29th Sunday in Ordinary Time 2025 - The Rosary and Persevering Prayer

 

During the 12th and 13th century, a dastardly heresy swept throughout Europe known as Albigensianism. The Albigensians struggled with the reality of evil in the world, like many of us. They believed in a good Creator God who wants our souls to flourish, but couldn’t understand how that a good God could allow evil and disease and war and suffering in the world. 

Instead of seeking the answer to this problem in the sound teachings of our Faith, the Albigensians adopted the heretical belief that because good and evil seem to coexist, there must exist two separate Gods—a God of Spirit and Light and then an equally powerful God of darkness and evil which governed the physical realm. 

The Albigensians then extended their error to explain that Jesus therefore couldn’t really be God, because the God of Spirit and Light couldn’t really take on flesh and suffer, because flesh and suffering were evil. And because according to the Albigensians flesh is evil, they forbade the eating of animals and milk, and they condemned marriage and procreation since they believed begetting children meant imprisoning a beautiful pure soul in a prison of flesh. They denied the sacraments of the Church, refusing to believe that the God of goodness could work through physical things like, oil, water, bread, and wine.

And you might wonder: who would join these people? But they actually became really popular. And many Catholics adopted the errors of the Albigensians and fell away from right religion.

To deliver souls from this error, God raised up a holy saint. In the early 13th century a young priest named Dominic Guzman was tasked by the Pope to preach against the Albigensians. He preached all through Europe. St. Dominic took up the mandate St. Paul gave to St. Timothy in our second reading today, "to be persistent whether it is convenient or inconvenient; convince, reprimand, encourage through all patience and teaching." And though he was persistant and faithful, St. Dominic, initially, wasn’t very successful in winning souls back to the Catholic faith.

So Dominic prayed and fasted and did penance. And one day in 1214, Dominic received a heavenly visit: Our Lady appeared to Him with some instructions from heaven. She said, “Dear Dominic, do you know what weapon the Most Holy Trinity wants to use to reform the world?...I want you to know that in this kind of warfare the ‘battering ram’ will be the Rosary. So, if you want to reach these hardened souls and win them to God, preach my Rosary!” 

And this campaign must have worked. For in my hands I hold a rosary…and have you met any Albigensians lately? Dominic taught the people to pray the Rosary and Europe was converted.

I tell this story because it is October, the month of the Rosary; we celebrated the feast of Our Lady of the Rosary on October 7. But, also because the praying of the rosary relates to our scripture readings today, on prayer and perseverance.

In the first reading from Exodus we heard how Moses had to persevere in keeping his hands raised during a battle with the Amalekites. As long as Moses kept his hands raised up, Israel was victorious in battle; but when he let his hands down, the Amalekites, Israel’s enemies got the upper hand. 

This is a great metaphor for the Christian life and the mission of the Church—when we keep our hands raised before God, persevering in prayer, engaging in the works of mercy, victory is won—our souls grow as they are meant to, the mission succeeds. When we grow lax, lukewarm, and disobedient, our souls diminish, the mission struggles. 

Similarly, in the Gospel, our Lord praises the widow who perseveres in petitioning the judge for justice. His hard is moved to acquiesce to her request when he recognizes her perseverance.

Perseverance is a required virtue for the Christian life. Daily, we must strive to keep the faith and do what is right, amidst temptations and errors and challenges. 

Often in the scriptures speak about perseverance. Jesus teaches about the need to carry our crosses daily; and gives us the example of his only perseverance in following his Father’s will unto death on a cross. St. Paul enjoins Timothy to persevere in right doctrine. Jesus teaches that amidst the evils of the world, “the one who endures to the end will be saved.”

How will we persevere amidst so many distractions and challenges? Daily prayer is so vital. St. Alphonsus Ligouri says, “if, then, we wish to persevere and to be saved—for no one cannot be saved without perseverance—we must pray continually. Our perseverance depends, not on one grace, but on a thousand helps which we hope to obtain from God during our whole lives, that we may be preserved in his grace.” 

While there are many helpful devotional prayers that can help sustain us in the Christian life. The Rosary is so powerful. Hardened souls are converted through the rosary, including our own. If you are struggling with a particular vice, a particular addition, a particular sin, take up the rosary daily for strength and the grace of conversion. If your family is going through a particularly turbulent time, pray the rosary together. If a loved one has fallen away from the Church and is engaging in a sinful lifestyle, pray the rosary for them. 

