Sister Rebecca Ann Gemma, OP

Steadfast Love at Easter: A Message from Sister Rebecca Ann Gemma, OP

Leave a Comment / Featured, For the Life of the World, News / Sister Rebecca Ann Gemma, OP

Dear Friends, The Hebrew word “hesed,” translated as “steadfast love,” is a very important term in Hebrew Scripture. It attempts to speak of the faithful, merciful, and consistent love that God offers to all creation. This covenantal love is inexhaustible! In the midst of unspeakable tragedy, heartache, and loss experienced in the world today, may […]

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Thanksgiving Greetings from Sister Rebecca Ann Gemma, OP

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Dear Friends, Centuries ago, St. Paul encouraged the community in Philippi saying: “Do not worry about anything, but present your needs to God in prayer and petition, with thanksgiving. Then the peace of God, which is beyond all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.” (4:6-7) Might those same words be a

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Trial & Grace: Loss, Grief and Hope in a Time of the Pandemic

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This article originally appeared in the July 2021 Issue of JUST Words. I measure every Grief I meet With narrow, probing, eyes – I wonder if it weights like Mine – or has an Easier size.[i] –Emily Dickinson From the beginning of the pandemic, up to the time of this writing, fourteen of our sisters,

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image of Easter lily and pulpit with Happy Easter to All over top

An Easter Message from Sister Rebecca Ann Gemma, OP

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Dear Friends, In the Easter Proclamation, the Exsultet, sung at the beginning of the Easter Vigil services tonight, we will hear the joy-filled declaration: “Be glad, let earth be glad, as glory floods her, ablaze with the light from her eternal King, let all corners of the earth be glad, knowing an end to gloom

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Christmas Greetings from Sister Rebecca Ann Gemma, OP

3 Comments / Featured, News / Sister Rebecca Ann Gemma, OP

Dear Friends, On behalf of all Dominican Sisters of Springfield, I greet you joyfully and offer our prayers for your peace and good health at this moment for courageous hope, this moment when we affirm and celebrate the Incarnation of Jesus Christ, Son of God and Son of Mary. The merriest of Christmases to you

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Leaving the Upper Room of Fear:
Post Lock-down Life and Hope

Leave a Comment / Anti-racism, Featured, News / Sister Rebecca Ann Gemma, OP

This preaching on Romans 8:14-28 was given for The Community Room, a virtual gathering of Springfield Dominican Sisters and Associates, on May 28. That was after the murder of George Floyd but before the nation and world erupted in protests that are changing the landscape of racial injustice around the globe. A few years ago,

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Racial Justice: Claiming Our Oneness in Christ

1 Comment / Anti-racism, Featured, For the Life of the World, Healing the World, Justice & Peace, Life & Prayer, News / Sister Rebecca Ann Gemma, OP

Sister Rebecca Ann Gemma, OP, prioress general of the Dominican Sisters of Springfield, preached at the first of a series of Evening Prayer & Preaching events scheduled at Sacred Heart Convent for 2020. Learn more here. Her text was Philippians 2:1-11. Peter Scazzero, the author of Emotionally Healthy Spirituality, is quoted as saying, “Jesus may

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Language of Friendship Spoken at Dominican Literacy Center

Leave a Comment / JW Archives / Sister Rebecca Ann Gemma, OP

“Friends…,” wrote Henry David Thoreau, “they cherish one another’s hopes. They are kind to one another’s dreams.” Sharing hopes and dreams is interwoven in the tutor/student relationship established at the Dominican Literacy Center in Aurora, Ill. Friendship is often the crowning grace. Since 1993, this community-based literacy program, sponsored by the Dominican Sisters of Springfield,

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