III. PREACHING: SACRED ELOQUENCE

Humbertus de Romanis, who wrote a pace-setting book on the formation of preachers, says that the Dominican preacher must also learn from secular speakers. The preacher - it is often said - is like an architect who takes the best materials from different places to build up a building. Fray Luis de Granada advises us to know also secular rhetoric. This provides us with a good technique.  Indeed, secular eloquence, or rhetoric is helpful to sacred eloquence or preaching.

Aristotle’s Rhetoric is still considered a classical book of eloquence. For Aristotle, rhetoric is the art of persuading and of being a responsible speaker. A speech is composed of three elements, namely, the logos, the ethos and the pathos: the logos is the thought of the speaker, the internal coherence of thought, his reasoning and arguing; the ethos includes wisdom, credibility and conviction of the speaker, who is honest and believable; the pathos means the appeal of the speaker to the emotions of the audience – sympathy, hope, sadness, love. All the teachers of rhetoric or public speaking give great importance to the beginning and the end of the speech. Likewise, to narrating stories: Historical facts talk, stories convince.

Sacred eloquence, preaching is not only important for us Dominicans. It is essential throughout our whole life: it is our life. As Dominican preachers, seduced by Veritas - by the Truth, Jesus Christ - we are messengers of the Truth. We are evangelizers and ministers, and preach the Word to save souls that is to save humanity through and for Christ: Contemplata aliis tradere. 

  Thereafter. We present first a brief comment om sacred eloquence and, second, some essentials of preaching.

 

1. SACRED ELOQUENCE

Has preaching of the Word of God lost its vibrant traditional appeal? We live in the digital continent, a world dominated by images, twits, WhatsApp’s, live streaming, zooming, Skype, etc. Do you think that the preaching of the Word today in the XXI century still has its appeal and importance?  Our preaching vocation is essential today and therefore it is our grave obligation to find new ways to preach the Good News in our digital continent. 

At times, preaching is a bit irrelevant because we preachers do not do our job well. Hence the need to prepare constantly: to know the truth of God and the world to which we have to preach it: substance and relevance. We try constantly to live a good Christian life. Preaching helps the preacher be good and happy. Is preaching really important and essential for me? I hope and pray it is for each one of us. Otherwise, please, be convinced: pray, study, be converted. Otherwise, we will not be happy. Be able to say truthfully: “I have to prepare myself continually for the mission of preaching.” Therefore: read, think, study, observe people and their lives - and contemplate.

Sacred eloquence or preaching is called sacred , because the matter is sacred; because the message is divine; because the end is not only to teach, to convince, but to save souls, to reconcile people with God and with one another, to profit spiritually. Called sacred eloquence, moreover, because it is not just talking on any human subject, but on the Word of God. The art of bringing souls to Christ through the magic of the spoken word. “Everything in the sacred word is sacred, with a sacred content which we should never forget” (D. Sertillanges, Orador Cristiano, 21).  

Preaching means to deliver a sermon. It is “the public, formal delivery of a sermon by a minister to a congregation.” It is a way to evangelize people and to nourish the moral and spiritual life of Christians. (Cf. Ernest Pettry, Preaching and Teaching, Manila, Philippines: ICI Ministries, Inc., 3^rd #d. 20-02, 33). “Preaching is the communication of truth by man to men. It has in it two essential elements: truth and personality. Neither of these can it be spare and still be preaching” (Phillips Brooks, 19^th, in Pettry, 86). It is the method of preaching the Gospel.

In NT, preaching refers (a) to proclaim as a herald (to herald the Good News message), to proclaim a message, the Gospel, and to appeal to repentance and faith. The goal was first to evangelize the lost (cf. preaching by John the Baptist: Mt 3”1-2) and later on to mature in faith and spiritually (cf. Lk 4:43; cf. Mk 16:15). It is not to pronounce a formal discourse (Pettry, 87). Preaching is not a lesson for a class or a catechesis. (Cf. 2 Tim 4:2).

In NT, preaching refers (b) to tell the Good News (cf. Acts), to evangelize (evangellizo means preach) that means to tell the Good News. Approach in Acts: “reasoning, witnessing, and testifying” - like the martyrs (Pettry, 88). Words to ponder: “Every revival of spiritual life in the Church has followed a return to the biblical concept of preaching” (Id).

2. THREE ESSENTIALS OF PREACHING

Hereafter, I reflect on three important points related intimately with preacheing or sacred eloquence: what we preach, who preaches, and how to preach

• WHAT DO WE PREACH?

The Word of God is, in the first and most important way, the Verbum Dei, the Word of God: “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God” (Jn 1:1). God revealed himself to us in different ways. The Word of God is Christ: “This is eternal life, that they may know you, the only true God, and Jesus Christ whom you have sent” (In 17:3). Jesus and his word, is bread of life and reconciliation (cf. 2 Cor 5:18). “The preacher is foolish to use his own words when he can use God’s words” (S. MacNutt OP, 44). (By he way, Dei Verbum is the title of the Dogmatic Constitution on Revelation of Vatican II).

Sacred eloquence is sacred because it proclaims the Word of God, which is sacred. Hence, our continuing need to “learn” the Bible to be able to preach the Word of God through human lips. St. Paul to Timothy: “Proclaim the message, be persistent, whether the time is favorable or unfavorable, convince, rebuke, and encourage, with the utmost patience in teaching” (2 Tim 4:2). The Word of God is never old but always new, always eternal, always food for thousands upon thousands of sermons and homilies. 

