BY BILL SKOWRONSKI
Director of Communication and Marketing Central Province, USA

When a friend studying at Aquinas Institute of Theology asked Raymond Bryce if he wanted to meet her for Vespers with the Dominicans, he replied, “What’s a Dominican?”

That was 2006, when the Dominicans lived in Jesuit Hall at Saint Louis University. His friend is now a member of the Dominican Laity and Fr. Raymond Bryce, O.P. is now an ordained Dominican Priest in the Central Province.

His first experience with the Order of Preachers was overwhelming and wonderful. “A flood of guys in white pouring into the chapel,” he said. He came back every week after, and was eventually invited to a Come & See vocation weekend.

“Being in St. Louis was nourishing and enriching for my faith and prayer life,” Fr. Bryce said. “It was like being guided along by the provident hand of God”

It’s possible Fr. Bryce would not have found his way to St. Louis were it not for this guidance, which he felt in a real way during the Easter season in 2006. While stationed at the Air Force base in Little Rock, Arkansas, Fr. Bryce met Max Elliott, a retired Air Force Deacon. Max’s wife Pricilla lured him to attend a Confirmation Mass on base by offering a chicken dinner afterwards.

“It was one of the few homilies I’ve never forgotten,” Fr. Bryce said. “I remember preachers who were good, but this homily was burned into my memory.”

Someone has probably told you that because you’re being confirmed, you have to know all the answers now because you’re Catholic adults. I’m 70 and I don’t have all the answers. Let me give you some good advice for the days and years to come. Pray every day. When you’re praying, if the Holy Spirit ever comes and asks you to do something, no matter what it is, just like when the angel Gabriel came to the Blessed Mother, just do what she did and have the courage to say yes, even if you don’t know how it’s going to happen.

When the bishop gave that homily, at the point where he said “the angel Gabriel,” Bryce felt the undeniable sense the Lord spoke to him and He said the thing the bishop is saying is what I am saying. What I want you to do is become a priest. Father Bryce broke down in tears right there.

The first time he visited Chicago, Fr. Bryce made the trip with Sr. Maria Vianney, O.P., who at the time was still discerning her call to religious life as well. That night, he met Fr. Marty McCormick, O.P., who had been diagnosed with brain cancer and given only six months to live. The two men shook hands and Fr. Marty said, “If I could do it all again, I wouldn’t just walk back, I would run back to the Dominicans. My life has been so blessed, it’s been such a gift.”

Dominican life has also been a gift to Fr. Bryce. He chose the Order for its focus on Community Life, which he admits is both supportive and challenging in a constructive way.

“You get into religious life and you realize you have support to lean back on when days get tough. The brothers are there for you,” Fr. Bryce said. “Of course we’re all also working on growing which means we’re not perfect and we get on each other’s nerves, but all the rough edges help you grow in holiness as well.”

As a C-130 pilot, he enjoyed being part of the five-man crew it took to fly the plane. Now he brings that unique leadership ability into active ministry.

“I met people in the military in my first year who were solid Christians and they were able to show me what Christian leadership looks like,” Fr. Bryce said. “It has its own particular flavor. You can tell someone that you should care about your people, be professional and work hard, but when you see a Christian doing that, there’s more than an obligation, there is a genuine capacity to care for people—it’s a part of their Christian witness.”

“There was nothing I loved more than being in the military and being an Air Force pilot,” Fr. Bryce added. “The only thing I could’ve loved more was God, and it was him that came calling.”

Fr. Raymond Bryce, O.P. is parochial vicar at St. Paul Catholic Center on the campus of Indiana University in Bloomington, Indiana. 

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Return to Summer 2015 DCQ

BY BILL SKOWRONSKI
Director of Communication and Marketing Central Province, USA

Our primary experience of Catholic priests is often limited to the Mass and the Sacraments—every Sunday, with baptisms, as well as First Holy Communion, weddings and funerals sprinkled in over the years. But there are also a few uniquely gifted men who are called to serve the Church somewhat behind the scenes, pouring over theological texts, publishing philosophical papers and working intellectually to restore credibility to our Church, which is under attack now as much as it ever has been.

Father James Dominic Rooney, O.P. was born in Akron, Ohio. By middle school, when he began seriously considering a vocation, he had already lived in Okinawa, Japan, where his father was a Naval Officer. His parents Thomas and Maryanna are physicians and exposed him to French, German, and Latin while raising him in Virginia, South Carolina and Toledo.

Oddly enough, Fr. Rooney was turned on to deeper religious and philosophy study while reading pop science books by Stephen Hawking and Jacques Maritain, particularly The Degrees of Knowledge, which he credits for leading him to his personal conversion. Although, Fr. Rooney was educated by Jesuits, he knew he wanted to join the Order of Preachers even before meeting the Dominicans.

Today, there may only be three U.S. Dominicans who are bi-ritual and 25 worldwide, of which he is one. His upbringing influenced his decision to pursue Eastern bi-ritual faculties (Byzantine) to help hear confessions and preach. Growing up, Fr. Rooney attended a Byzantine church once a month and on major holidays.

