THE MAKING OF A PREACHER

SOLEMNITY OF OUR BLESSED FATHER DOMINIC, PRIEST

Isa 52:7-10; Ps 96:1-3,7-8,10; 2 Tim 4:1-8; Mt 5:13-19

The Gospel Man of Prayer

We celebrate the solemn feast of our Blessed Father Dominic. It is a memorial for the universal Church, but a solemnity for us, Dominicans. Central to Saint Dominic and the Dominican identity is the preaching mission or apostolate. While the mission of preaching characterises Saint Dominic and the Dominican Order he founded, the activities that enter into the preparation of the preacher are not of less importance. The preacher is a messenger or an angel of the Lord, for that is what the word ‘angel’ means. As an emissary of God, the preacher must be well acquainted with the message and the mind of God, who is the author of the message of salvation for all mankind. The process of getting acquainted with the message of salvation or the Gospel is the same for an angelic being and for a mere mortal or man. He will need to wait on God, who prepares both the vessel and the content; that is, God first transforms or cleanses the messenger of his own will or desires before transmitting the divine will to him. For this end, myriads of angels wait on God; the divine presence is their habitation. The same applies to us mere mortals. We must live in the presence of God to be transformed into worthy vessels of glory and bearers of his divine will.

This is definitely what the Lord meant when he asked the two apostles, James and John, who desired a place at his left and his right respectively, whether they were willing to drink the cup he was prepared to drink. Cf. Mt 20:21-22. Even the Son of Man had to go through the same preparatory process to become one with the will of the Father. He lived unknown for 30 years, learning obedience to the Father’s will in his human nature through discipline or suffering. Heb. 5:8, "Although he was a son, he learned obedience from what he suffered." Saint Paul describes the same process of purification that he went through in his second letter to Timothy. “As for me, my life is already being poured away as a libation, and the time has come for me to be gone. I have fought the good fight to the end; I have run the race to the finish; I have kept the faith; all there is to come now is the crown of righteousness reserved for me, which the Lord, the righteous judge, will give me on that Day.” Father Dominic was grilled equally for many years to make him worthy of containing the Gospel and proclaiming it to the nations.

Our Lord explains why we must undergo the process of purification and transformation into the light of God. It is because we will be offering people our lives as Gospel; it must come from us as something natural to us for people to believe its reality, not as merchants selling goods that do not belong to them. “You are the salt of the earth. But if salt becomes tasteless, what can make it salty again?” Again, he said: “You are the light of the world. A city built on a hilltop cannot be hidden. No one lights a lamp to put it under a tub; they put it on the lampstand where it shines for everyone in the house. In the same way your light must shine in the sight of men, so that, seeing your good works, they may give the praise to your Father in heaven.” We must communicate the message as God would want it communicated, so that people will give thanks to the Father. Everything that belongs to us must be poured out for God to fill us with his will. The preacher, therefore, carries the joy of the Lord. “How beautiful on the mountains, are the feet of one who brings good news, who heralds peace, brings happiness, proclaims salvation, and tells Zion, ‘Your God is king!’” The preachers of the Gospel walk on the mystical mountain, which is the humanity of Jesus, because they carry the life of Christ within them.

It is not surprising to us, therefore, that Saint Dominic is called the Joyful Friar, the Gospel Man of prayer, for being in the presence of God became natural to him. He was born in Castile, in Spain, and became a canon of the cathedral of Osma. He accompanied his bishop, Diego de Azevedo, on a mission of preaching against the Albigensian heresy, which was then strong in southern France. They lived in poverty, diligently and prayerfully prepared for the debates they had with the heretics. Dominic continued his gentle and prayerful preaching of the Gospel afterwards. In 1216, he founded the Order of Preachers, dedicated to saving souls by preaching and persuasion. He finely blended monastic contemplation with apostolic activity of preaching to define the life of the Friars Preachers or Dominicans. The friars (Dominicans and Franciscans) made a lasting impact on the life of medieval Europe, and the Dominicans, in particular, altered the course of intellectual history by making a well-thought-out and rational response to the new learning that was appearing as long-forgotten thinkers such as Aristotle became known in the Christian West. Dominic died at Bologna on 6 August 1221. As we celebrate our holy founder, Saint Dominic, we pray for the grace to proclaim the wonders of the Lord among all peoples in our days.

Let us pray: May Saint Dominic come to the help of your Church by his merits and teaching, O Lord, and may he, who was an outstanding preacher of your truth, be a devoted intercessor on our behalf. Through our Lord Jesus Christ, your Son, who lives and reigns with you in the unity of the Holy Spirit, God, for ever and ever.