Maciel Degollado, the corrupt conman who founded the Legion of Christ and its associated lay group, Regnum Christi. And those revelations follow hard on the 2008 convictions of Raffaello Follieri for wire fraud and money laundering. (Follieri’s company, you’ll remember, was trading in decommissioned church property, and it relied for its crimes on the prestige of having Cardinal Sodano’s nephew as its vice president.) That news, in turn, followed the cardinal’s reported role in thwarting a 1995 investigation into the subsequently proved accusations against the episcopal molester in Vienna, Hans Hermann Groër.

In one sense, of course, it’s very sad. A long career in the Church is not ending well, and it would be kinder to protect the man and let him slip away unnoticed. But Cardinal Sodano himself seems unwilling to let it be so. Speaking of the stories that were on the front page of nearly every newspaper in the world, he told the pope publicly at Easter this year, “The people of God are with you and do not allow themselves to be impressed by the petty gossip of the moment.”

Petty gossip? There’s room for complaint about the way the scandals have been used to advance every agenda under the sun, but when the subject is abused and sodomized children, petty is not the adjective of choice. Even in a season of mismanaged Vatican responses to the frenzy of the press, Sodano’s line was stunningly tone-deaf, and it served mostly to give the media yet another day of headlines. As things stand, if (God forbid) Pope Benedict were to die, the obsequies would be led by Cardinal Sodano—and the newscasts, hour after hour, would feature rehashes of all that is now associated with his name.

But that’s not the real problem. The deeper point is the lack of consequences— visible consequences—for failures and missteps and wrong associations in the Vatican. The real problem is that heads haven’t rolled, penalties haven’t been exacted, for Fr. Maciel’s deceptions.

For many years, Cardinal Sodano received money and benefits for his projects from the Legion of Christ, and in 1998 he halted investigations into sexual abuse by the Legion’s founder. That apparent quid pro quo ought to have a price.

It ought to have a price precisely because the scandal of Fr. Maciel is so deadly. The child-abuse cases were a corruption in the Church. What Fr. Maciel attempted is a corruption of the Church. He fooled many people, including this magazine’s creator, Richard John Neuhaus, who once defended Maciel in a 2002 column, before agreeing later that Cardinal Ratzinger (investigating Maciel at the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith) and John Paul “know more than I know with respect to evidence.”

The irony is that Fr. Neuhaus didn’t undertake that defense at the behest of Maciel, whom he never knew well. He did so because people he did know well, young American priests of the Legion, begged him to do so, telling him that their founder was suffering an attack they were certain was false and unfair. The first victims are the men, women, and children that Maciel, in his polymorphous perversity, used sexually, but the second set of victims are the good, strong, dynamic priests who had little direct contact with the man and are nonetheless tarred by his actions.

In the long history of the Church, enduring religious establishments have been built by the sinful, but usually the new order’s spirituality is a correction to the sinfulness: a way, a charism, that leads such sinners to Christ. Maciel, however, wrote his sins, and his power to cover up those sins, deep into the spirituality of the Legion of Christ—in how it handles confession, how it treats obedience, and how it understands authority.

The bishops who undertook the apostolic visitation of the Legion have finished their work, presenting their report to the Vatican on April 30. In anticipation, the directors of the Legion issued a statement on March 26, which read, “We ask all those who accused him in the past to forgive us, those whom we did not believe or were incapable of giving a hearing to, since at the time we could not imagine that such behavior took place.” On April 25, Fr. Owen Kearns, publisher of the Legion’s newspaper, the National Catholic Register, added, “To Father Maciel’s victims, I pray you can accept these words: I’m sorry for what our founder did to you. I’m sorry for adding to your burden with my own defense of him and my accusations against you. I’m sorry for being unable to believe you earlier. I’m sorry this apology has taken so long.”

All that is good, and yet, it isn’t enough. First Things has never received money from the Legion (and the closest I personally have been to their finances was a single review, of an Orhan Pamuk novel, I wrote for the National Catholic Register back in 1997). But then one thinks of the likes of Thomas Williams, Tom Hoopes, Thomas Berg, and all the other friends and acquaintances who had associations with the Legion of Christ and Regnum Christi. For that matter, many American Catholic commentators have lectured over the years at the movement’s events. The money they received was never significant, but it all helped contribute to an atmosphere in which the Legion could close ranks after the first public accusations against Maciel.

That atmosphere has to be eliminated, which will require the rewriting and reordering not just of the institutional structure but also of the spiritual design of the Legion of Christ and Regnum Christi.

In April, the National Catholic Reporter published a two-part article about Maciel’s financial dealings. Given the obsession with all things Catholic this spring, a time when the Long Lent of 2002 seemed to have come around again, the article received surprisingly little attention. Perhaps that’s because the author, Jason Berry, didn’t quite have the story he wanted. His account of cash in Rome was thinly sourced, and his reporting on Maciel’s actions in Mexico didn’t find the smoking gun we’ve all long expected to be found—the one that shows the Legion’s connections to the likes of Carlos Slim, whose telephone monopoly and political string-pulling made him the world’s richest man, and to the endemic corruption of Mexican politics.

