Word to the Wise
Wednesday, August 8, 2012 - Wednesday in the 18th Week in Ordinary Time
[Jer 31:1-7 and Matt 15:21-28]For thus says the Lord: Shout with joy for Jacob, exult at the head of the nations; proclaim your praise and say: The Lord has delivered his people, the remnant of Israel. [Jeremiah]
Today is the feast day of St. Dominic Guzman, the founder of the Order of Preachers - the Dominicans - to which I belong! Although in Dominican chapels and churches around the world, the scriptures will be special ones for this feast, I find that the ordinary ones for this day (18th Wednesday, Ordinary time, Cycle 2) are actually quite suitable with their emphasis on proclamation of salvation to all nations! The gospel scripture with its encounter between Jesus and the Canaanite woman who claims that she has a right to Jesus' attention is a reminder to us preachers about being too narrow in our focus! Faith may be found in unexpected places and persons! Jeremiah provides a vision of a joyful preacher, which is the primary characteristic that we Dominicans associate with St. Dominic. We have a song in English, "Joyful Friar," that we sing at Dominican gatherings in the USA (and perhaps elsewhere?). In the evenings, we recite or sing an "antiphon" we call the "O Lumen!": Light of the Church, Doctor of Truth, Rose of Patience, Ivory of Chastity! Freely have you dispensed the waters of wisdom! Herald of Grace, unite us with the blessed!
All of this is meant to help us celebrate the remarkable Spaniard who, in the early 13th century in southern France, gathered a group of informal preachers around him and obtained papal approval of the group as "The Holy Preaching," and eventually as the Order of Preachers. Custom led to the nickname, "Dominicans." In other places, the nickname, "Blackfriars," was given because of the black cape that is worn over the white robe (habit) of the Order. Dominic left us very little in writing. His presence is felt, however, in the elaborate "constitutions" of the friars and cloistered nuns of the Order which enshrine a fundamentally democratic structure dedicated to a life of prayer, study, community and ministry. For the friars this means flexibility in going wherever the preaching is needed [in this case, the internet!], especially in university settings, to which Dominic sent his followers at the very outset. Study and mobility would be hallmarks of the Order. This is why Dominican friars are NOT MONKS! We are not vowed to one monastery! The fundamental constitutional ideas adopted by St. Dominic at the beginning are still the ones we Dominicans live by. This includes not only the friars and cloistered nuns but also the apostolic congregations of Dominican women and the Dominican Laity - a large umbrella we call "the Dominican Family."
It was my reading of a popular biography of St. Dominic by an English Dominican named Bede Jarrett, OP, that finally decided me on joining the Dominicans nearly 50 years ago. I have not regretted the choice and I invite you to celebrate with me today the life of the man who got it all started: St. Dominic Guzman, O.P.! AMEN
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