The rosary is not simply a relic from the past. As Our Lady told St. Dominic, it is a powerful spiritual weapon that the Holy Trinity wishes us to utilize to reform the world. And though the Albigensian heresy has been defeated, there is much reform needed in our present day--many errors and sins which separate souls from God.

So if you’ve never prayed the rosary, or don’t know how to pray the rosary, this is the month to take up this powerful devotion. A guide to the Rosary is available on our parish website.

Prayer is powerful. In can win miracles. It can convert hardened hearts. It can bring relief to the sorrowful and light to the confused. But perseverance is needed. Our Lady called the Rosary “a Battering Ram” because a battering ram is a large beam, sometimes a whole tree, handled by many people, used to open a large gate, or to make an opening in a wall.  It only works with the repetition of blows on the gate or the wall—with perseverance. 

And the Rosary is a battering ram, taking up by the many hands and hearts of the members of the Church, to knock down the walls which separate our minds and hearts from God. 

And if it’s not the rosary, it needs to be something. Each of us needs to discern well how God is calling each of us to persevere in the sort of prayer that will support the church and enable us to persevere in the Christian life, strengthened and supported in our weaknesses, and equipped, as St. Paul says, for every good work for the glory of God and salvation of souls.

August 8 2023 - St. Dominic & The Pro-Life Rosary

 St. Dominic is the Founder of the Order of Preachers, also known as the Dominican Friars, and lived around the same time period as Francis and Clare. Dominic was born in Spain around 1170 to an old noble Castilian family. Supported by a priest uncle, he was well educated, and had a great love of Sacred Scripture and for the poor.  

As a young priest, he accompanied his bishop on a diplomatic mission to Northern Europe, and while staying with innkeepers in southern France, he came face-to-face with a heresy that was sweeping through Europe, the Albigensian heresy. 

The Albigensians claimed to be Christians, but also held the erroneous belief that the created material world is evil. They denied that God truly became man in Christ, and also our doctrine of the resurrection, believing material bodies to be evil. They denied the good of marriage, and procreation. 

St. Dominic stayed up all night to convert the Albigensian innkeepers. And he came to recognize within himself this deep desire to help souls in error come to the true faith. Following his mission, Dominic made pilgrimage to the Pope, and brought to the Pope’s attention this heresy that was sweeping throughout Europe. Consequently, the pope personally asked Dominic to devote himself to preaching to and seeking the conversion of the Albigensians. By spreading the devotion of the rosary and demonstrating the Truth of our Faith from Scripture, Dominic won many converts. 

Now, one might say, St. Dominic was successful, because, there aren’t a lot of Albigensians walking around. But, in a sense there are, a lot of them. There are a lot of people these days who hold a lot of the same errors as the Albigensians. There are people who deny that the child in the womb is good, and so they justify it’s destruction. There are people who deny the good of their bodies created by God, and so they justify mutilating their bodies in sex-change operations. There are people who deny the good of marriage and procreation. And of course there are many who deny the incarnation of Christ and the resurrection. 

Tell you what though, I’ve never met anyone who prayed the rosary devoutly who held these errors. The rosary is a means to convert the modern day Albigensians. We need to get rosaries in their hands, and teach them to love this great prayer. The rosary given by Our Lady herself to St. Dominic is the battering ram that can topple these horrible errors which lead souls away from God. This voting day, is a perfect day for praying the rosary for the defense of life and for the conversion of those who do not value bodily life as a gift from the Creator. 

May St. Dominic assist us in our modern day campaign to bring souls to the Truth of Christ, Truth which is a share in God’s beauty and goodness, the Truth which leads to human flourishing and eternal life, for the glory of God and the salvation of souls. 

- - - - -  

That the pope, bishops, and clergy may be filled with constancy in teaching and living out the Gospel, and that our parish may bear witness with great confidence to our life-giving faith in word and deed.

That our nation, and the State of Ohio, especially on this voting day, may be guided by God’s wisdom as we seek the defense of children and families from laws harmful to life.

For an increase in vocations to the priesthood and consecrated religious life, especially for the Dominican Orders. 