As I wrote when the articles first appeared, although they were fumbling as journalism, they were fumbling toward what seems to be the truth. A larger part of the reason that the mainstream media didn’t latch on to the story may be that it does not fit the narrative of the moment—for Joseph Ratzinger, first as cardinal and now as pope, comes off in the Maciel scandal as something like the hero. Not until the end did John Paul II see more than a charismatic Latin American figure, raising money and training vibrant, active priests. Cardinal Ratzinger clearly saw deeper, despite the powerful protection Cardinal Sodano cast over Maciel.

The received journalistic narrative skewed a great deal of other reporting this spring. All through March and April, Der Spiegel, the New York Times, and the Irish Times—to name only a few—were working, quite accurately, within the media’s standard picture, which demands that the pope himself must have been involved in covering up crimes in the Church.

A more accurate understanding, as I wrote in a recent Weekly Standard article, would see that the first part of the scandals—the most evil, disgusting part—is basically over. For a variety of reasons, Catholics suffered through a corruption of their priests, centered around 1975, with the clergy’s percentage of sexual predators reaching new and vile levels. The Church now has in place stringent child-protection procedures, and the cases now being discussed, real and imagined, are more than a decade old.

The second part of the scandals, however, involves not the mostly dead criminals but the living institution. The bishops who ruled over those corrupt priests catastrophically failed to act. There were never a lot of these Catholic cases, but there were plenty enough—with every single one a horror, both in the act itself and in the failure of the bishops to react. The Catholic Church did not start the worldwide epidemic of child sexual abuse, and it did not materially advance it. But the bureaucracy of the Church did not do nearly enough to fight that epidemic when it broke out among its own clergy. And for these failures, every Catholic is paying—in nearly $3 billion of donations lost in court judgments, in suspicion of pastors, and in deep shame.

Insofar as anyone comes out well from all this, it is Pope Benedict. However much the narrative demands that he be pulled in, nothing yet published has held up to serious scrutiny. Which ought not, really, to be a surprise. This man was the one who actually saw there was a problem—the one who, in 2005, openly denounced the “filth in the Church and in the priesthood.” A Maltese abuse victim who met the pope this April told an interviewer, “I did not have any faith in priests. Now, after this moving experience, I have hope again. You people in Italy have a saint. Do you realize that? You have a saint!”

Not that the Vatican has managed to tell this story. The responses of the bureaucracy in Rome have swung between unhelpful silences and wrong-headed whines. There may be good reasons not to play the publicity games—driven by media cycles and celebrity culture and dramas of shame and fame—in which the world is caught up these days. The wheels of Catholicism have always ground slowly, operating with a deliberation that will not, and should not, match the world’s hectic pace. Then again, there may be good reasons for the Church to take the world as it finds it, trying to move people toward Christ from where those people actually are.

But, over these recent months of frenzy, the Vatican has unsuccessfully adopted both these modes. The bureaucracy has attempted public relations and done it badly. And the bureaucracy has attempted interior review, for the edification of its people and the good discipline of its priests, and that, too, has not been done particularly well. The faithful are saddened, responding to the news accounts with a sigh and mumble, and the clergy are disheartened and confused.

For either purpose, a figure such as Cardinal Sodano has to be removed from his current position and told to serve the Church in prayer. Everyone inside the Church needs to be taught that there are consequences for scandalous mistakes. And, for the outside world, Catholicism needs a story to tell, a narrative that can convey the simple truth: Despite the sins of its members, the Church remains what it has been—a light in dark places, a force of charity for the weak and the poor, and a hope for humankind on its way to the saving truth that is God.

New Dominican Sister at Catarina Benincasa Dominican Monestary

2010-05-08T19:42:00.000-05:00

MY TRIP TO HAITI

2010-04-17T07:30:00.001-05:00

Cool Slideshows

The earthquake ~ Haiti

2010-02-24T07:17:00.000-06:00

Haiti Needs Help ~ Photos I took on Mission to Haiti

2010-02-11T12:08:00.002-06:00

PRAY FOR MISSING BISHOPS AND PRIESTS IN CHINA

2010-01-04T09:22:00.003-06:00

Press Release – January 4, 2010
The Cardinal Kung Foundation

Contact: Joseph Kung
PO Box 8086, Stamford, CT 06905, U.S.A.
Tel: 203-329-9712 Fax: 203-329-8415 E-Mail: jmkung@aol.com
Web Site: http://www.cardinalkungfoundation.org

Bishop Yao Liang of Xiwanzi, Hebei died
Three underground priest in Xuenhua disappeared

Underground Catholic Bishop Leon Yao Liang, the auxiliary bishop of Xiwanzi in Hebei, died on December 30, 2009. He was 87. We have not yet learned of any funeral arrangements for his burial because the news of his death appears to have been tightly controlled by the Chinese authority.

