Novena to St Dominic - Day 2

St Dominic - God's obedient Son

Raymond of Capua, Catherine’s confessor and friend, records an extraordinary vision in which Catherin sees the Father begetting the Son. Then the Father speaks of Dominic:

Dearest daughter, I am the Father of these two sons; of the One by natural generation; of the other, by loving and affectionate adoption … This Son who is mine by natural and eternal generation, was most perfectly obedient to me  in all things, even unto death, in the human nature which he assumed. So too, Dominic, this son of mine by adoption, shaped every act he did, from his infancy till the last day of his life, by obedience to my commandments. Never once did he disobey a command of mine … and he preached not only in his own person, but through others also; not only in his own lifetime, but through those who followed him. Through these followers the voice of Dominic’s preaching is heard today, and will continue to be heard. For just as my Son by nature sent his disciples to preach, so did Dominic, my adopted son, send out his friars … just as my Son by nature is my very Word, so this adopted son is the herald and bearer of my Word. And so my special gift to him and his friars is understanding of the words I have spoken, and the grace of never swerving from them.

Reflections on St Dominic (4) - A Humble Man

Continuing our reflections in honour of our Holy Father St. Dominic, I will read an excerpt from the book: Saint Dominic – The Grace of the Word, By Guy Beduelle OP.

Dominic’s name does not appear in the first Constitutions, but they are stamped with his spirit and his plan. He allowed himself to be directed by events with that charismatic grace of saints, who shape their work in harmony with Providence. Instances of this abound: there was his acceptance or choice of the Rule of St. Augustine, the dispersion of the brethren in 1217, and the almost precipitate assignment of friars to Poland. In these decisions Dominic evidenced his judgment in matters arising from encounters and circumstances. Humbling himself before momentary events, he yet used them to full advantage.

There is something more: we know his sanctity only through other people. It was the anonymous, insistent and popular devotion at his tomb in Bologna that brought him recognition in spite of the discretion and reticence of the Friars. They had done nothing to preserve the memory of their Founder. What Jordan condemns a negligence may perhaps be explained by the brethren’s profound respect for what Dominic wished. When his glory could no longer remain “buried”, however, the indirect but concurring testimony of the depositions at the process of canonization brought out the splendour of Dominic’s undeviating and remarkable humility.

Dominic experienced that tension, common to many founders, between charismatic authority and the desire for self-effacement. It is as if some mysterious law is at work effecting a complete withdrawal, either free or imposed. With Dominic, obscurity was his own deliberate achievement.

He lived among his brethren as if he were not present. He had no bed, no cell of his own. He scarcely ate, yet followed the common life and the Rule in all points. Anyone could approach him. A joyous person, yet with compassion for others’ misfortunes, his apostolic availability, fraternal, friendly and spontaneous as it was, eloquently proved his Christian dispossession.

Reflection on the Readings for Palm Sunday

The First Reading for Palm Sunday is taken from Isaiah (50:4-9) - which seems a very good start to the week ahead. Worth thinking about and contemplating ... 'Each morning he wakes me to hear: to listen, like a disciple ...' St Dominic is said to have carried with him wherever he walked (and he certainly walked, ... and walked ... and walked ....) the Gospel according to St Matthew. He is a good model for us who profess to be Dominicans, and Isaiah too has very appropriate advice for us, I think. 

We cannot begin to understand what the Lord has done for us, unless we listen to what is happening and said in all the events of Holy Week; we need to be people whose ears are attuned to God, so that we may the more sincerely open ourselves to receive all He wants to give us ... and to remember that He has died for this very reason. May the Blessed Mother of God and our St Dominic be with us to accompany us in our journey through the week; and intercede for us and for all those around the world who will not have the joy or the freedom to share in the Liturgy; for those who have not the faith to know how they are loved; for those who do not know the wonder of the gift of life.

1st Sunday of Lent - Another Reflection

Having set for myself a headline for Lent “It is your face, O Lord, that I seek, hide not your face” – it is encouraging to find that Jesus in today’s gospel gives me inspiring texts to guide me on my way.


His responses to the devil can become ours. Indeed each of these quotes are taken from the book of Deuteronomy, that story of the people of Israel’s forty years wanderings through the desert to the promised land – a blue print of our struggles too on our journey home to our Father’s house.

‘Man does not live on bread alone’ – Though immersed in, and in need of many material and tangible things to sustain us in life, yet our faith tells us that this is not our real life, no, our real life is the faith we have in the Son of God who loved us and gave himself for us.

…’but on every word that proceeds from the mouth of God.’ First and foremost, the Word, with a capital ‘W’’, Jesus Christ, was breathed forth by the Father, to become man eventually, to suffer and die and be our Saviour. It is only through, with and in Him that we can return to the Father. Because of our love and faith in Jesus, the words of Scripture, ‘the revealed love letter’, as it has been described, came to enlighten and lead us home. ‘You must worship the Lord your God and serve Him alone.’

“Exalt the Lord in your praises as high as you may – still he surpasses you. Exert all your strength when you exalt Him, do not grow tired, you will never come to an end.

We could say much more and still fall short, to put it concisely - He is all.

Is not this the worship and service that shapes our lives. Our inward eye is fixed steadfastly on Him. It is indeed your face. O Lord, that I seek.

In response to the devil’s third temptation Jesus replies ‘you shall not tempt the Lord, your God.’ In the context of Deuteronomy, Jesus’ response is reminding us to do what is right and good in the sight of the Lord that it may go well with us.’ So let us earnestly pray ‘It is your face, O Lord, that I seek, hide not your face.’

St Mary Magdalene - 22nd July

Today is the feast-day of St Mary Magdalene, Apostle to the Apostles, and Patroness of the Order of Preachers. We're lucky to have her! As I think about her now, you know, she's quite an inspiration, a good teacher.

In the Gospel according to John, we read:

"Then the other disciple, who reached the tomb first, also went in, and he saw and believed; for as yet they did not know the scripture, that he must rise from the dead. Then the disciples went back to their homes.
But Mary stood weeping outside the tomb, and as she wept she stooped to look into the tomb, ..."
(John 20:8-11)

Just these few verses got me thinking - about how the disciples left and she stayed. They went home, but she had no home to go to.
JESUS was her home - that's why.
The disciples had left everything to follow JESUS, but I suppose here you could say that as yet JESUS didn't wholly possess them - they had left everything, but as yet they hadn't given Him their very selves, they didn't realise that they couldn't do without Him. So they went home ... sad? yes; ...lost? yes, probably; ...confused? surely; ...disappointed? I think definitely so. They didn't have JESUS any longer, He was gone. Where were they to go? What to do now? They had homes, they could pick up their lives again, the lives - the everything - they had left and try to keep going ... that would fill the void that JESUS had left in them.

But when JESUS reached out to Mary that first time, and saved her - she had been about as far away from Him as it is possible to be - had given up even on herself. It was a miracle, a wondrous miracle that He would even look at her, not to mind want her. But she saw that He did, and when she saw Him, she saw that He was everything and that now, knowing Him, her life would be nothing ... she would be nothing ... without Him, apart from Him.

He was her home.

He is our home.

He is my home. The ground beneath my feet.

Thank God for St Mary Magdalene, may she pray for us that we may find our way home.