For the sick and afflicted, the homebound, those in nursing homes and hospitals, for those recovering from surgery, for victims of natural disaster, war, violence, and terrorism, for the mentally ill, those with addictions, and the imprisoned, for the comfort of the dying and the consolation of their families.

For all the souls in purgatory, for the deceased members of our families, friends, for deceased priests and religious, and for those who have fought and died for our freedom.

Hear Our Prayers, O Lord, and through the intercession of St. Dominic, help us preach the truth of Christ always and everywhere. Through the same Christ Our Lord.

August 8 2022 - St. Dominic - To contemplate and share the Truth

 

The Opening Prayer calls Dominic “an outstanding preacher of truth.” Truth. Veritas, in latin, is an important aspect of Dominican Life.

One of the mottos of the Dominicans is, “To contemplate the truth and to share with others the fruit of contemplation.”

The contemplation of truth for the Dominic occurs through prayer and study. 

Through prayer we encounter Jesus who said, I am the way, the Truth, and the life. Through prayer, a people who dwell in darkness encounter the light of God. Personal meditation, celebration of Mass, recitation of the liturgy of the hours, and the rosary, make up a significant part of the daily life of the Dominican, so the light of God can infuse their own souls and be shared with others.

Also, study. The Dominican life is also supported by study. The mention of “study” might conjure images of boring classrooms or abstract and impractical discussions. But study is also meant to bring our minds and hearts in contact with Truth. The study of theology, history, liturgy, the writings of the spiritual masters enriches us. St. Dominic knew that the habit of study was important for the preaching mission of his religious order—for study cultivates an attitude of discovery and the discipline—which all Christians need a bit more of, don’t we?

Christians must never stop learning and studying our faith, after all, we are perpetually disciples. Disciple means student. We are to never study studying the words of our Master, Christ the Teacher. Like a child who studies the faces of his parents, we are never to stop studying the face of Christ. There is always something to discover about our faith, for there is always something to discover about Our Lord. 

Pope Benedict XVI took up the topic of Truth in his second encyclical titled Caritas in Veritate, Charity in Truth.    

He writes: “Only in truth does charity shine forth, only in truth can charity be authentically lived… Without truth, charity degenerates into sentimentality.  Love becomes an empty shell, to be filled in an arbitrary way…The word “love” is abused and distorted, to the point where it comes to mean the opposite.  Truth frees charity from the constraints of emotionalism… Truth opens and unites our minds in the lógos of love”

Through study and prayer we seek the contemplation of the One who is Truth, that we may learn to truly love Him, and to love as He loves, to share the contemplation of the truth with others, for the glory of God and salvation of souls.

 

That the pope, bishops, and clergy may be filled with constancy in teaching and living out the Gospel, and that our parish may bear witness with great confidence to our life-giving faith in word and deed.

That all Christians may seek to grow in truth and love through study and prayer. 

For an increase in vocations to the priesthood and consecrated religious life, especially for the Dominican Orders. 

For the sick and afflicted, the homebound, those in nursing homes and hospitals, for those recovering from surgery, for victims of natural disaster, war, violence, and terrorism, for the mentally ill, those with addictions, and the imprisoned, for the comfort of the dying and the consolation of their families.

For all the souls in purgatory, for the deceased members of our families, friends, for deceased priests and religious, and for those who have fought and died for our freedom.

Hear Our Prayers, O Lord, and through the intercession of St. Dominic, help us preach the truth of Christ always and everywhere. Through the same Christ Our Lord.

29th Sunday in OT 2019 - Persistent Prayer

During the 12th and 13th century, a dastardly heresy swept throughout Europe known as Albigensianism. The Albigensians struggled with the reality of evil in the world. They believed in a good Creator God who wants our souls to flourish, but couldn’t understand how that a good God could allow evil and disease and war and suffering in the world.  Many of us perhaps struggle with that same issue, the problem of evil in the world. But the Albigensians fell into heresy when they adopted the belief that in addition to the One God of Spirit and Light and Goodness, there was a second equally powerful God of matter and darkness and evil. The Albigensians claimed that Jesus really wasn’t God, because God couldn’t suffer, he couldn’t really take on flesh, because flesh is evil. They forbade the eating of animals and milk, and condemned marriage and procreation since they believed begetting children meant imprisoning a beautiful pure soul in a prison of flesh. And they denied the sacraments, refusing to believe that the divine would come so close to us. And it’s really remarkable how popular, how rampant this heresy became.

