Put Out into the Deep
July 29 2025
In this edition, we express our gratitude to the Dominicans as they meet in their general chapter—and connect their charisms to our upcoming work in Boston.
Spiritual Sons of a Preacher Man
BCF has a long relationship with the Order of Preachers. Eve was brought into the Church through the Dominicans in New Haven, and Keith discerned with them for a time as a young man. As the Order meets in its general chapter in Krakow, which will close just as our Confident Witness retreat begins, Keith reflects on his love of the Dominican way:
"When I was discerning which religious community to join, I was attracted to two kinds of orders. There were the monks, because I loved the idea of the rhythm of liturgy as the heartbeat carrying me through every day. And there were the evangelists and apologists like the Jesuits and Paulists, because those were things I was already doing. The Dominican life has the best of both contemplation and action, preaching and teaching and praying.
But it’s probably the sublime beauty and practical applicability of Thomist spirituality that keeps me growing in Christ. By practical, I mean Aquinas and the moral life. Virtue theory can be like Cognitive Behavioral Therapy: build good habits; align thoughts and feelings, head and heart, and be happy. By beauty, for example, Aquinas’s Eucharistic hymns, and his greatest wish in life, “Non Nisi Te Domine.” “Only You, Lord.”."
Prayer Requests
Shortly after founding the Order of Preachers, only a few months after the friars first gathered together, St Dominic sent his brothers out, two by two, to every corner of Christendom.
The Dominicans’ charism of preaching is obviously well-aligned with our Confident Witness retreat, in which we will help gay, practicing Catholics testify in many varied contexts to Jesus’ saving work in their lives.
August 8th, the Friday of our Confident Witness weekend, is the Feast of St Dominic. Please pray for his intercession, that we and our retreatants may share:
Eve & Keith