SOLEMNITY OF SAINT DOMINIC
(August 10, 2014)
Fr. Joseph Nguyen, O.P.
All three readings of today talk about
evangelization. In the first reading, the Prophet Isaiah praises the steps of
those who evangelize : “How beautiful on
the mountains are the feet of those who bring good news, who proclaim peace,
who bring good tidings, who proclaim salvation, who
say to Zion, “Your God reigns!” (Is 52, 7-10). In the Letter to
Timothy, Saint Paul reminds his beloved disciple of the necessity of
evangelizing, that he should preach the Gospel every time and everywhere, in
all circumstances, whether favorable or unfavorable : “Preach the Word; be prepared in season and out of season; correct,
rebuke and encourage —with great patience and careful instruction. For the time will come when men will not put up with sound
doctrine.” (2 Tim 4, 1-8). And, finally, in the Gospel, Jesus
Christ demands that proclamation of the Gospel be made without delay for
whatever reason ( Lk 9, 57-62).
From the very
beginning of the history of the Church, there have been thousands and thousands
of missionaries, who, following the instruction of Jesus Christ, went about to
the end of the globe, preaching the Good News of the Kingdom of God, among whom,
of special mention, were the apostles, then their disciples, and then all the
missionaries the world over, up to the present time. These have been
evangelizers “ex professo”, of whom Saint
Paul
We may say that Saint Dominic became a missionary
only by accident. At that time, he joined the Canons Regular at the Osma
Cathedral in Spain .
Never before did he have any idea to become a missionary, much less to
establish an order wholly dedicated to evangelization. But as a member of the
delegation of bishop Diego to Scandinavia ,
Dominic happened to meet the owner of a hotel, a fanatic follower of the
Albigensians. He spent the whole night talking with the owner and was able to
convert him back to the Faith of the Church. From that incident, Dominic
realized that many Catholics fell away from the Church simply because they did
not have enough undertanding of catechism. At that time, preaching the Gospel
was still the monopoly of the bishops, so the problem was how to get the Holy
See’s relaxation to allow all priests to preach the Gospel as well.
With the approval of the Holy See, Saint
Dominic founded an Order called the Order of Preachers totally committed to the
proclamation of the Gospel. On the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary,
August 15, 1216 Saint Dominic sent his first 16 Brothers to preach to all Europe . We may well call this “the Pentecost of the Dominican
Order.” Meanwhile, Saint Dominic himself went preaching during the day
and spent the night praying. He even went to the most dangerous places, where
the Albigensians had their stronghold, including Carcassonne . Once he was captured by the
heretics and they threatened to kill him. Saint Dominic told them boldly : ”Don’t
kill me right away. Cut my hands and my legs first, then place them before my
eyes before you kill me.”
Saint Dominic was indeed most impressed by
the warning of Saint Paul
: “Woe
to me, if I do not preach the Gospel.” (1Cor. 9, 16-18). He spent his whole life going here and there,
untiringly, preaching the Good News to all people until the last minute of his
life. He died at Bologna , Italy
Fr. Joseph Nguyen, O.P.