Well, in the early 13th century a brilliant young priest named Dominic Guzman was accompanying his bishop on a diplomatic mission from Spain to Northern Europe. In his travels, Dominic became aware of two enormous challenges for the Church of his time: entire regions of Northern Europe were largely unevangelized, and the Albigensian heresy had spread like wildfire, particularly in France.
When Dominic brought these challenges to the pope’s attention, the pope personally asked Dominic to devote himself to preaching to the Albigensians. Dominic’s initial efforts of preaching were unsuccessful. The Albigensians were unconvinced that God became flesh and died on the cross for our salvation. They were unconvinced that sins could be forgiven through the waters of baptism, that God would became present under the appearance of bread and wine, that the One True God had created this world good.

So Dominic prayed and fasted and did penance, and one day in 1214, Dominic received a heavenly vision, a heavenly visitor, Our Lady appeared to Him and said, “Dear Dominic, do you know what weapon the Most Holy Trinity wants to use to reform the world?...I want you to know that in this kind of warfare the ‘battering ram’ will be the Rosary. So, if you want to reach these hardened souls and win them to God, preach my Rosary!”

And this campaign must have worked. For in my hands I hold a rosary…and have you met any Albigensians lately? Dominic taught the people to pray the Rosary and Europe was converted.
So, why did Our Lady called the Rosary “a Battering Ram”? Because a battering ram is a large beam, sometimes a whole tree, handled by many people, used to open a large gate, or to make an opening in a wall.  It only works with the repetition of blows on the gate or the wall.  Our Lady compares the Rosary to a battering ram: all those rosaries in the hands of so many Christians, all those Hail Marys prayed in order to knock down the gates of hell and defeat demonic heresies.

I tell this story because it is October, the month of the Rosary; we celebrated the feast of Our Lady of the Rosary on October 7. But, also because the praying of the rosary relates to our scripture readings today, on prayer and perseverance.

In the first reading from Exodus we hear how Moses had to persevere in keeping his hands raised during a battle with the Amalekites. As long as Moses kept his hands raised up, Israel was victorious in battle; but when he let his hands down, the Amalekites, Israel’s enemies got the upper hand.
This is a great metaphor for the spiritual life—when we keep our hands raised before God, persevering in prayer, engaging in the works of mercy, victory is won—our souls grow as they are meant to. When we grow lax, lukewarm, and disobedient, our souls diminish.

Similarly, in the Gospel, our Lord praises the widow who perseveres in petitioning the judge for justice. Jesus praises this widow who overcomes—what—being poor, being without husband, having little social status—in persuading the hardened heart of the judge.

The parable certainly reminds us that the Christian life requires perseverance in general. Daily, we must overcome temptations, we must be faithful in the midst of suffering and pressures from the world, we must repent of our sins, we must not giving up working for the conversion of non-believers.

Often in the Gospels the Lord takes up the theme of perseverance, he speaks of the need to carry our crosses daily; He enjoins us to not stop seeking until we find God, to not stop knocking until that door is open, he says though he sends us out as sheep amidst wolves, and will be persecuted even by members of our family, he says, “the one who endures to the end will be saved.”

What will give us the strength to persevere in the Christians life, certainly a prayer life that perseveres. St. Alphonsus Ligouri says, “if, then, we wish to persevere and to be saved—for no one cannot be saved without perseverance—we must pray continually. Our perseverance depends, not on one grace, but on a thousand helps which we hope to obtain from God during our whole lives, that we may be preserved in his grace.” Jesus told his disciples this parable of the persistent widow after all to teach them the necessity of prayer for the spiritual life.

A Particularly powerful prayer in preserving us in perseverance is of course the Holy Rosary. Pope Francis this year called upon “all the faithful of all the world, to pray the Holy Rosary every day” during the Marian month of October, especially during this time of “spiritual turbulence” as he called it. The rosary is not a relic from the past century to be discarded. No, it is a powerful spiritual weapon, that the Holy Trinity wishes us to utilize in the great spiritual battle in which we find ourselves. For though the Albigensian heresy has been defeated, we know plenty of other errors and lukewarmness which separate souls from God.

