Word to the Wise
Sunday, August 8, 2010 - Holy Father Dominic - Nineteenth Sunday in Ordinary Time
[[Wisdom 18:6-9; Hebrews 11:1-2, 8019; Luke 12:32-48.]Who, then, is the faithful and prudent steward whom the master will put in charge of his servants to distribute the food allowance at the proper time? Blessed is that servant whom his master on arrival finds doing so.
This Sunday, I am beginning a parish mission in Payson, Arizona. Since the place is up in the mountains, the August heat should be less! I think it is appropriate to celebrate St. Dominic's feast day this way since he founded the Order of Preachers (Dominicans) to be itinerant preachers! It seems to me to be the "faithful and prudent" thing to do - not that I claim always to be faithful and prudent. Our Dominican way of life offers everyone a way to "assess" how faithful and prudent they might be. We call this way "the Four Pillars" of Dominican life - prayer, study, community life, ministry. When giving retreats and parish missions, I like to turn these into four questions that anyone might ask in a self-examination. How am I praying? How am I learning? How am I loving? How am I serving? Our faith teaches us that we shall be held accountable for our lives. I think it was Socrates who said that "the unexamined life is not worth living." The feast of St. Dominic and the scriptures for this 19th Sunday in Ordinary Time offer us the challenge to be "faithful and prudent" and a way of determining how we can be good servants of the Lord! AMEN