Tuesday, August 5, 2014

Novena to St Dominic 2014 - Day 7

Today's Gospel forms a very good starting point for my reflection on St Dominic.

I have sometimes heard homilies on this passage along the lines of: Peter showed great faith, he stepped out of the boat and started walking towards Jesus. But then he took his eyes off Jesus and instead of being focused on Jesus he started thinking about what he himself was doing and so he began to sink.

Dominic was a man of great faith who repeatedly acted from that faith - sending out his first followers to make foundations in different parts of Europe, his many miracles etc. And I think what nourished/produced this faith was that he lived with his gaze firmly fixed on Jesus. We see this particularly in the record of his prayer practices, "The Nine Ways of Prayer." He often prayed before a crucifix, "looking intently at Christ on the Cross" and speaking with Him "in his heart." He spent long periods praying and meditating on the Gospels - "It was as though he was discussing something with a friend" and would spend his journeys reflecting on some passage of scripture.

May we learn from him how to live with our eyes fixed on Jesus and so come to greater faith and intimacy with God.




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