I’ve taken the liberty of printing up some guides on how to pray the rosary, just in case it’s been a while or you were never taught. They are available at the parking lot Church entrance.
Prayer is powerful. In can win miracles. It can convert hardened hearts. It can bring relief to the sorrowful and light to the confused.

Oremus pro invicem, let us pray for one another, that we may persevere in the Christian life, be strengthened and supported in our weaknesses, and equipped, as St. Paul says, for every good work for the glory of God and salvation of souls.

October 7 2019 - Our Lady of the Rosary and the Battle of Lepanto

Over the last 2000 years, there have been a number of authenticated apparitions of the Blessed Virgin Mary. And during these appearances, Our Lady has often exhorted the seers to pray the rosary. Why the Rosary? The Rosary, Our Lady, explained to St. Dominic is the spiritual weapon by which The Holy Trinity wishes to reform the world.” The rosary is a powerful means of intercession, a weapon against error and vice, as well as an avenue to sanctification that can be employed by the novice and the mystic alike.

Today’s Feast of Our Lady of the Holy Rosary, was established to honor the power of Our Lady’s intercession through the rosary at a decisive moment in history.

By the middle of the 15th century, the Turkish Ottoman Empire conquered the Byzantine Empire, plunging a large portion of eastern Christendom under Turkish rule. Over the next hundred years, the Turks expanded their empire further and further west, both on land and by sea. They terrorized the coasts of Italy and Spain, taking captive over 10,000 Christians, whom they used as slaves. By 1570, the Turks had captured the Island of Cyprus and amassed a naval fleet there, giving them virtual control of the Mediterranean.

Pope Saint Pius V now had grave and immediate concerns that within the year, the Turkish forces could invade any part of Christian Europe and bring it to its knees. So he financed a naval fleet and formed a coalition known as the Holy League to counter this threat and protect Christian civilization. This proved easier said than done, as many of the major powers in Europe were reluctant to enter into a war that could result in their financial ruin.

The Venetians were interested in finding a diplomatic solution, but when their diplomats, who had been promised safety, were attacked and murdered by the Turks, the immanence of this threat became more apparent, and they joined the Holy League.

On October 7th 1571,  the Holy League, outnumbered by the Turks, sailed to confronted the Battle of Lepanto. At the Pope’s insistence, all of Europe was asked to pray the rosary for the victory of the Christian fleet. When the smoke cleared that day, the majority of the Turkish fleet was decimated, while the Holy League lost very few ships. Over 10,000 Christian slaves who were serving as oarsmen on the Turkish galleys were freed.

The Western Mediterranean and Western Europe were liberated from the Turkish threat and the victory was attributed to the intercession of the Blessed Virgin Mary. A feast was instituted (the Feast of Our Lady of Victory) which was later renamed the Feast of Our Lady of the Rosary.

Today, it is clear that the powers of the world are reorganizing to confront Holy Church. There is external persecution in many places: Christians who are courageous enough to live their faith in the open do so at the threat of loss of employment, mockery from their families, disqualification from political office. Christians in some countries are enslaved and killed. And In many places, Holy Church is attacked from within, doctrine is criticized, Sacred Tradition and Scripture are disregarded, right faith is undermined.

May we entrust ourselves again to Our Lady and her Rosary. It is the weapon the Holy Trinity wishes to reform the world, for the glory of God and salvation of souls.

- - - - - - -

That, during this month dedicated to the Holy Rosary, many Christians will discover new and deep devotion to Our Lady’s powerful intercession and maternal care for the Church.

For Pope Francis’ prayer intention for the month of October, “that the breath of the Holy Spirit may engender a new missionary ‘spring’ in the Church.

For the health and sanctification of the members of our parish Altar and Rosary Society and Legion of Mary and for increased membership for these groups.

For the repose of the souls of our beloved dead, for all of the poor souls in purgatory, for the deceased members of our families, friends, and parish, for the deceased priests and religious and for those who have fought and died for our freedom.

Incline your merciful ear to our prayers, we ask, O Lord, and listen in kindness to the supplications of those who call on you. Through Christ our Lord.