Pope Pius XII (Afflante Spiritu): “Let them [priests] confirm the Christian doctrine by sentences from the Sacred Scriptures and illustrated by outstanding examples from sacred history and in particular from the Gospel of Christ, our Lord” (cf. The Homiletic and Pastoral Review, March 1964, 487).

Read the Bible every day. A lay person said to his pastor: “I read the Bible but I can’t remember it. My mind just won’t hold what I read.” The pastor: “Just keep on reading: a basket doesn’t hold water, but it is cleansed as the water passes through” (Ernest Pettry, 47). We meditate daily alone before God. Thus, we are cleansed ourselves little by little.

Reading the Bible, meditating on it every day is a needed constant preparation to be a good preacher. Be sure to quote the Bible when preaching. Our Christian brothers give us an outstanding example in reading, meditating and preaching the Word of God. A suggestion: read a portion of the Bible, the daily readings at daily Mass, meditate upon it, summarize its main content. Then one may – should – read good commentaries. From your classes in Sacred Scriptures, remember that the Bible is also a text that has to be interpreted according to certain exegetical norms. As a biblical text, it has to be properly interpreted (hermeneutics; hermenia - the art and science of interpretation of texts). The Word of God in the Bible is not a literal quoting of God but a text divinely inspired in a context, a particular history, a concrete culture. The text itself is the first to speak and its first interpreter. It has to be interpreted for today taking into account its literal sense first, the context and the form in which it is written: a prophetic book, an apocalyptic text, a poem, a law… (Cf. Miguel de Burgos Nunez OP, in Valero’s, 105-110).

Through your sermons, quote the Bible frequently. The Bible cannot be replaced by anything else.  However, beware: do not overburden your talk with too many quotes and much less if they are not connected, and useless in this context. When we quote the Bible, we may point out the verse and chapter, but seldom: they may and do distract peoples, although we may ask the audience to remember a verse and learn it by heart. Our separated brothers and sisters are very good at this. We must learn from them.

The preacher proclaims the Word of God, and people go to listen to the Word of God, not to the preacher’s words. “The word of God is living and active, sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing until it divides soul from the spirit, joints from morrows; it is able to judge thoughts and intensions of the heart” (Heb 4:12). St. Paul is grateful to God because the Thessalonians received the word of God from them and accepted it “not as a human word but as what really is, God’s word” (2 Thess 2:13).

The preacher is faithful to the Word, God’s Word, not his word, to the content. He applies the word of God to today, to this kind of audience. He communicates it in a simple language and does it move by the Holy Spirit. Remember Jesus. He reads in the synagogue of Nazareth and applies the text read: after the quote from the prophet “he rolled up the scroll, gave it back to the attendant, and sat down… Then he began to say: ‘Today this scripture has been fulfilled in your hearing’ (Lk 4:18-21). Today!

 

• WHO IS A PREACHER OF THE WORD OF GOD?  

The preacher of the Word of God is a human person with his personality, his ideas, his convictions and faith. He is a sinner, too. He is faithful to the Word and its content, faithful to the community he preachers and knowledgeable of basic communication techniques, and moved by the Holy Spirit (cf. Manuel Ramos, El arte de la homilía, pp. 25-26).  

The prophets are the great preachers who anticipated Christ. The apostles and priests are the prolongation of Christ: “As my Father sent me so I am sending you” (Jn 20:21).  God has given the priests the ministry of reconciliation (II Cor 5:18). We are “Dei adjutores,” each one “alter Christus” (Gal 4:14). As preachers of the Word of God: fidelity to the Word of God, to its content (no to vain novelties and gross ignorance); and earnestness in preparing for the administration of the Word.  Do not preach until you are sure you have something to say, and know just what it is; then say it and sit down.

The preacher proclaims Jesus, “the Way and the Truth and the Life” (Jn 14:6). He or she preaches the Gospel of Jesus: He is the messenger and the message. Jesus gave a command to the apostles and to us preachers: Go out throughout the world and preach the Good News to the whole creation (Mk 16:15). Our message?  “The message is Christ, who is the power of God and the wisdom of God” (1 Cor 1:23-24). Through our whole life, we struggle to follow him, to imitate him, to be one with him in our thoughts, words and deeds (cf. Eph 4:22-24). Hence, we try to live holy lives so that we will be able to see the Lord (cf. Hb 12:14).

The preacher preaches Christ: “This is eternal life that they may know you, the only true God, and Jesus Christ whom you have sent” (Jn 17:3). We proclaim the Kingdom of God. We preach the whole Christian doctrine: faith and morals. We preach especially on topics that are relevant for our time, our communities, our audiences; but beware of possible influence of the “woke” ideology (and, thus, we may be inclined not to preach of the so-called “Last Things”). We try to answer the questions of our time. We herald the power of faith, the beauty of love, refreshing words of hope. We talk of the mystery of God’s mercy and evil, of silence, compassion, prayer; of the corroding power of hatred, violence, injustice; of freedom. . . - and heaven.

The preacher does not preach himself but Christ, the word of God not his own word and opinions: The task of priests as preachers “is not to teach their own wisdom but God’s Word, and to summon all men urgently to conversion and to holiness” (Vatican II, PO, 4). Words to ponder: “It is not our ideas, it is Christ message, that we must bring to men; and no man can teach others until Jesus Christ has taught him” (W. Barclay, In Mt 17: 22-23). How true: “The preacher does not announce himself; he announces Jesus Christ… We can recall Lacordaire’s anguish before he preached certain things which were difficult for him to say; they seem to betray his own weakness, yet in fidelity to the truth he felt obliged to preach them; he prayed with tears for the courage not to dilute the truth. We announce the Word of an ‘Other’; we are ambassadors for that ‘Other’” (J. M. R. Tilllard OP, “Evangelization and the Mass Media,” Dominican Ashram [June 1987], 86)

 

• HOW TO PREACH?  

