Reflections of the Director | |
Formation as the Lifeblood of our Dominican Life
By Nancy Mason Bordley
Director, Office of Dominican Charism
Human life is not static. We continue to change and grow and expand. Sometimes our inherited framework causes us to be flexible and open, and we grow a great deal. Sometimes the paradigms we’ve received have the effect of narrowness, and growth is slow. None of us, though, ever reaches the point where we’re a finished product! Life is a constant moving from horizon to new horizon.
– Anneliese Sinnott, OP
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Formation is fundamental to Dominican life. In founding the Dominican order, St. Dominic’s vision was of a community of preachers deeply rooted in truth and prepared to engage the world with compassion and clarity. As the Church undergoes global transformation, our Dominican Family is growing to include more lay members. Formation must ensure that this evolving Dominican family remains faithful to Dominic’s vision. This leads to the question: What kind of formation is required for Dominican life to remain authentic, prophetic, and fruitful today?
Formation is not a stage that precedes mission; it is the very condition for preaching. Without intentional formation – spiritual, theological, communal, and pastoral – the charism of the Order of Preachers risks becoming static or diluted. With it, Dominican life becomes a living expression of the Gospel, continually renewed and finding new expressions in different settings.
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In this Issue
News
- Listening in the Spirit Sessions — Sharing Hopes and Dreams for the Future
- Candidates for Dominican Associate Life
- Partners Leadership Team
Living the Dominican Charism
- Homily from Associate Mark Domingo
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The Dominican Understanding of Formation
In Dominican spirituality, formation is an ongoing, integrative process rooted in four values/behaviors:
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Prayer: The contemplative heart of Dominican life, grounding preachers in God’s Word and presence
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Study: The search for truth (veritas), pursued through theological, philosophical, academic, scientific and cultural engagement
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Community: The nurturing of a deeper sense of community between diverse individuals through gatherings cultivating mutual growth and accountability in a spirit of charity
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Service: The outward expression of Dominican life in word, witness, and action
Formation is not merely about an individual’s intellectual growth. Formation shapes the person into a holy preacher, whose life itself becomes the proclamation of the Gospel. Formation changes who we are, and not just what we do.
Formation as Identity and Mission
Instead of simply teaching people the principles of Dominican life, formation develops each person’s Dominican identity. Individuals become rooted in the tradition while being equipped to adapt that tradition to contemporary needs. Whether one is a friar, sister, nun, lay Dominican, or associate, formation nurtures a coherent sense of belonging and purpose.
The missionary nature of the Dominican Order demands that formation be dynamic, contextual, and responsive. Preachers today must be able to:
- Speak to the realities of secularism, pluralism, and social fragmentation.
- Engage with the suffering of marginalized peoples and the cries of Earth community.
- Preach not only in churches but in classrooms, clinics, courtrooms, and digital spaces.
- Reflect theologically and critically on personal and communal experience.
In short, formation sustains the preaching mission by preparing us to offer the Gospel in faithful and transformative ways.
Formation for a Changing Church and World
The Church of the 21st century is undergoing profound shifts: decreasing clerical vocations, increasing lay leadership, global demographic changes, and renewed emphasis on synodality and inclusion. These developments demand a renewed understanding of formation.
For those of us in the Dominican Family, this means:
- Designing accessible, intercultural, and intergenerational formation programs.
- Incorporating Catholic Social Teaching, racial justice, ecological conversion, and digital preaching into the framework.
- Providing spiritual accompaniment and community-based discernment for new vocations – especially among lay persons.
- Encouraging lifelong learning through retreats, reading groups, mentorship, and online platforms.
Formation must prepare us not just for a role within the Church but for a vocation within the world – as artists, educators, parents, activists, professionals, and neighbors who preach with our lives.
Formation as Communal and Reciprocal
Dominican formation is never a solitary endeavor. It is shaped within community and in relationship. Each branch of our Dominican Family forms – and is formed by – the others. It is through shared experience that we grow in truth and become effective preachers. We’re not just individuals; we are integral parts of the Dominican family.
Risks of Neglecting Formation
When formation is reduced to a few months/years of initial instruction or treated as optional, several risks arise:
- The charism becomes diluted or misunderstood.
- Preaching loses depth, credibility, and pastoral effectiveness.
- Communities stagnate without renewal.
- Individuals lack the tools to interpret contemporary challenges in the light of faith.
In contrast, intentional and well-structured formation fosters resilience, creativity, and joyful fidelity to our Dominican mission.
Formation as a Fire, Not a Formula
To form a Dominican is to ignite a fire, not merely transmit content. This fire – rooted in truth, animated by love, and sustained by prayer – is what allows us to preach not just in word but in deed, not just in pulpits but in life itself.
Formation is not something we complete. It is something we live.
As St. Dominic formed his followers through example, prayer, study, and shared mission, so too must we form one another – continually, courageously, and communally. For only through formation can we remain a light for the Church and a voice for the Gospel in our times.
The Office of Dominican Charism is engaged in a year-long project to create a robust and adaptable formation process for Dominican Life. This formation process can be used with our Partners in Mission and all who are seeking a deeper understanding and experience of Dominican Life. We are currently in the discovery phase of this project, gathering information and exploring what will be needed to create a framework for formation that is flexible and relevant.
