Summer Veritas

For the summer issue of Veritas, we would like to feature stories of Dominican saints and the Eucharist. The black and white section of the "cloud of witnesses" has so much inspiration to give us as we contemplate Our Lord's presence in the Blessed Sacrament!

Articles are due by June 15, should be no more than 250 words, and may be submitted via the provincial website at this link or to editor@layopcentral.org. Thank you in advance!

As always, fraternities are invited to share news, events, links, and interesting information.

The province is STILL in need of a Promoter of Vocations. Please read and pray with the description at this link, and be open to the possibility that the Holy Spirit might need you to answer the call.

To apply, fill out this application and email to president@layopcentral.org, vicepresident@layopcentral.org, and secretary@layopcentral.org.

Webmaster — The Webmaster is be a position on the Communications Committee reporting to the Editor, with the job of updating, maintaining, and improving the provincial website. The Webmaster will interface with the tech admin and other committees as needed. Wordpress or similar experience required. (Currently, there isn’t too much to do, but we need someone to run point.) If you are interested in this position, please email editor@layopcentral.org.

Mr. Tim Martin, OP

If you have not paid your 2023 dues, please see the following instructions. Provincial membership dues finance our operating budget and support the worldwide Lay Dominican Office in Santa Sabina, Rome, and the International Council of Lay Dominican Fraternities.

Annual provincial dues are $33 for individual or $43 for husband/wife/sibling members.

• Active fraternity members who have been received into the Order, please pay provincial dues to your fraternity treasurer.

• Treasurers, please collect the dues and send a single check made out to Lay Dominicans to the address below. Include a copy of the fraternity roster with the name, address, phone number and email address of all members who have paid dues, so that we can update the provincial database.

• Inactive/private members, please make out a check to Lay Dominicans and mail your dues to the address below. Include your phone number and email address.

Lay Dominicans 

St Albert the Great Province

605 West Eichel Avenue 

Evansville, IN 47710

Ms. Renee Valenzuela, OP

Hello everyone! We have submitted four documents to the PC Delegates to bring back to their fraternities for review and input. These documents are Dispensations, Fraternity Leadership, Provincial Leadership, and a letter to the friars outlining what we, the laity, would like to see in a spiritual/religious assistant. If you have not seen these documents yet, please ask your Provincial Council Delegate! Please review the docs and get your input to your delegates so they can relay that info back to me. I’ll bring it to the Governance committee and we can edit as needed. We would like to get a vote as early as July 29, and as late as the Provincial Council meeting in September. 

Looking ahead, we’re reviewing and prioritizing the remaining sections of the Provincial Declarations. Thank you for your patience as we assemble this important document.

Mr. Joey Odell, OP

The Formation Committee is continuing to work on the Formation Director Manual. We have added a link to the Formation Director SharePoint page. The link includes the contact information for all other Formation Directors. Our hope is that Formation Directors will reach out to one another if they have questions or need assistance. You can find the Formation Director SharePoint page here: Formation Directors - Home (sharepoint.com). Fraternity Presidents have the same list on their SharePoint now as well: Chapter Moderators - Home (sharepoint.com). 

Mr. Tom Smith, OP

Membership: Tom Smith (Chair), Helen Hawkins, Patricia Kloppenburg, Chad Meyer,

Nathan Thompson, Sue Wick, Katie Willen, Kathy Gibler

The Liturgy Committee meets via Zoom on alternate Mondays and Wednesdays.

Current projects include:

Developing the liturgy-specific portions of our Provincial Directory

This has been our main project. Nathan Thompson has led this work, drawing from the General Declarations and the Provincial Directories of the other US provinces (Western, Southern, Eastern). Since our April meeting, Nathan sent the committee a summary of the items discussed, in an almost-final form, for our comments and final editing before our next meeting on May 8. We plan to complete this work at our May meeting, and submit our report to the Provincial Council.

Developing a ceremonial for receptions and professions

Sue Wick is leading this work. She sent our committee a draft 8-page booklet, based on the required rubrics. This is a work in progress.

Developing a necrology of deceased members

Patricia Kloppenburg is leading this project. We will be gathering data from the fraternities as this moves forward.

Developing a simple book of prayers

Helen Hawkins is working on a simple book of favorite prayers of Lay Dominicans, in spiral notebook form. This is a project that may be expanded in the future.

Mrs. Rebecca W. Martin, OP

Does your fraternity host hybrid meetings? If some members are on Zoom and others in-person, here are a few tips to smooth the experience for everyone.

• During social time, mute the meeting-room video for the Zoom participants. This allows for two spaces for conversation and sharing, rather than forcing the Zoom members to listen to the muddled chatter of the in-person members.

• Delegate one in-person member to monitor the Zoom meeting chat. This member can assist with tech questions and make sure online voices are heard.

• Encourage online members to speak up, and encourage in-person members to slow down and allow space for others to enter the conversation. This takes active listening and awareness for everyone, and may include some awkward silences — that's okay!

• Consider enabling live captions, and instruct members how to see them (look here for step-by-step instructions). You could also consider recording or transcribing the meeting; both functions are available within Zoom for free.

• Last but not least...remind your members that a hybrid meeting is a great option for inviting friends and family who are interested in the Lay Dominicans, but don't have a fraternity nearby!

Mr. John McNichols, OP

In September 2022 our committee launched its first ever Catholic Social Teaching awareness effort called “What Are Your Loaves and Fishes?” This interactive demonstration has two very impactful objectives:

• It leaves its audience with an entry-level understanding of Catholic Social Teaching and its 7 Principles.
• It demonstrates the Christo-centric foundation of social justice.

In December 2022 and January 2023, I traveled to Evansville, Indiana, and Albuquerque, New Mexico, to present this initiative to the fraternities there. When in Albuquerque the Los Alamos Fraternity joined us. The presentation was also demonstrated at the Grand Junction, Colorado fraternity by provincial vice-president Ms. Renee Valenzuela, OP.

These are some of the responses we received through a post-session survey:

• Great presentation…well organized and well presented.
• Great presentation/well planned.
• The information presented started me thinking.

Additionally, of 22 responses to the survey, 76% gave this presentation an 8 or better on a 1-10 scale.

The committee members and I created this tool to be easily offered at your fraternity either in person by me traveling to your part of the Province, or by you by simply accessing the PowerPoint and script.

Please consider this tool as your fraternity ponders its apostolate.

For more information contact John McNichols, OP, at covenant7.jmc@gmail or (708) 372-7455.