Above all, just preach! Preaching is the method chosen by Christ: “Thus no new method is needed to advance God’s Kingdom in the lives of people. He has chosen preaching as the primary means of communicating the Gospel. You will notice that He did not use political means to build a spiritual kingdom, nor social action, nor cultural activity. For only the gospel can truly change the lives of people” (Pettry, 95). But, beware:  the social gospel is part of the gospel of Christ.  

St. Thomas advices us: Preach with clarity and brevity.  What is better: to write the sermon and learn it by heart, or to write its outline and main ideas and then talk freely improvising the words? The latter is the style of the great preacher of the twentieth century Fulton Sheen: he never wrote a full sermon, and always thought about it for hours before he was ready to deliver it. Some learn it by heart, others read part and improvise part. Each one of us does what is suited to his personality, but let us be sure that we reach our listeners and do not bore them.  

My suggestion: never read the whole sermon only; greet the people, say something, a story perhaps, looking at the people with kindness. At the beginning of the journey of preaching, write the sermon, learn it by heart, and little by little let go: be sure you are at ease with the main ideas and develop them. If you read everything, you will most probably be cold and not much connected with the audience, with your brothers and sisters patiently listening to you.

As a Dominican student, I and my classmates were admirers of two Dominican preachers: Fr. Antonio Royo Marin and Fr. Florencio Muñoz. They never read a homily or sermon, or lecture. They did prepare a detailed outline and read and meditated on the matter of each sermon. Their preaching was very much alive and moving. (Fr. Muñoz was our teacher of Homiletics. We loved him. Once I went to his room and saw that he was reading Zigliara, then a popular a textbook of theology. I was surprised and amazed. He told me: What do you think? I read theology and learn well the corresponding doctrine before I stand before an audience. As a student in Washington DC, I began to admire and love Bishop Fulton Sheen. I heard him there, and later in Manila. As a student, I had two idols: Fulton Sheen and President John F. Kennedy, also a great speaker who talked with feeling and elegance).

We read not only the Sacred Scriptures, but the whole Christian Tradition: the Bible, the Fathers of the Church, the saints, the great theologians, above all, St. Augustine and St. Thomas Aquinas.  The Church’s teaching is particularly significant regarding moral and social issues: abortion, violence, injustice, respect for life, etc.  (Cf. Charles E. Bouchard OP, In the Company of Preachers, 196-199).

 

• SOME SUGGESTIONS

Never do this: read, cut, paste and then read to the audience as if it were your sermon or homily. It is not yours. It is unethical (unless you say you are substantially quoting this or that author, which is almost never done), and it will be noticed by your audience. (A doctor friend told me after listening a Dominican’s sermon: “canned sermon”) The sermon, the homily ought to be basically yours; it is your style, not the style of somebody else. It might be appropriate to use some short original expressions in Latin or Greek, but few, very few. It is a sermon or a homily, not a lesson in class.

It is always appropriate for us Dominicans to speak on preaching. Our dear Father and Founder St. Dominic of Guzman was above all a preacher: St. Dominic the preacher was never sacrificed to St. Dominic the founder and organizer (Simon Tugwell OP).

All Christians are asked by their faith to preach the Good News of Jesus Christ to the world by words and deeds. Dominicans, in particular, are called not just to preach but to be preachers. Dominic didn’t want only that his brothers preach, but rather that they be preachers (ACGBH19, 123). Preaching is the identity of the Dominican brothers and sisters, their “identity tag” (RFP, 106). We are asked to give “absolute priority to the ministry of preaching” (ACPA17, 55), Hence, the purpose of all formation – initial as well as permanent – is “the making of a Dominican preacher” (RFG, 1). Thus, every brother or sister identifies with the words of St. Paul: “Woe to me if I do not preach the Gospel” (1 Cor 9:16). (FGB)

 

 

PREACHING ACCORDING TO CURRENT DOMINICAN LEGISLATION

 

In part II, we present the main texts of the Order of Preachers related to preaching and Dominican preaching.

Dominican preaching according to our living tradition is grounded upon the Sacred Scriptures, Christian tradition and the magisterium of the Church. From Vatican II, all 16 Documents, in particular, Lumen Gentium, Dei Verbum, (DV), Gaudium et Spes (GS), Sacrosanctum Concilium (SC), Ad Gentes (AG) and Perfectae Caritatis (PC). Encyclical Letters and Apostolic Extortions: in particular: St. Paul VI, Evangelii Nuntiandi (EN), St. John Paul II, Redemptoris Missio (RM) and Ecclesia in Asia (EA; Pope Benedict XVI, Verbum Domini (VD), Pope Francis, Evangelii Gaudium [EG) and Laudato Si’ (LS’). And other Documents of the magisterium.

The teaching on preaching is grounded on the Rule of Saint Augustine and, more concretely, in the Book of the Constitutions and Ordinations of the Order of Preachers (LCO).

St. Thomas speaks of the effects of the Sacred Scripture in us: “In the speculative order, to teach the truth and to refute error; in the practical order, to take away from evil and to incite to good. Its ultimate effect is to bring people to perfection” (Commentary on 2 Timothy; quoted by Cameron, 77). Indeed, “the Word of God is not only a font of truth; it is also a source of life” (Alonso Schokel, Ib.). Let us add that “as preachers of the Word of God, our brothers and sisters must have a firm foundation in Sacred Scripture (RSG, 17).

