Formation for Discipleship

August in Ordinary Time brings four clear points in the formation of a disciple…so we listen up…! First, during this month, our Mother-Church puts puts before us a man and a woman who show us where it is all heading: Transfiguration of our humble humanness in Jesus, and its glorification when we set eyes on God. We will shine as does the assumed Mother of God.

 This is what the Word tells us. It is no abstract pie-in-the-sky.  It is God’s promise and our hope. With this before us, the other three Sundays of the month have clear pointers to keep us maturing in our baptismal discipleship identity. The second Sunday instructs us where to keep our eyes. If we take our eyes off the Word, we sink into the troubles of our time. Next, we are reminded that our mission, like that of Jesus, is two-fold: to proclaim the Word, and to heal…always and everywhere, and to anyone and everyone. Finally, we are faced with our constant tendency to sin and be selfish in Peter. We are reminded that despite this denial, neither Peter’s brokenness nor ours will destroy the Church. The texts might be familiar…but we are coming to know ourselves anew. We are not the same. We are slowly being transfigured….

 

You shine on Tabor

and I am almost blinded.

Me? Me, too?

Is this what you are doing

in the Eucharistic kiss?

Help me to keep my eyes on You…

when I need to walk on water.

Help me to proclaim and heal…

until I have no voice left.

And when I find in me

the denial of Peter,

help me to remember

that no one, nothing,

will destroy the Church that is You…

the Church that is us…

although all hell tries.

Amen.

 

 

USA Dominicans

The Racine Dominicans have spearheaded a revival of the Preaching Contact Persons (sisters, associates, priests, and laity) of the United States Dominican Women’s Congregations and the four Provinces of the Dominican Men. This group of nearly 30 sisters, associates, priests and laity, has met two times: in March and May, and will meet again on August 25, 2023.

 We have begun by listening deeply to one another, learning what we are each doing, and how this group, which will meet four times yearly (August, November, February, and May), can be of help to all of us. One of the helps suggested was to clarify for all of us just what is distinctive about the Dominican approach to preaching. We will discuss this in August.

 I’m going to propose a few ideas below, and invite you to send me any of yours, if you like, and I will include these thoughts when the group meets on August 25. Your thoughts are welcome…!

 Our title, Order of Preachers, really comes from a specific form of proclamation needed back in 1216. Southern France was infected with the Cathar or Albigensian heresy, named from the city of Albi, the Cathar center. A word of truth was needed to counter a word of falsehood. The Cathars were a new form of Manacheism, a heresy that taught that matter was evil. Because this false word was being publicly spoken, a truthful word needed to be publicly spoken to counter it. Because only men could speak publicly in those days, this public word of truth fell to men who could publicly preach. Even in those early days, the Dominicans knew there were three forms of proclamation: to praise, to bless, and to preach publicly (Laudare, Benedicere, Praedicare). What were they going to praise, bless, and preach? The truth of the Word of God.

 Flash forward 800+ years. Women can speak publicly. There is new awareness of the truth that does justice. Our cloistered Dominicans praise; our active sisters, associates, priests, brothers, and laity, bless by their presence in various ministries;  at present our Dominican men in Orders and some of our women preach. All of us are proclaimers of the truth by our praise-prayer, our blessing-presence, and when appropriate, by our public preaching. So what is distinctive about a Dominican approach to proclamation in any of its forms (even if you are not Dominican)?

·       It flows from a contemplative gaze at the Word-made-flesh in our historic times.

·       It is incarnational rather than abstract.

·       It is communal rather than individualistic.

·       It is liturgical-sacramental rather than merely humanistic.

 Our challenge is to know what this means for us today. First, we contemplate, and then give to others the fruits of our contemplation. We cannot give what we do not have. The Dominican woman or man is in relationship with the Word. Next, that Word is found in the presence of the risen humanness of Christ Jesus. It is incarnate. It is in touch with human struggle in all its forms. Then, this human struggle is not just my personal business, it is communal, all around me; it is not just me, it is we. Finally, it is not just our human struggle but mercy meeting us there and transforming us. It is liturgical-sacramental. There is Something other than my human effort at work, and we are kept in mind of this by the transformation in the Eucharist.

 These are some beginning ideas…I welcome yours…!