20th Sunday in OT 2019 - Servants of the Divine Fire

I remember exactly where I was the first time today’s Gospel reading really hit me in the gut. I was attending the Saturday evening vigil mass at St. Noel Parish in Willoughby Hills. After Mass I was to meet with Father Tom Dragga, who was, at the time rector of Borromeo Seminary. I would be meeting with him to discuss my entrance into seminary that fall.

“I have not come to establish peace on the earth…but rather division”, in other words, following Jesus may not always be the popular thing, his truth might contradict popular opinion, you might lose friends because him, your family might not understand you, they might even come to hate you because of him.  Hopefully not! But to me, this Gospel always speaks of how counter-cultural being a disciple of Jesus Christ really is.

And the Gospel really hit home as I prepared to meet with the seminary rector, as most of my high school friends were either non-practicing catholic or very critical of the catholic church. Most of my family were lapsed Catholics. Even though I attended a Jesuit University, many of the students and professors seemed quite at odds with Catholic Truth. Would I lose friends over entering the seminary, would I be pressured by family not to enter?

I have a priest friend, in fact, whose parents did kick him out of the house when he said he was going into the seminary.  “No son of mine will be a priest” they said. Yet, he chose to enter seminary, even though it would cause division in his family because his call came from God.

So with the possibility that my own choice would cause division, when Father Dragga asked me why I wanted to enter the seminary, I simply recited the beginning of today’s Gospel: “I have come to cast fire upon the earth. How I wish it were already kindled.” The priesthood is at the service of this divine fire.

So many of the tragic situations in my hometown, my high school, in our nation, and around the world was due to its alienation from the fire of Jesus Christ. So many broken families, so many young people turning to drugs, even modern art and music seeks to sever itself from what was true, good, and beautiful from God.

I also shared with Father Dragga how I was deeply moved by my visit to the seminary that previous spring. Because there I met this group of young men who felt the same way. It was evident that their hearts had caught fire, as had mine. I felt a particular kinship amongst the kindled. And to this day, my brother priests certainly continue to be a source of inspiration. As do so many of you, who have such a passion for the Truth and Goodness and Beauty of the Christian Gospel.

Members of the Body of Christ are meant to inspire each other and call each other to be ever more faithful. You’ll notice in the bulletin this week a report from our June parish visioning dinner. You’ll notice four pillars of St. Ignatius parish: four aspects of our parish life and history that continues to inspire and draw people to the fire of Jesus. Over the next few months, the parish council and I will explore how we can continue to build on these four pillars.

At the visioning meeting parishioners shared the many different ways how the fire of love for St. Ignatius Parish was kindled in their hearts. For some, the fire was kindled in their early years, attending the elementary school. For some, the fire was kindled the first time they walked into the Church: a church that looks like a church, the cathedral of west blvd, with its inspiring architecture and beautiful liturgies and music. For some, the fire was kindled because they were warmly welcomed by our greeters and friendly parishioners. For some, they were impressed by the service opportunities, the ways we care for the poor and hungry in this neighborhood. We certainly have a mission, don’t we, certainly not just my mission, but our mission, to continue to stoke these fires so that new generations can come to meet Christ in this beautiful place.

Our second reading spoke of the “great cloud of witnesses” who surround us, who inspire to persevere in running the race when things get difficult, who challenge us to serve the divine fire more faithfully, to allow the divine fire to burn away all our sins and selfishness.

The month of August is filled with some of the most amazing, counter-cultural saints, on fire with love for the Gospel. During the month of August we celebrate St. Dominic who traveled throughout Europe preaching the Gospel in the face of a growing heresy called Albigensianism. St. Clare, raised as an Italian noble, gave up her wealth, her social prospects, and consecrated herself to a life of adoration of Jesus in the Blessed Sacrament. St. Theresa Benedicta of the Cross, a young jewish philosophy student whose search for truth led her to the Catholic faith, who was arrested and sent to gas chambers at Aushwitz. Fr. Maximillian Kolbe, also murdered at Aushwitz, who gave up his life for a jewish prisioner condemned to death.