Bishop Yao was born in 1923 in Gonghui Village, Zhangbei county. He was ordained a priest in 1946. After ordination, he was assigned to various churches as assistant pastor. He was restricted in the region of Xiwanzi for his priestly duty by the Communst regime in the early 1950’s, earning his livelihood from vegetable farming and from selling fire wood. In 1956, he was forced to enter labor camp, and in 1958, was sentenced to life imprisonment. His “crime” was to be in communion with the Pope and with the universal Catholic Church. He was finally released from the prison in 1984 after 28 years in labor camps and prison. He was ordained a bishop on February 19, 2002 under a mandate from the Vatican.

In the meantime, we learned that three underground Catholic priests from Xuanhua, Hebei, Fathers Zhang Cunhui age 46, Zhang Zhanglin age 45, and Liu (??) age 32 disappeared in June 2009. They are believed by the local Catholic community to have been kidnapped by the Government’s agent and are now detained in an unknown location. Underground bishop of Xuanhua, Bishop Zhao Kexun, is now hiding under a government arrest warrant. Other priests are under intense pressure form the government to join the Catholic Patriotic Association, which is an independent government sponsored religious agent independent from the Vatican.

COME HOME

2009-12-17T08:04:00.000-06:00

Service dog to SURFice dog

2009-12-10T16:30:00.000-06:00

FORGIVENESS

2009-12-06T19:52:00.001-06:00

Servant Song ~ Let us serve God throughout the world

2009-11-27T07:32:00.001-06:00

The Catholic Church

2009-11-27T06:15:00.003-06:00

CHILD ABUSE AWARENESS ~ CARE!

2009-11-21T09:54:00.001-06:00

SEXUAL ABUSE

2009-11-21T09:52:00.001-06:00

SPEAK OUT AGAINST CHILD SEXUAL ABUSE

2009-11-21T09:24:00.001-06:00

A Talk With Cardinal Frances George

2009-11-17T17:41:00.001-06:00

IN THE YEAR OF THE PRIEST, MAY THE BISHOPS DISCOVER THE IMPORTANCE OF LOVING EVERYONE WITH KINDNESS AND CHARITY

2009-11-15T08:40:00.004-06:00

Castel Gandolfo, Italy, Sep 21, 2009 / 10:43 am (CNA).- As he does every year, the Holy Father hosted a congress for all the bishops who were consecrated this past year. Noting that helping priests is an essential task for a bishop, Pope Benedict reminded the prelates to urge priests to seek "intimate and personal union with Christ."

Addressing the recently-consecrated bishops at Castel Gandolfo today, the Holy Father recalled the importance of "not forgetting that one of a bishop’s essential tasks is that of helping priests – by example and fraternal support – to follow their vocation faithfully and to work enthusiastically and lovingly in the Lord’s vineyard."

Priests, said the Pope, must "remain united to the Lord; this is the secret of the fruitfulness of their ministry." Increased workload, difficulties, and the new requirements of pastoral care "must never distract us from intimate and personal union with Christ. Our readiness and openness to people must never diminish or overshadow our readiness and openness towards the Lord."

"The time that priests and bishops consecrate to God in prayer is always time well spent," he emphasized. "This is because prayer is at the heart of pastoral work, it is the ‘lymph’ which gives it strength, it is a support in moments of uncertainty and discouragement, and an endless source of missionary fervor and of fraternal love towards everyone."

Fr. Carlos Azpiroz Costa, O.P., Master of the Order of Preachers

2009-11-11T20:35:00.000-06:00

Study and Contemplation in the Dominican Order

2009-11-11T11:21:00.001-06:00

DOMINICAN "ORDER OF PREACHERS" LOOK AND SEE LIST

2009-11-11T09:07:00.008-06:00

DOMINICAN PEACE AND JUSTICE

DOMINICAN LIFE

DOMINICANS IN THE WEST

DOMINICANS IN THE CENTRAL STATES

DOMINICANS IN THE EAST

DOMINICANS IN THE SOUTH

DOMINICAN HEADQUARTERS

FEDERATION OF DOMINICAN SISTERS ~ USA

DOMINICAN SISTERS

BECOME A DOMINICAN VOLUNTEER

DOMINICANS WHO LIVE AT HOME

NASHVILLE DOMINICANS

SISTERS MOTHER MARY OF EUCHARIST

DOMINICAN NUNS OF MT
THABOR

CATERINA BENINCASA DOMINICAN MONASTERY

DOMINICAN LIFE ~ NEWS

DOMINICAN NETWORK

1 of 8 The Church in the 21st Century ~ Fr. Timothy Radcliffe

2009-11-11T07:13:00.000-06:00

2 of 8 The Church in the 21st Century ~ Fr. Timothy Radcliffe,

2009-11-11T07:12:00.000-06:00

The Church in the 21st Century ~ Fr. Timothy Radcliffe

2009-11-11T07:10:00.000-06:00

The Church in the 21st Century ~ Fr. Timothy Radcliffe

2009-11-11T07:09:00.001-06:00

The Church in the 21st Century ~ Fr. Timothy Radcliffe

2009-11-11T07:08:00.001-06:00

The Church in the 21st Century ~ Fr. Timothy Radcliffe

2009-11-11T07:06:00.001-06:00

The Church in the 21st Century ~ Fr. Timothy Radcliffe

2009-11-11T07:04:00.000-06:00

The Church in the 21st Century ~ Fr. Timothy Radcliffe

2009-11-11T06:57:00.001-06:00

SACRED CALLING FOR ORDINARY MEN

2009-11-11T06:41:00.000-06:00

DOMINICAN VOCATION ~ IS GOD CALLING YOU?

