Texas OP Nuns

The Nativity of St. John the Baptist

Today we celebrate the nativity of St. John the Baptist. In a homily attributed to St. Maximus of Turin, we read: “Such a great herald was he that by anticipating the grace of his future ministry, he gave his mother the spirit of prophecy, and by the power of the name assigned to him by the angel, he opened the mouth of his father Zechariah, which had been sealed by doubt.” The Gospel for the day, which recounts this story, also mentions the people who witnessed these events, telling us that they asked, “What will this child turn out to be?” (Lk 1:66) Jean Danielou, S.J., in his book Advent, gives us a reply: “Amongst people completely unconcerned with the things of God, he was to be the one who upset their complacency and awakened in them those beginnings of goodwill which would enable them to understand Christ.” May we too be stirred to a deeper understanding of Christ through the intercession of St. John the Baptist!

Looking Back…

These are some images from the past few months:

Reg Reynolds and Angel Rosales helped us set up our website.
Visit us at www.lufkinnuns.org

The sisters are hard at work husking corn,

the gift of a generous benefactor!

Fr. Brian Pierce, O.P., Promoter for the Nuns,

came to visit our community on Palm Sunday.

What a blessing it was!

After a long cold winter, spring came to Lufkin,
and the dogwood trees bloomed.

Sr. Mary John\’s feast day was celebrated on Mother\’s Day this year.

We are so grateful to Sr. Anna Marie, O.P. from
the Monastery of Mary the Queen in Elmira, NY
for setting up this blog for us and helping us get going!
God bless you, Sister!

Completion of our MTS Program June 7-18, 2010

The last class with Fr. Bryan Kromholtz, O.P. was held yesterday. A big thanks and God bless to Fr. Bryan, who worked so hard to teach us theology and was so patient with our many questions! We will be saying goodbye to our sisters from Summit, Farmington Hills and Elmira today, which is sad, but we look forward to our next series of classes, which will be held next year at our monastery. Each of us will write two papers,one on philosophy, one on theology, for presentation next year, so we have a lot of studying ahead of us. Of course, as Dominican nuns, we thrive on study! Many thanks to all the monasteries who sent their sisters to join us here in Lufkin, we enjoyed their company so much. And a special thanks also to our own sisters here in Lufkin, who filled in for our duties while we were hard at working learning!

Introduction to Theology.

Yesterday we began the second week of our Monastic Theological Studies Program with a new instructor, Fr. Bryan Kromholtz, O.P.

Fr. Bryan was working as an engineer in Seattle when he discerned his call to the priesthood and the religious life. He entered the Western Dominican Province in 1992, made his solemn profession in 1998, and was ordained a priest in 2000. He is currently professor of theology at the Dominican School of Philosophy and Theology at Berkeley, CA, teaching courses in theological method, the theology of the sacraments, the theology of the human person, and eschatology. Welcome, Fr. Bryan, and we hope you will enjoy your time with us here in Texas!

Fr. Bryan makes some quick notes during the break!

A Fond Farewell to Fr. Brian.

Fr. Brian Chrzastek OP explains Kant\’s categories

We had such a wonderful class with Fr. Brian Chrzastek this week. He covered philosophical topics ranging from Plato to Kant in ten classes over five days. Over the course of this year, each of us will choose a philosophical topic and study it for presentation next summer at a seminar as part of the Monastic Theological Studies program. Hopefully our study of philosophy will not stop there, but continue on over our lifetimes! Thank you so much, Fr. Brian, and we hope this will not be our last encounter with you!

Still smiling after an intense week of classes!

First Day of Philosophy Workshop.

Fr. Brian Chrzastek, O.P., B.A., M.S., L.Phil., M.Div., S.T.L., Ph.D.

The students began their philosophy workshop yesterday morning with Fr. Brian. He was born in 1958 and ordained a priest of St. Joseph Province in 1992. Fr. Brian joined the Pontifical Faculty in 2002 o teach Philosophy at the Dominican House of Studies, specializing in logic, epistemology, and modern philosophy. He also teaches philosophy at the Catholic University of America. He completed his doctoral studies at Loyola University, Chicago, in the area of the history of modern thought. His dissertation is entitled, \”Kant\’s Transcendental Account of Empirical Cognition\”.

Fr. Brian has the students\’ undivided attention!

Launching of Monastic Theological Studies Program

Sr. Mary John, OP, President of the Association of Nuns addressing the students.

The Monastic Theological Studies Program of the Association of Dominican Nuns of the United States June 7 – 19 , 2010 is currently being held at our Monastery of the Infant Jesus. This morning the students had their orientation session where they were welcomed by Sr. Mary John, Prioress and briefed by Sr. Mary Jeremiah, coordinator of the program.

Students listening attentively…

This group of 12 students pioneering the program this year are from three monasteries: eight students from the host monastery, three from Our Lady of the Rosary Monastery in Summit, NJ, and one from Blessed Sacrament Monastery in Farmington Hills, MI.

In photo with students are Sr. Mary John, OP (President), Sr. Anna Marie, OP (Coordinator for Ongoing Formation) and Sr. Mary Jeremiah, OP (Coordinator of the MTS)