Word to the Wise
Thursday, August 8, 2024 - Thursday in the 18th Week in Ordinary Time
[Isa 52:7-10; 2 Tim 4:1-5; Matt 5:13-19; 28:16-20 or Luke 10:1-9]I charge you in the presence of God and of Christ Jesus, who will judge the living and the dead, and by his appearing and his kingly power: proclaim the word; be persistent whether it is convenient or inconvenient; convince, reprimand, encourage through all patience and teaching. For the time will come when people will not tolerate sound doctrine but, following their own desires and insatiable curiosity, will accumulate teachers and will stop listening to the truth and will be diverted to myths. But you, be self-possessed in all circumstances; put up with hardship; perform the work of an evangelist; fulfill your ministry. [2 Timothy]
AUGUST 8 ST. DOMINIC GUZMAN, founder of the Order of Preachers - Dominicans
[Isaiah 52:7-10; 2 Timothy 4:1-8; Matthew 5:13-19 or 28:16-20 or Luke 10:1-9. These are scriptures for the feast day. A reflection on the scriptures for Thursday in the 18th Week in Ordinary Time may be found at my website, using the "search engine" - <www.rbwords.com>.]
We Dominicans around the world celebrate the feast of our holy founder today, St. Dominic Guzman. All religious orders tend to idolize their founders who represent all that they want to be and inspire them to do even greater things. St. Dominic is clearly able to inspire those who follow in his footsteps, whether they be friar, cloistered nun, apostolic sister, Dominican laity, member of the Priestly Fraternity of St. Dominic or other branches of the Dominican family. The central idea of the religious family he founded is simple: PREACHING. The catalyst for that idea was a heresy in southern France at the time (early 1200's) known as the Albigensians. The official preachers sent by Rome were not getting anywhere because they traveled in style in contrast to the austerity of the heretics who were gaining converts by their example. St. Dominic and his bishop were passing through France and conceived the idea of mobile, educated preachers who lived a simple lifestyle. The idea caught on and the Dominican Order - the Order of Preachers - was given its name by Pope Honorius III in 1216.
There is much to be said about the personality of St. Dominic - his joyfulness, his prayerfulness, his stubborn determination to focus on the PREACHING. These aspects are readily available to anyone. What is less celebrated, but nevertheless crucial, was his organizational genius enshrined in the Constitutions of the Order which allow for the flexibility to be itinerant and to allow for a democratic way of life that balances community and individual desire. A further important aspect is STUDY. Not every Dominican will be a great scholar like Thomas Aquinas, but every Dominican is expected to be a student all his or her life. All of this is in service to PREACHING.
St. Dominic personified the charge given to Timothy in the second scripture for the feast, quoted above. We who follow in his footsteps have both an inspiring and demanding patron whose personality and talents remain our guiding lights! AMEN