Vocation Discernment
Are you being called to become a priest or brother?
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Vocation Office
Western Dominican Province
5890 Birch Court
Oakland, CA 94618-1626
(510)-596-1821
Our Vocations require a great deal of support, from the first moment they begin their novitiate until the last moments of their retirement. Please do conside visiting our donation page and helping form and sustain the priests and brothers who will serve you in the future, serve you now and have served you in the past.
Saints and Blesseds
The Order of Friars Preachers,
The Dominican Order,
has a beautiful history of learning, service and holiness manifested in its saints and blesseds of every age since its foundation by St. Dominic de Guzman. Do enjoy the periodic postings of such stories as are available from various sources, especially our own archives.
Religious Retirement
Our elderly and infirm friars receive the best care we have available to us, as in any family. We rely heavily on the donations of others for our own existence and thus when one of our own becomes incapable of further ministry due to age or infirmity, those same donations help us support the sometimes necessary special care required by such members of our communities.
We prefer to care for our elderly and infirm in our own houses so that the life of a religious community can be a part of a friars life as long as possible. This is also the most economical in many ways. We strive to use donations wisely. But sometimes a care facility is essential. As we, as a Province, do not benefit from the national collection for retired religious, we ask that you assist us in caring for these friars who have prayed, taught, served and ministered for so many years amomg the people of the Western United States and beyond.
Please, in your kindness, consider assisting us in this work of brotherly love.
Many thanks in advance.
Catholicism
It's just the right thing
Fr. Christopher John Renz, OP
I entered the Dominican Order in 1989 after "puddle-jumping" across the country. Originally from New Jersey, I am the second youngest of five children. I obtained an undergraduate degree in biological chemistry from St. Peter's College (Jersey City, NJ) and a doctorate in microbiology from Northwestern University (Chicago, IL). Afterwards I spent three years studying heart disease as a postdoctoral fellow in the laboratory of Russell Ross, Ph.D., at the University of Washington (Seattle, WA). Though very excited by the life of a researcher, I felt that it was not to be my life-long calling. After some serious prayer, a bit of encouragement from friends, and a personal invitation from a Dominican priest I met in Seattle, I decided to enter religious life. Since that time I have felt truly fulfilled as a member of the Order of Preachers!
I was ordained in 1997. Currently, I serve as the academic dean at our School (DSPT) [N.B. John, can you create a hyperlink to the DSPT web site?]. Currently, much of my time and energy is devoted to the development of institutional assessment protocols for the School. Happily, I find that this work uses a significant amount of my research skills. When the protocols are up and running, I hope to return to teaching in the areas of systematic theology and spirituality. I enjoy writing, though find it difficult to carve out the time for it. I've published articles in the areas of spirituality, liturgy, and science, as well as a number of poems. I hope to produce a full length manuscript of poetry . . . some day!
I enjoy poetry as nourishment for my soul. First attracted to the art through the works of the Spanish mystic, St. John of the Cross, I began writing poetry almost as soon as I entered the Order. Shortly thereafter, I met Armando Ibáñez, O.P. Together we formed a small group of poets at the GTU, calling ourselves "The Power of Poetry." In 1990 we published the first (small) volume of Ruah. It has had a life of its own ever since! I hope you'll take a moment to find out more about Ruah: A Journal of Spiritual Poetry.