2009-11-11T06:35:00.001-06:00

DOMINICANS INVITE YOU

2009-11-11T06:28:00.001-06:00

DOMINICANS INVITE YOU ~ 2

2009-11-11T06:18:00.003-06:00

Dominican Order in Vietnam flourishes

2009-11-10T16:35:00.001-06:00

Saigon, Vietnam, Nov 10, 2009 / 01:03 am (CNA).- In a celebratory event in Saigon on Saturday, Fr. Joseph Ngo Si Dinh announced to thunderous applause that the “number of friars, nuns, sisters, and lay Dominicans in our family in Vietnam has increased substantially and already reached to the population of a diocese!”

Fr. Joseph Ngo Si Dinh, Vietnam Dominican Provincial, spoke to attendants at the 2009 Dominicans’ Traditional Family Day held at St. Dominic Church on Nov.7. He reported that the Order now has 150 friars, and that the number of nuns and sisters has steadily increased at the rate of 200 annually.

Fr. J.B. An Dang told CNA that one of the main contributors to this rapid growth is the involvement of the Lay Dominicans, known as Third Order Dominicans, of which there are up to 103,000 professed in Vietnam. Lay Dominicans are reported to be actively involved in their parish activities and their Dominican formation is said to be well-supported by local parish priests and diocesan bishops.

Cooperation between the branches of the Dominican family and the diocesan structure in Vietnam is viewed by many as a primary reason for the steady growth of the order, despite the difficulties of living in a communist country.

The history of the Dominicans in Vietnam can be traced back to the 17th century, explained Fr. An Dang, with the arrival of missionary priests John of the Holy Cross and John de Arjona. Over the next several hundred years, the order continued to grow despite numerous violent persecutions against Christians.

In 1975, soon after the communist takeover of South Vietnam, all schools, social services centers, and formation houses of Vietnamese Dominicans were seized and all foreign Dominicans were expelled. The majority of native Dominicans survived by working on local farms and their religious lifestyle had to now accommodate harsher living conditions. Many lost their lives under the circumstances, while others returned to their families.

Despite this struggle, the order has continued to exist and flourish. Support for the Dominican Order in Vietnam has also come from overseas Dominican communities, including a regional vicariate based in Canada.

Making of a saint

2009-11-09T06:15:00.002-06:00

Short Life of St Martin de Porres

2009-11-05T01:32:00.002-06:00

A SHORT LIFE OF SAINT MARTIN DE PORRES

Saint Martin de Porres was born in 1579, in Lima Peru, the son of a black/mulatto freed slave and a Spanish nobleman. At first, because of the stigma of having dark skin in a culture dominated by Spanish aristocrats, Martin's father did not acknowledge Martin and his sister, and deserted Martin's mother leaving her to fend for herself and her children by bringing in laundry to her home in the slums of Lima.

By the time Martin was 10 or 12, however, his father had a change of heart for the better. He began to support the children, and aquired an apprenticeship for Martin as a barber/surgeon's assistant. Martin was overjoyed at this.

Having lived with discrimination of color and of lack of legal parentage all his life, he could have become bitter and troublesome, but instead he was blessed by God with a gentle spirit, a heart's understanding of humility, and a desire to serve God in prayer and charity, the positive fruits of this particular type of suffering.

Martin used his good fortune at his apprenticeship to further his opportunities to serve the suffering. Even this young, in his teens, his landlady (from whom Martin had begged used candles) spied him through the keyhole in ecstatic prayer.

At around the age of 15 he was received into the Dominican friary as a tertiary and servant, apparently quietly taking on the most menial of duties. After nine years of denying himself entrance into the order as a lay brother because of his self-held unworthiness, he finally relented and was made a Coadjutor Brother, and promoted to Almoner.

He is recorded as having begged and received $2000 per day, an amount many say was miraculous in origin, which he used to feed and care for the sick and poor of all races of Lima. He was also made head of the infirmary, caring for the sick of the Dominican order.

Life was not all joy for Martin at the friary. He was often in "trouble" with his superiors for what they perceived as overzealousness in his solicitude for the poor, hungry and sick. Hungry, dirty people in large numbers were forever "roaming" the friary in search of Martin's care as well as his prayers, creating quite an inconvenience for the other members of the community.