We shall consider the following: first, the Constitutions of the Order (LCO) and thereafter, the Order’s Ratio Formationis Generalis (RFG, 2016) and the Ratio Studiorum Generalis (2017), with the Holy Rosary Province Ratio  Formationis Particularis (2018)  and Ratio Studiorum Particularis (2022);  second, the Acts of the latest General Chapter of the Order (ACGBH19, Bien Hoa, Vietnam, August 2019), and third, the teaching of the Acts of the two latest Provincial Chapters: Avila, 2017 and 2021(ACPA17 and ACPA21).  

 

1. THE BOOK OF CONSTITUTIONS AND ORDINATIONS OF THE BROTHERS OF THE ORDER OF PREACHERS (Cf. LCO, nos. 98-140)

A pre-note: As every preacher - every Christian is a preacher -, the Dominican preacher proclaims by deeds and words the Good News of the Kingdom of God. The Order of Preachers (OP) is an “apostolic” Order and therefore follows the apostles’ way of proclaiming Jesus.

Dominican peaching is preaching “in the manner in keeping with the charism of the Order” (LCO 108, # 1). The preacher must accept the entire gospel message.” Dominican preaching must always be marked by this evangelical spirit and sound doctrine” (LCO 99, & 1). Dominican preaching proclaims – like all preaching – “the name of Jesus Christ to the nations” (LCO 108, & 1).  

The ministry of the word is “intimately connected with the sacraments, finding its completion in them”: the centrality of the Eucharist and Penance (LCO 105 & 1-3). Dominicans have a special devotion to the Eucharist, to Mary and to St. Dominic.  Part of the Dominican charism is a special devotion to Mary and its Rosary: “The Rosary is a form of preaching particularly appropriate to our Order.”  “The brothers should fervently preach it” (LCO 129).

The preaching of the social Gospel is part of the preaching of the whole Gospel: “true Gospel freedom independent of particular factions” (LCO 134). We preach the Kingdom of God. Preaching the social gospel is part of preaching the Kingdom of God. Preachers must encourage the participation of believers in “establishing on earth a kingdom of justice, fraternal love and peace” (LCO 132, & 1; cf. 134). Hence the significance of the Social Doctrine of the Church. (Pope Leo XIII started officially - with Rerum Novarum - the SDC. And Leo XIV is already following his footsteps).

The preacher is open to the Spirit and to the people he/she preaches to, taking note of their cultures and inculturation, and reading the signs of the times (cf. LCO 899, & 2; 106 and 110). He/she ought to “cultivate the spiritual life and the human virtues” to be a creative preacher (cf. LCO 99, & 3). He is a member of a community, a convent that was called ‘holy preaching’, domus praedicationis (LCO 100, & 3). Each Dominican Province “shall determine the objective priorities of its brothers’ ministry, bearing in mind local needs and available resources” (LCO 106, & 3).  The Constitutions underline that interreligious dialogue is especially important for missionaries (cf. LCO 111).

In their preaching ministry, our brothers collaborate with bishops, other priests and other religious “in the common service of the Church.” Also, with the laity and others (cf. LCO 101, & 1-4; 108). There ought to be, moreover, cooperation among Provinces of the Order (cf. LCO 106, & 4; 114).

We also underline here the salient teachings of the Order’s Ratio Formationis Generalis (RFG) and the Province’s Ratio Formationis Particular (RFP). We shall also note the Ratio Studiorum Generalis (RSG) and the Ratio Studiorum Particularis (RSP).   

The Ratio Formationis Generalis, basic teachings. The aim of our formation [initial as well as permanent] is the making of a preacher of grace and a true witness to Christ (RFG, 1; cf. Ib. 29, 30, 36). The Ratio Formationis Particularis of the Dominican Province of Our Lady of the Rosary adds powerfully: Preaching … is not a function to be performed but rather is our ‘identity tag’ and our way of life as followers of Christ (RFP, 106). Every Dominican is a preacher. He learns preaching in the community - a preaching community - of which is a member: “As a sacra praedicatio, every Dominican community is a school for preachers” (RFG, 57).

Two fundamental texts from the Ratio Studiorum Generalis. As preachers of the Word of God, our brothers must have a firm foundation in Sacred Scripture. Their formation must include the rigorous study of the human word of the sacred author in its historical, cultural, linguistic, and literary context, as well as the theological meaning that is derived from the text, in keeping with the interpretation and teaching of the Church, so that it is the very Word of God which nourishes our brothers and is proclaimed by them as the authentic and living Gospel” (RSG, 17). “Our preaching should be informed by our study of the Word of God, our knowledge of theology, and our attentiveness to the world in which we live. Dominican preaching, therefore, should be the culmination of all that has preceded it. Our brothers must study the theology of preaching and homiletics and receive guidance in its practice so as to become compelling preachers of the Gospel (RSG, 23).

The Ratio Studiorun Particularis underlines the need of dialogical listening to preach the Word (synodality): “Being ‘in dialogue’ means listening as well as speaking; always open to the truth of the others. This kind of listening toward dialogue in preaching must be “humble, patient, empathetic, reasonable, critical, merciful and compassionate, practical and discerning” (RSP, 9; Ib. 25, b); ACGB 2016, 87).

 

2. ORDER OF PREACHERS, GENERAL CHAPTER 2019

(Cf. ACTS OF THE LATEST GENERAL CHAPTER: BIEN HOA, VIETNAM, 2019:

ACGBH19, NOS. 123-181)

Dominic didn’t want only that his brothers preach, but rather that they be preachers (no. 123). Certainly, all the baptized are preachers. But, for Dominicans (OP), “preaching is our identity” (Ib.).