We welcome your thoughts and reactions as this process is developed. Please respond to nmbordley@adriandominicans.org.
| | News from the Dominican Family | | Listening in the Spirit Sessions – Sharing Hopes and Dreams for the Future | | Our Associate leadership team, in partnership with our Associate Life Community Circle, has been working fervently to ensure that every voice is heard and honored as we make decisions about the future. A number of Associates have signed up for one of the 14 Listening in the Spirit sessions scheduled to take place between June and September 2025. If you are an Associate but are not signed up, please contact Rosemary Martin (rmmmartin@aol.com) today! It’s not too late to share your hopes and dreams for the future. Everyone has a place at our table! |
| Candidates for Dominican Associate Life | | |
Please join us in prayerful support for Tim Goyette, Susan Ianstra, Andrea Poma, Martha Rayner, Autumn Shaffier, and Linda Valetta who are each discerning a call to lay Dominican Life. In October, some of these Candidates will be ready to make a commitment to live the Dominican Charism.
Great news! After attending a presentation on lay Dominican life, some faculty and staff members at Barry University are interested in potentially becoming Associates. It would be wonderful to welcome a new cohort of Candidates from Barry University! Formation for new Candidates for Dominican Life will begin in late September.
If you know someone who might be interested in lay Dominican life, please invite them to contact the Office of Dominican Charism.
| | The Leaders of our Community, Spirituality, and Social Justice Circles and Formation Committee meet monthly to discuss and plan for the future of Associate Life. Informed by the input from our Associates who are currently in the Listening in the Spirit sessions, the Partners Leadership Team will share a summary of the responses gathered from June through September and will use that critical information as they continue to plan for the future. | | Living the Dominican Charism | | |
As has been its custom, the Desert Rose Sojourner Group joined in a Mass of celebration for the Feast of St. Dominic. Fifteen Associates, Sisters, families, and friends gathered in the St. Rose de Lima Hospital Chapel on August 9. A Dominican friar was our celebrant. In his homily, Associate Mark Domingo posed the question, "What does it mean to be a preacher in the world I live in?” His inspiring reflection called us to “Proclaim God’s marvelous deeds to all the nations.” (See his homily below.) After Mass, the group continued its celebration and community at a local restaurant.
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On this Feast of St. Dominic, I find myself reflecting not only on his life and mission – but also on how that mission continues in our lives today.
As an Adrian Dominican Associate, this feast is especially meaningful. It invites me to ask:
What does it mean to be a preacher in the world I live in?
And just as importantly:
What does it look like to “proclaim God’s marvelous deeds to all the nations” when you’re preaching from a much quieter corner of the world?
Some time ago, I moved to the high desert of northern Arizona, to a small town called Prescott. The landscape here is striking – open, rugged, full of contrasts. Some days, the sky feels impossibly vast, and the silence in the mornings feels sacred. Other days, the harshness of the desert reminds me that life is not always easy, not always predictable.
And yet, even in this place – perhaps especially in this place – I have learned to see the quiet, persistent, persevering presence of God.
In today’s Gospel, Jesus gives his disciples what we now call the Great Commission:
“Go, therefore, and make disciples of all nations.”
It’s a powerful command. But it comes right after something very human – Jesus seeing his disciples in their fear, their doubts, and their unbelief. Still, he sends them. He trusts them. That has always moved me. Because sometimes I, too, feel unsure. I wonder if I’m doing enough or if I’m “qualified” to preach the good news of the Gospel.
But then I remember: Jesus didn’t wait for the disciples to get it all together. He sent them as they were – flawed, faithful, and full of potential. And that same invitation comes to us now.
“Proclaim his marvelous deeds to all the nations.”
That was our responsorial Psalm today. It echoes what Jesus says in the Gospel – and what St. Dominic lived his entire life.
St. Dominic didn’t seek comfort or recognition. He chose a life of simplicity and purpose. He walked, talked, listened, and preached – not just with words, but with compassion and conviction. He responded to a broken world not with fear, but with faith and always with the truth.
I no longer preach in the fabulous city of Las Vegas. But I now have the privilege to preach in a small desert town where I proudly live.
Sometimes that preaching looks like pausing to listen when someone needs to be heard. Sometimes it’s how I show up for my community.
Sometimes, it’s simply the intention I bring to everyday encounters – at the grocery store, in the coffee shop, along a walking trail – moments that seem ordinary but are full of grace.
As an Associate, I’ve come to believe:
- We proclaim God’s marvelous deeds by living lives rooted in compassion, truth, and love.
- Looking at all of you today, I am reminded that Dominican charism knows no borders. It lives in us – in Sisters, in Associates, in Partners in Mission – wherever we are planted.
- Even in the quiet spaces and slow paces in the Arizona desert.
Jesus told the disciples that signs would accompany those who believe. Today, I believe those signs look like:
- Hospitality in a divided world – offering welcome in a culture growing more fragmented, where people are more defined by how they vote or what they believe instead of their shared humanity.
- Courage in the face of injustice – standing with the marginalized: migrants, the unhoused, undocumented, victims of racism, and the Earth itself, even when it’s uncomfortable.
- Integrity in times of confusion – choosing honesty and discernment in a world clouded by fake news, AI-generated falsehoods, and performative noise.
- Hope when so much feels uncertain – amid climate anxiety, economic inequality, and global instability, hope remains a sacred act of resistance and trust.
Now more than ever, the world is aching for this kind of witness. It’s longing for people who, like St. Dominic, will speak the truth in love – and live that truth out with humility and joy.
So today, I ask each of us to consider:
What is the “nation” I am being sent to?
What marvelous deeds of God have I witnessed – and how might I share them with others?
Maybe it's not a nation halfway around the world.
Maybe it’s your community. Your workplace. Your family. Or a small town in northern Arizona.
Wherever it is, the call is the same:
Go. Preach. Love. Trust.
And above all:
Proclaim his marvelous deeds to all the nations.
Amen.
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