When upbraided for allowing a filthy man covered by sores to lie on his bed, his famous reply was, "Compassion, my dear Brother, is preferable to cleanliness. Reflect that with a little soap I can easily clean my bed covers, but even with a torrent of tears I would never wash from my soul the stain that my harshness toward the unfortunate would create."

The religious were also curious about Martin's gifts, and would sometimes play pranks on him to test him. But his spiritual gifts were witnessed by many, including his superiors, and there were many who experienced first hand his ability to pass through locked doors to care for the sick, to bilocate worldwide, and to heal with just a cup of water.

His love for creation did not end with man and woman, but was extended even to animals of home and field. While this is not so remarkable today, it was greatly so at his time and in this culture, where animals were mainly left to fend for themselves unless being a beast of burden needed for work. His started a shelter for cats and dogs at his sister's home, where he fed and cared for them in sickness and injury.

There is even a legend that he made a deal with the priory mice, warning them about the poison traps set for them and making a deal with them: if they left the priory, he would feed them at the back door. Having a gift of communication and mastery over all animals, including the mice and rats, they bought the deal, and left the priory, not to return. For these reasons, to exemplify his charity even to the beasts who were lower than even the slaves, Saint Martin is most often pictured with mice, birds a cat and a dog.

Saint Martin died in 1629 on November 3 of fever, and was venerated immediately at his passing. He was known as the "Brother of Charity" and the rich and poor mourned him and avidly sought relics of his habit. He was made Blessed by Pope Gregory, and in 1962 was canonized by Pope John XIII.

Military Prisoners Training Dogs to help the Wounded Vets

2009-10-31T11:41:00.002-05:00

FAITH

2009-10-31T06:19:00.002-05:00

AMAZING GRACE

2009-10-24T07:19:00.005-05:00

BEAUTIFUL MUSIC ~ CLICK HERE

THE SPIRIT OF JONATHAN HEIDER

2009-10-02T21:52:00.004-05:00

Watch CBS News Videos Online

I found Jonathan in an orphanage in Croatia where I knew that this was a very special child. Of all I have done in my life, finding Jonathan was one of the most special times of my life... and finding him a special family was even more special... and it is especially meaningful that Jonathan was honored today... October 2nd... The Feast of the Guarding Angels.

Sr Pauline Quinn

THE COURAGE TO NOT GIVE UP

2009-08-25T05:54:00.001-05:00

Hi Sister Pauline,

I wanted to let you know about one of my pups who was slated to be a service dog/breeder. She had to be released due to prey drive, but this is what she's doing instead! She surfed with a 15 year old quadraplegic surfer, and completed the first ever tandem surfing ride between an adaptive surfer and a dog last Thursday!

PRISONERS BRINGING HOPE TO OTHERS~

2009-07-31T10:19:00.002-05:00

Major Lori Kibler on left ~Warden Robert Shannon on right ~ trainers and pups

This is a NEW HORIZONS SERVICE DOG program in partnership with the Florida Department of Corrections where the inmates are doing a public service by helping to train future service dogs to help the disabled.

There are many disabled who waiting for a service dog to assist them and with the inmates help, more dogs are able to be ready to partner with someone who needs a dog to assist them.

Patty Armfield, an experienced dog trainer, comes twice a week to the prison to help the inmates learn dog training skills. She is teaching all aspects of dog care, which could lead further to employment once released. Her work is very much appreciated.

We need many items for this program: dog grooming supplies, crates, towels, dog toys, gift cards to buy dog food, plastic dog gates, leashes. A list of items can be obtained by contacting Janet Severt at New Horizons ~ 386 456-0408

JANET, PATTY AND THE TRAINERS

PATTY TEACHING THE MEN HOW TO CARE FOR THEIR DOG.

THEY ARE INTERESTED AND LEARN QUICKLY

LEARNING HOW TO GROOM THEIR PUPS

Heman G. Stark Youth Correctional Facility ~ PRISON DOG PROGRAM

2009-07-11T13:35:00.003-05:00

IN 1981 WHEN I STARTED THE FIRST PRISON DOG PROGRAM I HAD NO IDEA THAT SO MANY OTHER PROGRAMS WOULD START TO HELP THOUSANDS OF YOUTH AND ADULT PRISONERS FIND MEANING TO THEIR LIFE. SOME I STARTED BUT MANY MORE WERE STARTED BY DEDICATED MEN AND WOMEN WHO HAD A VISION. TO ALL THOSE WHO MADE THE EFFORT TO HELP THESE YOUNG AND OLD MEN AND WOMEN FIND MEANING FOR THEIR LIFE ~ THANK YOU!

Friday, July 10, 2009

Prison program gives second chance for man and beast

'Another Chance for Love' pairs dogs with men incarcerated in Chino.
By SAMANTHA GOWEN

The Orange County Register
Comments 0| Recommend 0

CHINO – In the visitors' center at the Heman G. Stark Youth Correctional Facility a young man sits with a small dog in his lap. He says hello in a high-pitched, sing-song voice most pet owners know well.

Squirt, a Yorkshire terrier mutt, wriggles happily and licks his face.