DOMINICAN PREACHING

The center of preaching is Jesus Christ. We proclaim the Good News of salvation (Ib. 125). We preach the Good News. Sources: Sacred Scriptures, Christian Tradition and the magisterium of the Church.

Human life is precious, although frequently despised. We ought to promote in our preaching life, human rights, justice and peace (127). Our preaching springs from “a spirituality of listening.” Listening is “the premise and undeniable part of preaching.” It was so in Dominic, and like him, we look for places of silence to hear God and his word, and to hear the people of the world (128).

Our preaching is happy and hopeful (no. 126), “doctrinal and prophetic” (180, d). Today Dominican preaching includes two very relevant topics and signs of our time: ecology and justice (cf. Ib. no 102).  

We also preach the Rosary, “pedagogy of holiness,” invaluable instrument of preaching,” “a path of evangelization” (no. 157; cf. LCO 129).  

Dominicans preach “simply, clearly and creatively” (129) by living the truth they preach, by living a life which is “congruent” with what they preach (130). They transmit the experience of faith “with a preaching that is prophetic, doctrinal and fraternal” (131), “attentive to the reality in which they are preaching” (133), and like Dominic, sensitive to the poor around them (134; cf. RFG 29).

We witness life: “We can only preach in a credible way with a witness of life that proceeds from fraternity lived in our communities… Common fraternal life is the first form of preaching” (176).

Today a new continent, the digital world is a great challenge to our preaching: the challenge of a new language, “iconic virtual, and precise.” To be able to preach in the digital world, it is important “to learn the new language and understand the new culture that require “a new style of preaching” (135), a new form of preaching “in a profane and dialogical context” (135). “The digital continent offers us new opportunities for preaching.” We are asked to use the media “creatively and responsibly” (136).

 

ESSENTIAL IMPORTANCE OF LEARNING TO PREACH

Learning to preach is part of initial and permanent formation. On initial formation we read: “Vocational discernment: zeal for preaching in candidates is an undeniable criterion to vocational discernment” 180, a). “The principal objective of Dominican formation is to form preachers” (ACGBH19, no. 180, b; cf. RFG, 1).

It is part of permanent formation to help the preacher be “qualified preachers,” including “constant updating as to guarantee preaching that is relevant” (142). Moreover, good preaching is supported by fraternal life, prayer, study and permanent formation (177).

The Dominican way of life is in itself preaching, “a life that preaches” (Ib. 99).

 

3. PROVINCE OF OUR LADY OF THE ROSARY, PROVINCIAL CHAPTERS, 2017 AND 2021
4. 1 ACPAVILA 2017, nos. 96-103

Main points: Dominican preaching for the salvation of humanity, Dominican formation and preaching, and the option for the poor.

DOMINICAN PREACHING FOR THE SALVATION OF HUMANITY

Dominic sensed and decided that his mission and that of his followers was to be the preaching of the Good News that leads to faith, to conversion to the Gospel, to the humanization of life in the style of Jesus (ACPA17, no. 97).

“Dominican preaching is a theological-prophetic proclamation of the Gospel and a communication of grace to the needy and disadvantaged of our world. We announce the mystery of salvation that has been revealed and realized in Christ crucified and risen. This announcement teaches, moves, heals, enlivens and illuminates the different realities, cultures, religious traditions, and demands of the preacher a permanent exercise of mercy and compassion. It is both a preaching that animates Christian hope in that final consummation that God wants for this humanity and this creation "(ACGR 51; ACPA17, 100)

“Our Province, following the mission and the example of Dominic’s compassion and mercy, does not give up in its effort to continue transmitting the hope of the Good News to a humanity that is increasingly concerned about the impending future due to: massive poverty, unjust inequalities, exclusions and discrimination, bloody conflicts, victimization, ecological risks, etc. (ACPA17, 101).

“There have been manifold forms of preaching and evangelizing in the Dominica tradition: homily and teaching, oral and written word, artistic expression, interpersonal and interreligious dialogue, virtual communication, the testimony of life, etc. (Ib. 98). The continuous development of new technologies generates new avenues where preaching enjoys new opportunities: internet, social networks, etc., all that constitutes a new challenge for preaching in the Order and in the Province” (Ib. 103).

 

DOMINICAN FORMATION AND PREACHING

Learning to preach is part of initial and permanent formation. On initial formation we read: “Vocational discernment: zeal for preaching in candidates is an undeniable criterion to vocational discernment” (180, a). “The principal objective of Dominican formation is to form preachers” (cf. RFG, 1: ACGBH19, 180, b).

“The fundamental role of the whole Dominican formation is “to form a Dominican preacher”. Consequently, passion for preaching must be present from the first moment of any vocational discernment. Thus, if the zeal for preaching does not appear at the initial stages of the formation of candidates, we can cast doubts concerning the option made by a candidate to join the Order of Preachers.  At the beginning of the Order, the greatest and most efficient promotion of vocation was done through the life and preaching of the brothers: Dominic of Guzman, Jordan of Saxony, Reginald of Orleans, etc.” (ACPA17, 96).

 

OPTION FOR THE POOR

“The specific or proper note of our interculturality in the nations where the Province is present is to be aware of the pastoral guidelines of the local Church and to engage in interreligious dialogue and option for the poor” (ACPA17, 93; cf. no. 55). Comment: the preferential option - an obligatory Christian option - entails a simple life style, solidarity and sharing something with the poor and needy. It is a universal Christian option for the marginalized in the world. How much more for religious men and women who have made a vow of poverty!  

