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 Fr.
Dominic Dennis DeLay, OP
Although I’m originally from Connecticut, I mostly grew up in California. We never
missed Mass on Sunday when I was a kid. And I was bored stiff. So I think the seeds were
planted early for a desire to one day have a prayerful and meaningful celebration of the Mass.
(The Sunday family ritual I liked was going out to breakfast after Mass.)
Music planted another seed. We always sang growing up, and
when I was a music student at Occidental College in Los Angeles, I wanted to do something weird my
last summer before graduation. I ended up studying Gregorian chant in France, and I was
fascinated by the monks’ life.
I thought I wanted to be a monk and sing (and eat) all day.
But then I realized I needed to be a bit more social. Besides, the monks worked too much. I met
the Dominican friars at my college, and they seemed like a real joyful bunch.
Most Dominican friars are also priests. Sounded good to me,
and still does. As a priest there’s nothing I like better than leading people in the celebration
of the Eucharist. And then there’s the privilege of living out the meaning of the Eucharist with
everyone the rest of the week, with all the ups and downs that life brings to us.
I also love to preach and teach – I love to challenge people
to use the brains God gave us. I also love to study, something really important to Dominicans,
who gave me a great foundation at the Graduate Theological Union in Berkeley. In recent years,
I’ve brought together my interest in music, theater, liturgy, and preaching/storytelling by
studying and making movies. Please visit me at
www.mudpuddlefilms.com.
In addition to the filmmaking ministry, I am currently doing
campus at UC San Diego with my friend and Dominican classmate of twenty-one years, John Paul
Forte. He and I have been performing “The Black and White Concert: A Friendship in Song.”
Beginning with black and white spirituals, we share the music that brought us together and that
has brought other black and white Americans together through the centuries.
I’m also blessed that my brother, my sister,
their families, my parents, and I have all miraculously converged in Southern California.
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