"If you stick around, you'll hear a lot of funny noises coming out of us," says Brandon Gilmore, laughing as he ducks another wet kiss from Squirt.

This is the beginning of a relationship that will rehabilitate both man and canine. For 10 weeks, Gilmore and Squirt will live together and learn from each other inside the walls of a facility that imprisons young men who ran afoul of the law.

Eight ill-fated dogs from the O.C. Animal Shelter in Orange arrived Friday at the correctional facility. The men, ages 19 to 23, waited anxiously for their new charges. It's been three weeks since a previous class of canines graduated from the popular program called Another Chance for Love.

Janette Thomas is the executive director of the program that pairs troubled and homeless dogs with men incarcerated with problems of their own.

"For many of these guys, it's the first time they have ever felt true love," Thomas says. The men echo her sentiments.

"I've never had this close a bond with anyone," says Josue Tellez as he strokes his assigned dog's head. Tellez of Santa Ana has been paired with Heidi, a skittish but friendly German shepherd who sticks close to his side.

It's hard to tell on arrival day who is having a better time, the men or the dogs. Smiles and happy chatter fill the yard outside the visitors' center. While beast and man get to know each other, Thomas gives these trainers – most of them veterans of program – some tips for the weekend.

"No training yet!" Thomas emphasizes. "Just get to know the dogs, and let them get to know you."

The dogs will live alongside the men 24-7 as they master behavior and training. After graduation, the dogs will be adopted to new families – minus the issues that likely sent them to the shelter in the first place.

Kevin Felan has trained six dogs with Another Chance for Love. The program veteran was given perhaps the toughest challenge: Spanky, a Cairn terrier, who struggles with control and basic dog manners.

"Love is a big part of a dog's life," Felan says. "Without the love, the dog isn't going to give love, and he's probably going to end up at a shelter."

The word love is used a lot here. Each of the eight men expresses a deep appreciation for a program that has taught them about affection, patience and parenting skills, all from four-legged fur balls.

Thomas avoids so-called bully breeds like pit bulls and Rottweilers to offset any past experiences of the men. She intentionally pairs these reformed tough guys with 3-pound terriers and petite poodles, which often require a more gentle approach.

Los Angeles native Eric Alvarado has renamed his dog "Dodger." The flat-coated black retriever doesn't seem to mind. While the dog barks and strains his leash, Alvarado calmly explains how the dogs have helped reform him.

"I had no patience before this program," says Alvarado, who is training his third dog. "As much as we teach them, they teach us twice as much."

Andre Griffin sums up the experience for most of the men: "We give them another chance," he says. "I like the rehabilitation work we do here to get these dogs to new families.

"And you get a lot of love from the dogs," he says with a shy smile.

Stay tuned. The Register plans to follow the eight dogs and their trainers as they progress through the training program. You can read more online at ocregister.com/pettales.

MENDICANT'S MEET

2009-06-08T14:13:00.004-05:00

MENDICANT'S MEET
Wood Block by Sr Mary Grace op
CONTACT SR MARY GRACE
CATERINA BENINCASA DOMINICAN MONASTERY
CONTACT MONASTERY
St Dominic Guzman

St. Dominic was the founder of the Dominican Order. Domingo Guzman (1170-1221) was born in Castile. At an early age he became canon of Osma Cathedral and accompanied his bishop to Languedoc to join the Cistercians in their efforts to convert the heretical Albigenstans. At the death of the bishop in 1207, Dominic became prior of the mission, preaching ceaselessly, living a simple life among the laymen and surrounded by a few companions with whom he prayed, studied and made penance. Dominic's apostolate failed, but in 1215 he travelled to the Lateran Council in Rome and the following year obtained approval from Pope Innocent III to found an order of Friar preachers. St. Dominic is nearly always depicted wearing the white robes and black cope of Dominican habit.

St. Francis of Assisi

St. Francis of Assisi was born into a wealthy family in Umbria, Italy, in 1182. His father was a prosperous merchant, and Francis planned to follow him in his trade, although he also dreamt of becoming a troubadour or a knight. In 1201 he took part in an attack on Perugia, was taken hostage, and remained a captive there for a year. As a result of his captivity and a severe illness his mind began to turn to religion, but around 1205 he enlisted in another military expedition, to Apulia. However, he had a dream in which God called him to His service, and he returned to Assisi and began to care for the sick. In 1206, he had a vision in which Christ called him to repair His Church. Francis resolved to become a hermit, and devoted himself to repairing the church. In fine art he is always depicted wearing a homespun robe, tied round his waist with a thrice-knotted cord, which evoke the three vows of poverty, chastity and obedience. He bears the stigmata on his hands and feet, his chest wound is often depicted visible though a gash in his habit.
.

Wheelie Catholic

2009-05-27T09:27:00.000-05:00

Wheelie Catholic

THE JOURNEY

2009-05-04T22:36:00.005-05:00

The only way to really understand someone's journey is to talk about it, yet to talk about something that was so traumatic to your life, happening as a child and for a very long time after, is difficult.

