On January 21, 2017, Pope Francis presided over the closing Mass of the Dominicans Jubilee, which began November 7, 2015, celebrating the 800th anniversary of the Dominican Order. The Mass took place at the Basilica of Saint John Lateran, in Rome.
Why at St. John Lateran? Because during the time of Saint Dominic, it was the residence of the Popes. “On this our special day, gathered by Jesus again, together with Pope Francis we want to contemplate the roots of our Dominican identity anew. To put it in a different way, before contemplata aliis tradere first we must contemplari.”
The Holy Father quoted St. Paul’s letter to Timothy (2 Timothy 4), some of the most beautiful passages contained in the New Testament, where Saint Paul urges his followers to “proclaim the word; be persistent whether it is convenient or inconvenient; convince, reprimand, encourage through all patience and teaching. For the time will come when people will not tolerate sound doctrine but, following their own desires and insatiable curiosity, will accumulate teachers and will stop listening to the truth and will be diverted to myths. But you, be self-possessed in all circumstances; put up with hardship; perform the work of an evangelist; fulfill your ministry.”
Today, too, says Pope Francis, “Truth is also made up. We move in the so-called ‘liquid society,’ without fixed points, without axes, deprived of solid and stable references, in a culture of the ephemeral, of usage and of discarding. Highlighted clearly in face of this worldly ‘carnival’ is the opposite scenario that we find in the words of Jesus….: ‘Give glory to your Father who is in Heaven.’ And how can one pass from this pseudo festive superficiality to glorification? It is realized through the good works of those who, becoming disciples of Jesus, have become “salt” and “light.”
Jesus says it very clearly: if salt loses its taste, it’s no longer useful. Alas if salt loses its taste! Alas a Church that loses her taste! Watch out for a priest, a consecrated person, a Congregation that loses its taste!
“Today, we give glory to the Father for the work that Saint Dominic carried out, full of the light and salt of Christ, 800 years ago; a work at the service of the Gospel, preached with the word and with life; a work that, with the grace of the Holy Spirit, has helped so many men and women to not be dispersed in the midst of the ‘carnival’ of worldly curiosity, but who instead savored the taste of healthy doctrine, the taste of the Gospel and became in turn light and salt, craftsmen of good works … and true brothers and sisters that glorify God and teach others to glorify God with the good works of life.”
One of our Affiliates, the Dominican Nuns in Marbury, AL, were so happy when they received a call in October that the Master General of the Order of Preachers, Father Bruno Cadoré, O.P., wanted to pay them a visit. He arrived in the evening and left in the morning but it was a great honor and delight for them to have the successor of Saint Dominic in their midst, particularly since Marbury is not exactly on the beaten path!
We pray for the Lord’s blessings on all of the IRL’s Dominican communities who celebrated this past Jubilee Year with so much joy and fraternity:
Dominican Friars – Province of the Most Holy Name of Jesus – Oakland, CA
Dominican Monastery of St. Jude – Marbury, AL
Dominican Cloistered Nuns – Farmington Hills, MI
Dominican Cloistered Nuns, Monastery of Mary the Queen – Springfield, IL
Dominican Contemplative Nuns, Corpus Christi Monastery – Menlo Park, CA
Dominican Monastery of Our Lady of the Rosary – Summit, NJ
Dominican Monastery of the Infant Jesus, Cloistered Dominican Nuns – Lufkin, TX
Dominican Monastery of the Mother of God – West Springfield, MA
Dominican Nuns, Monastery of Our Lady of the Rosary – Buffalo, NY
Dominican Sisters of Hawthorne – Hawthorne, NY
Dominican Sisters of Mary, Mother of the Eucharist – Ann Arbor, MI
Dominican Sisters of St. Cecilia – Nashville, TN
Dominican Sisters of the Perpetual Rosary – Milwaukee, WI
Dominican Sisters, Immaculate Conception Province – Justice, IL
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St. Dominic, pray for us!
You can visit our website—ReligiousLife.com and go to “Vocation Search” to find more details on each community.