Message from Mother 
Dear Friends,
There is a delightful incident toward the beginning of St. John’s Gospel which shows how the Lord Jesus wants to “make friends” with those He encounters. John the Baptist is talking with two of his disciples by the River Jordan when he happens to see Jesus walk by. John very pointedly sends the two of them to follow after Jesus, implying that He has something these young men really want, and they need to go after Him. And so they follow, perhaps not knowing exactly what to say or what to do once they catch up with Him. Turning around and noticing them, Jesus breaks the ice: “What are you looking for?” (John 1:38). They answer his question with another question: “Master, where do you stay?” Jesus, ever one to put people at their ease when they are sincerely seeking truth, suggests: “Come, and you will see” (John 1:39). So they do. And, coming to know Jesus, their lives are changed forever.
I am becoming daily more excited at the challenge of seeking to make Jesus Christ more widely known and deeply loved – even to the ends of the earth. People’s lives are changed by such knowing and loving. Our people are “looking for” the Lord, even when they do not know it; even when they are seemingly searching in the exact opposite direction of where He “stays.” There is within each of us an innate longing – an ache – that only God can satisfy. Because the world in which we live holds out so many pseudo-satisfactions, there is the widespread illusion that God, knowledge of Him, belief in Him, is somehow irrelevant. We do not need Him. We’ve grown beyond that.
At such times, the Church takes her cue from the Lord Jesus, as he interacted with those young men timidly searching for answers as they followed Him and sought to engage Him in conversation. They knew they wanted to talk with Him. Many of our own contemporaries, however, do not specifically know what they are looking for; but still they long for a deeper conversation about life and about their purpose in life. This is a Dominican moment!
For years, the Church has been promoting a “New Evangelization,” a new effort to draw the world to a rediscovery of the Person and Message of Jesus; to make the Gospel more widely known and embraced. In October of 2010 Pope Benedict established the Pontifical Council for the New Evangelization, signaling his commitment to a new missionary age. On October 11, 2012, at the Holy Father’s initiative, the Church will begin a Year of Faith, beginning on the 50th anniversary of the opening of the Second Vatican Council. It will conclude on November 24, 2013, Solemnity of Christ the King. This Year of Faith will be “a moment of grace and commitment to a more complete conversion to God, to strengthen our faith in Him and proclaim Him with joy to the people of our time.”[i]
As I invite you to explore the website of our Dominican Congregation of Saint Cecilia, learning something of our history, our way of life and our apostolate in the Church, I invite you at the same time to allow the Lord Jesus to engage you in conversation about the “deeper things” of life: his love for you, his desires for you, even the ultimate purpose of your life. These are the kind of questions that consume Dominicans - because we know they are the questions of the people of our day. We want to help them find the answers. We want to help them, in other words, find Jesus. It is the purpose, really, of everything you will see and read about on this website. It is why Dominicans exist in the first place.
“What are you looking for?” This is not simply the Lord’s way of making small talk. It is a challenge with which He gently faces people in every age, including our own. The only way to change a culture that has forgotten God is to ask the deeper questions, and to speak and live the deeper answers. That is Dominican way. Please, “Come - and you will see.”
God bless you,
Mother Ann Marie, O.P.
Prioress General