Words to remember. The OP Ratio Formationis Generalis speaks clearly of the need of integrating (with the human, intellectual and spiritual dimensions) the apostolic dimension into the students’ Dominican life (RFG, 142): “The apostolic experiences must ensure that the student brothers will have contact with the world of the poor, the exploited and the marginalized gradually introducing them in this way to the frontiers of Dominican life and mission” (RFG, 143).

 

3.2 ACPAVILA, 2021: IDENTITY AND PREACHING

Main sources: ACGBH19, 123-181, and particularly, ACPA17, 69-95, where we read: “The identity of the Province has been magnificently reflected in Chapter II of the Acts of the Provincial Chapter of 2017, of which we highlight and summarize the following” (ACPA17, 69). Let me underline certain significant points for today.

Community life is one of the three columns (with prayer and study) that sustain our preaching: We preach together when together we pray, grow in our fraternity and study the Word (ACGB 64; ACPA21, 75).

A text from Pope Honorius III to remember: The Gospel, the mission of the Church to preach the Kingdom of God “inspired us with the pious desire to embrace poverty and profess regular life in order to consecrate yourselves to preaching of the Word of God, spreading throughout the world the name of our Lord Jesus Christ” (ACPA21, 77).

Who is a good preacher?  “The preacher is a person of faith who has personally experienced the love and enlightenment of God in his life, becoming a witness of this divine life before others” (ACPA21, 78). He or she is a preacher of compassion (ACPA21, 79 - from text in Spanish), “a living Gospel, a credible witness.” As a consequence, his life becomes a sermon (Fulton Sheen)” (Ib. 80-81).

The Provincial Chapter of Avila (2021) underlined, too, the obligation of formators and their communities on how to enrich the integral formation,” and thus “guarantee and inculcate in the students the zeal for preaching. It reminds us “to recover in the formation processes the subject of Oratory,” and introduce the student brothers “in the use of the mass media” (Ib. 90-91).  The formators are sked “to create times and spaces where the student friars can begin the ministry of preaching” (Ib. 93).

 The preaching ministry is a general ministry of the whole Church, an essential ministry that builds up ecclesial communion. In their Dominican preaching ministry, our brothers collaborate with bishops, other priests and other religious and lay faithful in the common service of the Church (cf. LCO 101, # I-IV and 108, # II). The latest General Chapter of the Order speaks powerfully of the synergy of preaching among all Dominicans and of cooperation among the Provinces of the Order, in particular among the Dominican Provinces of the same region (cf. Fr. Bruno Cadoré OP, Relatio to General Chapter, ACG Acts, 2019, n. 140); LCO 106, # IV and 114, # I-III).

Each Province has its own priorities (cf. LCO. 106, # I) and concrete programs of collaboration in preaching with the Church and the other Provinces of the Order.   In our Province of Our Lady of the Rosary, some of the basic priorities are: mission ad gentes and inter gentes, promotion of justice, peace and the integrity of creation, interreligious dialogue, nonviolence, synodality, etc.

The Acts of the Provincial Chapter of Avila 2021 are - like previous ones - well crafted. The radical question: Are these wonderful and positive exhortations, recommendations being carried out by the respective authorities? If not - at least substantially implemented -, they are like wet paper. (FGB)

 

In 1217, Dominic was in Rome. One night our Father had a vision: the apostles Peter and Paul approached him. Peter gave him a walking stick, symbol of authority and itinerancy, and Paul, his epistles. The two apostles tell St. Dominic: Go and preach, because this is the ministry to which you have been called (Constantine of Orvieto). St Dominic was above all a preacher and all his life is ordered to preaching for the salvation of souls. “St. Dominic loved preaching and from this fact his Order takes the name” (St. Francis of Sales, Introduction to the Devout Life, Third part, no. 1).

Like Dominic and after Dominic, the Dominicans are preachers, followers of Christ the preacher (cf. St. Thomas Aquinas, STh, III, 42). The Dominicans not only preach. The Dominicans are preachers, that is, they live as preachers and preach Christ in deed and in word.  Our preaching is partly different from the preaching of others – Franciscans, Jesuits, Claretians, diocesan priests… Not better but different, that is distinct. Main reason: the essential elements of our charism and their combination: fraternal life, prayer and study; contemplation and apostolate. 

Close to their beginning, the Dominicans were given a title, namely, Veritas, or Truth - a title that has become, since then, a commitment: Proclaiming the truth about life, about faith, about action. Proclaiming it from the pulpit, in the classroom, through the spoken and written word, in dialogue with all. We proclaim, above all, the Truth, with a capital T, that is, Jesus as the Truth, the Truth that will make us free (Jn 8:32), free to love. Jesus is the Truth of God who is “the first truth (STh, I, 16, 5). “‘Redemption’ can only consist in the truth becoming recognizable in Jesus Christ” (Benedict XVI, Jesus of Nazareth, II, Holy Week, 2011, 194).

In our world, truth is often shaded, falsified and manipulated. In our social life (economic, political and cultural life), lies, deception, “fake news,” and hypocrisy abound. A new global order will not be possible without truth. Indeed, untruth is a kind of slavery. “Your truth? / No, the Truth, / and come with me to search for it. / Your truth, keep it to yourself”. (“¿Tu verdad?  No, la Verdad, / y ven conmigo a buscarla. / La tuya guárdatela” (Antonio Machado).

We are preachers of the truth, veritas! Preaching the truth entails the following: (1) To know the truth; (2) To say the truth, and (3) To do the truth in love).