My desire to share is because if people understood what others can go through and still climb up and out of the pit that they were thrown in, they will see that all things are possible.

I give all my credit to God who walked with me through the most cruel and horrible experiences in my life and some of them happened right here within the church.

It is sad to say that in this great big world of ours, those that we look up to, to guide us down the path to Heaven, can be the greatest offenders, pulling people down by their indifference, by their insensativity and lack of understanding.

This doesn't mean that they are bad people or it is the fault of the church but rather it is the human conditions that does this.. that people, no matter how they are called, can fall and they can fail.

If people didn't fail me, I would never have been pulled toward God as much as I have... because I needed Him. So what might seem bad at the time, can really be a blessing. I was depended on God for everything and I used what He gave and turned it around and went out to help thousands of people, even though I was having a very hard time helping even myself.

God seems to work that way. Even though I have done a lot of good, I don't believe I have done much of anything. It is difficult to see any good I have done unless I am reminded.

I am sharing this little piece that was written about me because I believe that in order to understand that God really does help people, you would have to know the story of my Journey. No matter how rough the road for St St Paul, in the end won the race, and you will win the race, no matter what any one thinks of you, no matter how they treat you and no matter if you don't think you amount to much... God is there to help you win the race.

Sister Pauline–A Remarkable Woman

Patricia Kelley

Saturday, May 3rd, 2008

The only way to truly understand the power of these prison dog programs and the driving energy behind them is to understand the amazing and selfless woman who started them. Out of the unspeakable abuse she suffered as a child and young adult, a phoenix has risen. Like a phoenix—Sister Pauline would not be destroyed by her circumstances.

This defines Sister Pauline. Tough, resilient, often outspoken, and sometimes irreverently defiant-she’s not your stereotypical nun. Yet, she is filled with a capacity to love and forgive that would challenge most of us. She rose up out of unthinkable abuse to change her corner of the world, guided by a promise she made to God in her darkest hour.

It is no wonder that this one very amazing woman would become the founder of, and leading light for, the rapidly expanding, highly regarded prison dog programs. Her love and compassion for society’s throwaway people, coupled with her deep love for dogs became a formula for healing and change unprecedented in our prison systems.

The direction her life has taken has challenged and changed old paradigms of thinking that previously dictated what is either worthy or worthless in life. Thousands of humans and canines are offered hope-and yes, even redemption in these prison dog programs. Many have met Sister Pauline-most have not—but each human and canine life she has touched directly or indirectly has made the world a better place for them—and us.

I interviewed Sister Paulie extensively and was amazed and moved by her commitment to make the lives of those that most of us would rather forget about a little better. To give them a sense that someone cared.
She is a remarkable woman.

Her organization is Pathways to Hope.

CHRIST CAME FOR THE POOR, UNWANTED AND THOSE OTHERS DESPISED

2009-05-03T19:00:00.014-05:00

YOU CAN FIND CHRIST IN THE DARKNESS OF THE ALLEY WAYS, UNDER BRIDGES WHERE THE POOR SLEEP. HE IS WITH THOSE WHO HE LOVES.

"Christ remains with us not only through the Mass but in the 'distressing disguise' of the poor. To live with the poor is a contemplative vocation, for it is to live in the constant presence of Jesus"

Dorothy Day

“The poor give us much more than we give them. They're such strong people, living day to day with no food. They never curse, never complain. We don't have to give them pity or sympathy. We have so much to learn from them.”

Mother Teresa of Calcutta

Instead of comparing our lot with that of those who are more fortunate than we are, we should compare it with the lot of the great majority of our fellow men. It then appears that we are among the privileged.

Helen Keller

THE GOOD SHEPHERD

2009-05-03T16:26:00.006-05:00

In Today's Gospel John 10 1-15

The Good Shepherd

Amen, amen, I say to you, whoever does not enter a sheepfold through the gate but climbs over elsewhere is a thief and a robber.

But whoever enters through the gate is the shepherd of the sheep.
The gatekeeper opens it for him, and the sheep hear his voice, as he calls his own sheep by name and leads them out. When he has driven out all his own, he walks ahead of them, and the sheep follow him, because they recognize his voice.
But they will not follow a stranger; they will run away from him, because they do not recognize the voice of strangers."

Although Jesus used this figure of speech, they did not realize what he was trying to tell them. So Jesus said again, "Amen, amen, I say to you, I am the gate for the sheep. All who came [before me] are thieves and robbers, but the sheep did not listen to them. I am the gate. Whoever enters through me will be saved, and will come in and go out and find pasture.

A thief comes only to steal and slaughter and destroy; I came so that they might have life and have it more abundantly.

I am the good shepherd. A good shepherd lays down his life for the sheep.
A hired man, who is not a shepherd and whose sheep are not his own, sees a wolf coming and leaves the sheep and runs away, and the wolf catches and scatters them. This is because he works for pay and has no concern for the sheep.