What led these saints to offer their lives in service of the Gospel? What made them willing to engage in such counter-cultural activity? Their hearts were set on fire by Christ. And that fire, they nurtured through prayer, study, and service, and gratitude for the witness of those who had gone before them,. They kept their eyes fixed on the witness and example of the Lord Jesus who is consumed with obedience to His Father’s will. Any fire that we have as Christians can be traced back to the furnace of His Sacred Heart.

So we must each ensure that we do our part in stoking the fire in our own hearts, again through prayer, fasting, study, and service, and to rekindle fires that may have been extinguished through sin by going to Sacramental Confession.

And we must do our part in spreading that fire to others: Inviting the lapsed back to Mass, back to the Sacraments. Inviting them to Holy Hour, to faith formation, to volunteer opportunities, to speak with passion about our faith to those who do not know Christ. Jesus is yearning to set hearts on fire through our words and deeds.

“I have come to cast fire upon the earth and how I wish it were already ablaze” for the glory of God and salvation of souls.

August 8, 2017 - St. Dominic - Prayer and Contemplative Study

Listen again to the entrance antiphon for today, the memorial of St. Dominic: “In the midst of the Church he opened his mouth, and the Lord filled him with the spirit of wisdom and understanding and clothed him in a robe of glory”.  These words, taken from the book of Sirach, wonderfully describe today’s great Saint.

Dominic certainly “opened his mouth” and spoke words of wisdom. He is the founder of the Order of Preachers. The Collect even called Dominic “an outstanding preacher” of the Lord’s Truth. It is said the primary work of the Dominican Order is “to preach the gospel for the salvation of souls.”

This is certainly the task of all Christians: to preach the Gospel for the salvation of souls. What can we learn from St. Dominic and the Order of Preachers to help us in our task?

Dominican preaching is fueled and nurtured particularly by prayer and contemplative study.

By prayer, the Dominican immerses himself in the life of God through personal meditation, celebration of Mass, recitation of the liturgy of the hours, and of course, the rosary. An early Dominican document even details St. Dominic’s private prayer. When Dominic prayed, he would incline profoundly, prostrate his body upon the ground, genuflect, beat his breast, raise his arms to heaven. He would pray standing, sitting, kneeling, prostrating, walking, Dominic employed all these as postures when praying. For Dominic, prayer was not just a mental activity or exercise, but an intimate, personal conversation with God in which he would engage his whole person—body, spirit, mind, and soul. For the preaching of the Gospel, God wants to use all of us, our whole life, our whole self, our creativity, our past memories, our present struggles. And so we should seek the sort of prayer life, that truly nurtures us in the Christian life.

The Dominican life is also supported by study. When we think of study, images of boring classrooms or abstract discussions may naturally come to mind. But in the context of Dominican life, study leads to prayer, which inspires the preaching of the gospel. Dominic exhorted his brothers to be fervent in cultivating both the attitude of discovery and the discipline of inquiry. The Dominican father, St. Thomas Aquinas puts it well when he writes that the Dominican life is characterized as contemplation of divine things and the divine One and then sharing these fruits of contemplation with others.

As Christians, we should never stop learning and studying our faith, never stop seeking and studying the face of Christ in the Sacred Scriptures. There is always something to discover about our faith, for there is always something to discover about Our Lord. And there should be an element of discipline, that we simply don’t jump from one novelty to the next, but truly enter into the mysteries we contemplate.

Through prayer, and study, may we, like St. Dominic, we filled with the spirit of wisdom and understanding, and come to be, like him, robed in glory, for the glory of God and salvation of souls.
 
- - - - - -

For a deeper devotion among all Christians to prayer and contemplative study of the Sacred Mysteries.

For an increase in vocations to the priesthood and consecrated life, for Order of Preachers, and that we may all be dedicated to preaching the gospel for the salvation of souls.

For Pope Francis’ prayer intention for the month of August: “That artists of our time, through their ingenuity, may help everyone discover the beauty of creation.” We pray to the Lord.

That the love of Christ, the divine physician, may bring healing to the sick and comfort to all the suffering. We pray.

For the deceased members of our families, friends, and parish, and all the poor souls in purgatory, for deceased priests, religious, especially for all deceased Dominicans who have served our local Church, and for those who have fought and died for our freedom. We pray.

O God, who know that our life in this present age is subject to suffering and need, hear the prayers of those who cry to you and receive the prayers of those who believe in you. Through Christ our Lord.