 

1. TO KNOW THE TRUTH.

We cannot preach the truth if we do not know it! To know it, we have to study – always. We all know that study is one of the essential elements of the Dominican charism. It is part of our family heritage.  Moreover, we have to be up-to-date: society evolves, new problems arise and new signs to be interpreted. Two characteristics of a good preacher: good content and good rapport with the audience and its needs (doctrine and empathy). Hence, we are told, we have to read daily the newspaper and the Bible.

Our study is, must be, a prayerful study, a study in God’s presence: “Sacrament and preaching lose their import and reality if prayer does not accompany them” (Jacques Ellul). Dominican study is contemplative and compassionate study, and ordered to preaching for the salvation of souls. Study is a continuing aid to our vocation, a means to purify the soul and fight temptations. It us a kind of contemplation. Studiousness (cf. II-II, 166) is a moral virtue connected with temperance: a middle way between curiosity and negligence. It awakens interest in the truth, that is, love for the truth. We acquire and keep the habit of studying by the repetition of acts, by studying every day.

To know the truth is to know Christ – and preach Christ: “It is not ourselves we preach, but Christ Jesus as Lord” (2 Cor 4:5). “Truth is not a thing we possess, but a Person by whom we must allow ourselves to be possessed” (Pontifical Council for Inter-Religious Dialogue, Dialogue and Proclamation, 1991, no. 49). We always remember that the Truth is Christ and him, and only him we preach (cf. Paul VI, Homily, Manila 29 November 1970; in Office of Readings, XIII Sunday of Ordinary Time, Second Reading). “It is a terrible sin against the Christian community to preach oneself, paralyzing in this way the spirit of Christ in ourselves, in pride (Thomas Mullaney, OP, Washington DC, 1961).

    We must know the truth of Sacred Scriptures, Christian Tradition and the Magisterium of the Church. The significant difference between our Father Dominic and the heretics was that these preached separated from the Church, which is our Mother and Teacher, too

 

2. TO SAY THE TRUTH.

The essential purpose of human speech is the truth, for words are messengers of the truth, while lies are prostitution of words and sources of violence (cf. Eph 4:25). We make ourselves real by telling the truth” (Thomas Merton, No Man Is an Island, 1955). I remember the words of Hugh of St. Cher: “First, the bow is bent in study, then the arrow is released in preaching.”

We have to dare to say the truth, when it is prudent and just to say it: to keep silent out of cowardice or fear is not ethical; to keep quiet in the face of glaring injustice and violence and corruption is not apostolic. I remember the words of Cicero: “Truth is corrupted as much with lies as with silence and forgetfulness” (“La verdad se corrompe tanto con la mentira como con el silencio y el olvido”). St. Paul preached the whole truth: “I have never shrunk from announcing to you God’s design in its entirety” (Acts 20:27). St. Augustine: “If you believe what you like, in the gospels, and reject what you don’t like, it is not the gospel you believe but yourself.” I remember the words of famous evangelical pastor John MacArthur: “When I step into the pulpit, the expectation is that I’m a messenger of God. I speak on His behalf, not my own.” (Cf. Mk 6:7-13; Evangelii Gaudium, nos. 135-144). Yes, we have to say the whole truth humbly, but - as Bernanos said - without the pleasure of hurting.

We have to say the truth truthfully – and, as much as possible, elegantly! In the Prayer before Study of St. Thomas Aquinas: “Grant me a keen intellect, a strong memory, method and facility in learning, subtlety in learning, and elegance in speech.” Elegance in speech! Some time ago, I read this lovely story! There was a blind man, who begged for alms daily - seated on one side of the gate of the Church. On his right side, he placed a box for the alms, and on his left, a poster with this inscription: “I am a blind man. Please, help me!” The beggar got a few coins at the end of the day. Until one day a man passed by, who, after giving some alms to the blind man, got his poster and wrote something at its blank back. From then on, the box was filled at the end of every day. The blind man was able to recognize the person who put the message at the back of the poster, now its front: he was an expert in advertising and communication and a good person. One day he asked him: “What did you write on the back of my poster?” The man answered: “Just the truth: your message in a different way.” Next day the blind man asked a friend who passed by: “What is written on my poster?” The friend read: “Today is spring, and I cannot see it.”  Preaching Christ is always spring time, for He is the Crucified and Risen Lord! We Dominicans – some people say - tend to be in their preaching a bit too doctrinal perhaps and not sufficiently emotional! Dominic preached the Word effectively and affectively. We are reminded of Augustine’s condition: “Non intratur in veritatem nisi per caritatem” (One does not enter into the truth but through charity). 

 

3. TO DO THE TRUTH IN LOVE.

St. Paul: “Speaking the truth in love” (Eph 4:15).

Our motto Veritas is Veritas in Misericordia. Illuminating words of Pope Benedict XVI: “Without truth, charity degenerates into sentimentality. Love becomes an empty shell, to be filled in an arbitrary way. In a culture without truth, this is the fatal risk facing love” (Caritas in Veritate, 3). Truth without love does not move others to love the truth. Don Quixote: “A knight is ashamed when his words are better than his deeds” (Un caballero se avergüenza de que sus palabras sean mejores que sus hechos - Miguel de Cervantes).

