St. Dominic Catholic Church

Pastor's Corner

January 28, 2018

On Wednesday evening, January 29, the five novices from the Western Dominican Province will arrive with their novice master, Fr. Anthony Rosevear, OP. They will be with us through Sunday, February 4.  Fr. Anthony will be preaching next weekend, and one of the novice brothers will briefly give a testimony about their faith and why they entered the Dominican Order at each Mass.

A novice in religious life is a man or woman who has responded to a call to examine a vocation with a particular religious Order.  Typically lasting one to two years, it is a time to examine life within the Order from inside.  The novice receives guidance from the novice master, and the particular community in the Order that has been set aside as a community for novices examines the way they live the life and gets to know them well. At the end of the novitiate, if the candidate still feels called to the Order, he or she petitions to make temporary vows of poverty, chastity and obedience.  The religious community can choose to let them make these vows, or may decline if the members have discerned the individual is not suited for their Order. Please pray for these fine young men!

Brother Nathaniel Maria Mayne is from Livermore, California. He has a B.M. in Music Performance from San Diego State University. He started playing the double bass when he was 11, and enjoys hiking and the great outdoors. One of his favorite Scripture passages is John 1:47, in which Nathaniel meets Jesus and becomes one of his disciples. He looks to St. John Paul II as a role model, and joined the Dominicans because of our commitment to the intellectual tradition of the Church, the common life, and the choral chanting of the Divine Office.

Brother John Peter Anderson is from Tracy, California. He has a B.A. in Liberal Arts from Thomas Aquinas College. He studied tae-kwon-do, and enjoys cooking, hiking and playing the piano. He joined the Dominicans because he wants to spend his life “proclaiming truth to a world that’s steeped in confusion.” Learning to rely on God’s providence, he takes to heart Christ’s words to St. Peter in Matthew 14:31, “Oh you of little faith, why did you doubt?”

Brother Elias Guadalupe Ford is from San Francisco, California. He has a B.A. in Music with a minor in Philosophy from Ave Maria University. In addition to playing the piano and the organ, he enjoys singing and watching baseball. He admires St. Jose Maria Robles Hurtado, a Mexican priest martyred during the Cristero War, who promoted greater reverence for Our Lady of Guadalupe. Br. Elias joined the Dominicans because he wants to preach, and recognizes that he needs the brothers to help him.

Brother Antony Augustine Cherian is from Kansas City, Missouri, but was born in India. He has a B.A. in Philosophy and Computer Science with a minor in Theology from Franciscan University of Steubenville. He enjoys reading, photography and playing tennis. Inspired by the writings of St. Augustine of Hippo, he takes seriously Christ’s commission in Matthew 28:19-20.  “I knew that the fraternal life would be the way God would form me in holiness, and the singular focus on preaching is a very direct way of living Jesus’ command to spread the Gospel.”

Brother Matthew Wanner was born in Miles City, Montana, but was raised in North Dakota. He has a B.A. in Philosophy and Catholic Studies from the University of St. Thomas in Minnesota. He likes reading philosophy, theology and poetry, and enjoys cycling, fishing and skiing. He has a great devotion to the Blessed Virgin Mary, the greatest of contemplatives, and he joined the Order of Preachers to follow in the footsteps of St. Dominic and St. Thomas Aquinas, contemplative preachers enflamed with the Holy Spirit.