In Gratitude

This Thanksgiving day I am certainly grateful for the phenomenal donors who continue to support the province with their financial and spiritual support. Professor James O’Reilly is one who not only believes in the Dominican mission of preaching, but entrusted his daughter to the Order. With well over 30 years experience in the field of law, James O’Reilly shared with us in the latest Trumpet newsletter his informed reasons for why he supports the Dominican friars. His daughter, Sister Anne O’Reilly, O.P., belongs to Our Lady of Grace Monastery in North Guilford, CT. Here is an excerpt from his interview with the Trumpet. Thank-you Professor O’Reilly, and to all who make our work possible! Why have you chosen to support the Dominican Friars? After reading the Constitution of the Order, I came to understand why the nuns are so important to the Order’s overall success. I am convinced that the integrative effort to educate the nuns and engage them as “prayer partners” is crucial to the friars’ work. I experienced this in a concrete way earlier this year. After a series of medical tests, a major defect in my heart was discovered. I called my daughter to ask for prayers. Three days later, I was waiting to be taken in for open-heart surgery. The doctor came to brief me on the six ways the surgery could go wrong. Having published 45 books, including one on “informed consent,” this was a moment of truth for me. As the doctor left, all of a sudden, I saw a Dominican habit. Fr. Ezra Sullivan, O.P., appeared and gave me the Sacraments of Reconciliation, Communion and Anointing. The presence of Fr. Ezra was not a mere accident. The great learning and ministry of the priests, sustained by the sisters’ prayers, manifested itself in Fr. Ezra at my side. This is why it is essential that everyone in the Dominican family support the education of the next generation of friars. My daughter will never be involved in outreach, but the friars take on that mission. She is praying for them. This is why I have contributed over the years not only to my daughter’s community, but to the friars as well. I want to be part of the friars’ powerful ministry.