Truth and love: “It is good to proclaim your love in the morning and your truth in the watches of the night” (Ps 92:2). “And preach thee, too, as love knows how, by kindly deeds and virtuous life” (Hymn, Divine Office, Hours, Saturday). Our commitment to Veritas implies to know the truth of faith (orthodoxy) and to do the truth of life (orthopraxis). What matters most is orthopraxis, which means doing the truth in love. A Christian who knows his faith, but does not practice it in a substantial form is not a Christian, for a Christian follows Christ. Jesus came into the world, He tells us, “To bear witness to the truth. Everyone who is of the truth hears my voice” (Jn 18:37). After Christ, his followers are obliged to “bear witness to the truth” (Jm 18:37). Jesus said: “The man who lives by the truth comes out into the light” (Jn 3:21). St. Gregory the Great: Jesus says, “I am the good shepherd, I know my own, that is I love them; and my own know me, that is they love me; and those who love me are willing to follow me.” He adds: “Anyone who does not love the truth has not yet come to know it” (Office of Readings, 4^th Sunday of Easter, 2^nd Reading).   

St. Dominic inculcated two basic attitudes in the young Dominicans: first, he told them, accept the truth without fear; second, turn the truth into life in daily life: “A Dominican person studies in order that he may come to know the truth, that in knowing it he may love it, and that in loving it he may share it joyfully with those to whom he has been sent” (OP, Ratio Studiorum Generalis, RSG, 2016, 9).

Jesus told the Pharisees: “Even if you refuse to believe in me, at least believe in the work I do” (Jn 10: 38).  For all Christians, witnessing is the first form of evangelization (cf. John Paul II, RM, no. 42). Certainly, “Modern man listens more to witnesses than to teachers; and if he does listen to teachers, it is because they are witnesses” (Paul VI, EN, 41). Witnessing must also be the first form of preaching - the common form to all the branches of Dominicans.

The Dominicans, however, must go beyond this silent preaching – totally necessary always - to carry out their charism of preaching: we must preach the Word of God, by words, too. But our words ought not to be denied by our bad deeds – a life of counter-witnessing. Often I remind myself of these words from a second century Homily: “Why is the Lord’s name blasphemed? Because we say one thing and do another. When they (the unbelievers) hear the words of God on our lips, unbelievers are amazed at their beauty and power but when they see that those words have no effect on our lives, their admiration turns to scorn, and they dismiss such words as myths and fairy tales” (Homily written in the Second Century, in Office of Readings, 32^nd Week, Thursday). Of course, we are also sinners and therefore should be humble and strive to be better and do better with God’s never-failing grace and love.  My professor of Christology (Washington DC, 1961), Fr. Mulleney, OP, commenting St. Thomas quoted the great commentator of Thomas, Cajetan: Christian preaching is not a theoretical knowledge, but ‘Verbum spirans amorem.” Knowledge, yes, but more like Christ; otherwise, a good preacher (better, a good speaker or orator), perhaps, but not a Christian preacher”.

St. Catherine of Siena writes that the reform of the Church must be done by holy and good shepherds in deed and in truth, not only with the sound of the word, because if it is said and not done, this would amount to nothing” (Letter, 291); “Be trumpeters of the incarnate Word, God’s Son, not only with your voice but with your deeds. Learn from the Master of Truth, who practiced virtue before he preached it. In this way you will produce fruit and be the channel through which God will pour his grace into the hearts of those who hear you” (Letter, 226).

We read in the Ratio Studiorum Generalis: “The Order of Preachers takes most seriously ‘the prophetic office by which the Gospel of Jesus Christ is proclaimed everywhere both by word and example’ (LCO, Fundamental Constitution, # 5). The Dominican ought to preach the Word “with grace and joy” (OP, RSG, 1).

After being ordained a Dominican priest, Bruno Cadoré was sent to Haiti, where poverty and violence reigned. Like the people, the brothers walking with them had a difficult time. There he was existentially convinced of the absolute need of witnessing: “It is evident that here [in Haiti] life precedes speeches” (Escuchar con Dios los latidos del mundo, 2019, p. 36). The former Master of the Order of Preachers adds:  The first and last preaching of the preacher is his or her life. We are itinerant preachers, that is, itinerant pilgrims as mendicants towards the Kingdom (Ibid. pp. 58 and 109). (Fray Cadoré speak of the real tension between the charism of itinerancy which is proper of the preacher, and the will to install or stablish himself in a place permanently and definitively (cf. Ib. 162). How true, I may add. Another tension of Dominican life: the balance between active and contemplative life. St. Thomas says that Christ lived a perfect life and therefore, it was a contemplative and active life. He writes: “That active life that is occupied in preaching and teaching others the contemplative truths is more perfect that the life that occupies itself of contemplation only: (STh, III, 40, 1 ad 2; cf. II-II, 25, 6 ad 5). Objectively, true. Subjectively? What matters most is love, the degree of love in our lives. St. Thomas, I a sure, agrees!

The first missionaries of our Province, the Province of Our Lady of the Rosary, to the Philippines, who are our founders (15 arrived in Manila on July 22, 1587, and 3 in Macau around the end of August, 1587) had signed a powerful Statement earlier in Mexico where we read: “We must preach through our lifestyle so that if our teaching of the doctrine does not move hearts, our lives will move all those who see us: this is the best way of teaching.”  Today, we are asked to do the same. (Cf. Ordenaciones Primordiales, ACP Valladolid, 1997, Apéndice XI, pp. 173-177).

 

CONCLUSION

Is preaching a tough job? Yes, but we are not alone and God called us and helps us. For this mountainous task of preaching, we have to prepare and pray continually. “A preacher who does not prepare himself and who does not pray is dishonest and irresponsible, a false prophet, a fraud, a shallow impostor” (Evangelii Gaudium, EG, 145, 151).

We recite daily a moving prayer invoking the Holy Spirit before the daily meditation: “Come, Holy Spirit, fill the hearts of your faithful, and kindle in them the fire of your love.” Every day, we pray for vocations and ask Jesus to send us holy and zealous preachers. 

Lord, may we be holy and zealous preachers! (FGB)