Father seems to be following in the footsteps of the great intellectual friars from the Order’s history. His role in the Order will more likely be forming others, preparing future Dominicans to be good thinkers, publishing philosophical papers and continuing advanced research.

“He is one of the more widely read brothers I know—however what continues to impress me is his love of prayer,” Dominican classmate Br. Patrick Hyde, O.P. said. “Often times it is easy to overlook the absolute necessity of prayer in our lives and unfortunately the role of prayer in our theological and philosophical studies. James Dominic was always the first one in the chapel each morning in the novitiate and often times throughout our time of study in St. Louis.”

He has already been published in Oxford’s Journal of Church and State, and as a novice brother was given the Young Scholars Award by the American Catholic Philosophical Association, but Fr. Rooney acknowledges not everyone is going to be an academic. Still, having good Catholic academics is a way to form and educate other people to know their faith and to be evangelizers.

“Dominicans have a heck of a lot to contribute to evangelization. I’m supporting the faith by doing theological philosophy,” Fr. Rooney said. “If you don’t have the academics to make the faith credible, explain the faith, and deal with problematic issues, how can we get into places where nobody is reaching the unchurched?”

It’s hard to keep people in the Church and address various ethnic groups, Rooney says, because Catholics in the United States aren’t used to evangelization.

“He is constantly asking himself and others how best to bring the good news of Jesus Christ to those who don’t believe,” Br. Hyde said. “James Dominic is not simply an intellectual, he is a man who loves all of his brothers and sisters, and has zealously gone out of his way to search out and nourish those who have fallen away from the faith and those who have turned to atheism and agnosticism.”

At one point, someone close to Fr. Rooney practically nearly converted to Buddhism. In an amazing act of love, Fr. Rooney read a nearly 1,000 page Buddhist book so that when he spoke with his friend about Buddhism, he was informed and could adequately respond to his questions. And James Dominic extends his willingness for dialogue to other philosophers. Himself only 28 years old, he encourages other young brothers to engage philosophers who are not Catholic. Further, he has been a resource and a voice of reason for his brothers.

“For the Gospel to be preached effectively, we need more men like James Dominic who are willing to take risks in bringing people to the Word,” Br. Hyde said. “In good times and in difficult times, he was always quick to remind me of the importance of our vocation and the primacy of Christ, not ourselves in following that vocation.”

Father Rooney was ordained a Dominican priest on May 16th in St. Louis, where he earned a Masters of Theology from Aquinas Institute of Theology and where he will now pursue a Doctorate of Philosophy at Saint Louis University. 

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By Andrés Trujillo
Dominican Novice

It is still incredible for me to think that just last year I began discerning a call to the Dominican Order, and now I have been accepted to the novitiate. It all began as inklings in my heart about the priesthood, which then led to a fascination. In truth, I avoided the priesthood for a long time. But after watching videos by the Dominicans about discernment, I had to ask myself a question that was presented by the late Fr. Benedict Ashley, O.P., who said that the first thing a man ought to think about when it comes to a vocation is the Church herself, in the sense of what it needs from YOU at this present time. “What does the Church need from me?” When I am really honest with myself, I can see that the Church needs me to be a religious priest. The more I begin to explore and discover who I am, what I am attracted to, what I like and what I like to do, the more I can see that where I find peace is in a life dedicated to holiness in a religious order.

It is important for every man who is discerning any kind of vocation to ask himself Fr. Benedict’s question. It is a very interesting time in history to be saying yes to a religious vocation. We live in a world where secularism grows every day. This has created a society where so few people think about God every day, if they think about Him at all. Further, as secular values try to replace religious ones, we begin to see that people are now hungering for lasting truth more than ever. Their souls and their hearts are starving for truth, and yet truth is to be found in one person because that one person is truth itself. That person is Jesus Christ. This presents those in the Dominican Order with a unique and exhilarating challenge similar to the one St. Dominic faced as an early preacher against heresy. This challenge is bringing Christ to the people, to illuminate a society that has been very much darkened with things that do not and cannot satisfy. This challenge is taken up out of great love and compassion for the people to whom we preach. We are called to bring people the Truth, the knowledge of Christ, and to provide them with the tools needed to grow as human beings made in the image and likeness of God.

There is a great need for meaning in our world today, and the Dominicans have always been the ones to rise up to the challenges of the times. Having studied diplomacy and the Russian language, I could have been a lot of things. I ultimately learned that I was being called to something much more. I left behind the possibilities of becoming a government agent, a diplomat, or an interpreter for a life of prayer, study, community, and preaching. It is a life dedicating every minute to the salvation of souls either through prayer or through preaching and teaching. It is a life dedicated to growing so close to God and so like His Son Jesus Christ that you become a saint. The sacrifices will be great, but the fruits are irresistible and beyond imagination. I am nervous, but by no means am I afraid. Christ has been calling me for a long time to the service of His Church and His people. There is a need in His Church to preach the Gospel more than ever, and I feel I am truly doing everything to meet this need, this call he is issuing out to me.

So to those who are still discerning, ask yourselves: “What does the Church need from me?”

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