I am the good shepherd, and I know mine and mine know me, just as the Father knows me and I know the Father; and I will lay down my life for the sheep.

"In the Church Bulletin there was a comment by the pastor and it says:
St John narrates the storyof Jesus the Good Shepherd as part of the sixth sign in his gospel book of signs. Here, Jesus is the light of the world and St John explains this in the story of the man born blind. In this story, the religious leaders are blind but they do not know that they are blind. They are contrasted with Jesus who is the light that has come into the world. Then St. John tells the story of Jesus the sheep gate and Jesus the Good Shepherd. These stories are told to illustrate that Jesus is the one who loves humanity and cares for them as a good shepherd takes care of his sheep.

The story is told so that those who experience the neglect of their out-of-touch religious leaders and institutions know that Jesus is the one who is enlightened. Jesus understands their dilemmans and like a good shepherd takes cae of his flock, Jesus will take care of them. There is no need to think that God depends on incompetent and corrupt religious leaders. God accomplishes his purpose of nurturing his people and leading them to their destiny. Jesus is the one who knows the way."

This is helpful to reflect on this message because when our church leaders hurt us.. when they neglect the sheep, then often people will start thinking it is their fault and will be crushed by the weight of this cross, but if we reflect that there are times when our religious leaders are not leading us, when they don't care as what happened with the priest sexual abuse and the leaders turned their backs on the victims, then we have to looke to the Good Shepherd Jesus who won't abandon us and will reach out to us with the kindness and compassion of the Good Shepherd.

Never let incompetent and corrupt religious leaders to pull you down. Look to the heart of Jesus and you will find Love.

COME VISIT THE CATARINA BENINCASA MONASTERY

2009-04-28T04:05:00.002-05:00

CLICK HERE

VISIT CORPUS CHRISTI DOMINICAN MONASTERY BRONX NY 120 YEARS OLD

2009-04-25T14:24:00.001-05:00

CLICK HERE

THROUGH THE CROSS WE CAN FIND HOPE

2009-04-07T14:18:00.003-05:00

The Hill of Crosses, Kryzių Kalnas, located 12 kilometers north of the small industrial city of Siauliai (pronounced shoo-lay) is the Lithuanian national pilgrimage center. Standing upon a small hill are many hundreds of thousands of crosses that represent Christian devotion and a memorial to Lithuanian national identity.

The city of Siauliai was founded in 1236 and occupied by Teutonic Knights during the 14th century. The tradition of placing crosses dates from this period and probably first arose as a symbol of Lithuanian defiance of foreign invaders. Since the medieval period, the Hill of Crosses has represented the peaceful resistance of Lithuanian Catholicism to oppression.

In 1795 Siauliai was incorporated into Russia but was returned to Lithuania in 1918. Many crosses were erected upon the hill after the peasant uprising of 1831-63. By 1895, there were at least 150 large crosses, in 1914 200, and by 1940 there were 400 large crosses surrounded by thousands of smaller ones.

Captured by Germany in World War II, the city suffered heavy damage when Soviet Russia retook it at the war's end. From 1944 until Lithuania's independence in 1991, Siauliai was a part of the Lithuanian Soviet Socialist Republic of the USSR. During the Soviet era, the pilgrimage to the Hill of Crosses served as a vital expression of Lithuanian nationalism. The Soviets repeatedly removed Christian crosses placed on the hill by Lithuanians.

Three times, during 1961, 1973 and 1975, the hill was leveled, the crosses were burned or turned into scrap metal, and the area was covered with waste and sewage. Following each of these desecrations local inhabitants and pilgrims from all over Lithuania rapidly replaced crosses upon the sacred hill. In 1985, the Hill of Crosses was finally left in peace. The reputation of the sacred hill has since spread all over the world and every year it is visited by many thousands of pilgrims. Pope John Paul II visited the Hill of Crosses in September of 1993.

The size and variety of crosses is as amazing as their number. Beautifully carved out of wood or sculpted from metal, the crosses range from three meters tall to the countless tiny examples hanging profusely upon the larger crosses. An hour spent upon the sacred hill will reveal crosses brought by Christian pilgrims from all around the world. Rosaries, pictures of Jesus and the saints, and photographs of Lithuanian patriots also decorate the larger crosses. On windy days breezes blowing through the forest of crosses and hanging rosaries produces a uniquely beautiful music.

NEADS PRISON DOG VIDEO

2009-03-30T07:34:00.007-05:00

CLICK HERE

NEADS Dog Program NCCI was the first Massachusetts Department of Correction facility to incorporate National Education for Assistance Dog Services (NEADS) back on December 23, 1998.

The program is a result of corroboration with Sister Pauline Quinn of , who has aided numerous correctional facilities across the country implement similar programs.

NEADS is a non-profit organization established to provide Hearing and Service Dogs for people who are deaf or who use wheelchairs. These Assistance Dogs become extensions of their owners and bring security, freedom, independence and relief from social isolation to their partners. NEADS is one of the oldest and largest programs of its kind.