Word to the Wise
Thursday, July 13, 2023 - Thursday in the 14th Week in Ordinary Time
[Gen 44:18-21, 23b-29; 45:1-5 and Matt 10:7-15]"Without cost you have received; without cost you are to give." [Matthew]
When St. Dominic founded the Order of Preachers (Dominicans), he explicitly required that the brothers were to beg for their daily bread from door to door! Along with the Franciscans, the Dominicans were called "mendicants," from the Latin word mendicare, meaning "to beg." This practice went along with itinerancy, preaching from place to place and not being confined to a monastery. St. Dominic aimed to have the brothers live in accordance with the apostolic community described in Acts 2:42-47. This would also be in keeping with Jesus' requirements in the gospel passage for today, from the "missionary discourse" in the Gospel According to Matthew, For St. Dominic, it was also strategic because the heretical Albigensian preachers in Southern France were itinerant and poor and were gaining converts because of their lifestyle. How the friars lived would preach eloquently before they said a word!!
We Dominicans had to modify the practice of daily begging because it was in tension with the academic apostolate as well as the preaching. Nevertheless, our communities are continually exhorted to live simply, in recognition of our dependence on the generosity of our supporters. The education of our student brothers and support of our elder friars (like me!) require considerable financial resources. We must match that generosity by the quality of our preaching and the simplicity of our lifestyle both individually and as communities.
For all Christian disciples, the relationship between lifestyle and faith represents a challenge. Much of the world goes without adequate food, shelter and health care. Is our faith matched by our generosity in time, treasure and talent? Jesus reminds us "...without cost you have received, without cost you are to give." AMEN