A New Novice

The Order of Preachers, Reformed is extremely pleased to announce that Sister Dollie Wilkinson has been received into the Noviatite, following an extensive amount of time spent studying, discerning, and seeking the Will of God for her life during her time as a Postulant. We ask that you keep our dear sister in your prayers as she continues to grow in the Lord during the time of her continuing formation as a Novice of the Order, and she continues to discover how she may best serve Our Lord. Thanks be to God!

Blessed Mary Mancini of Pisa

Catherine Mancini was born in Pisa in 1355, of noble parentage, and from infancy began enjoying the miraculous favors with which her life was filled. At the age of three, she was warned by some heavenly agency that the porch on which she had been placed by a nurse was unsafe. Her cries attracted the nurse’s attention, and they had barely left the porch when it collapsed. When she was five, she beheld in an ecstasy the dungeon of a place in Pisain which Peter Gambacorta, one of the leading citizens, was being tortured. At Catherine’s prayer, the rope broke and the man was released. Our Lady told the little girl to say prayers every day for this man, because he would one day be her benefactor.

Catherine would have much preferred the religious life to marriage, but she obeyed her parents and was married at the age of twelve. Widowed at sixteen, she was compelled to marry again. Of her seven children, only one survived the death of her second husband, and Catherine learned through a vision that this child, too, would soon be taken from her.  Thus she found herself, at the age of twenty five, twice widowed and bereft of all her children. Refusing a third marriage, she devoted herself to prayers and works of charity.

She soon worked out for herself a severe schedule of prayers and good works, fasting and mortifications. She tended the sick and the poor, bringing them into her own home and regarding them as Our Lord Himself. She gave her goods to the poor and labored for them with her own hands. Our Lord was pleased to show her that He approved of her works by appearing to her in the guise of a poor young man, sick, and in need of both food and medicine. She carefully dressed his wounds, and she was rewarded by the revelation that it was in reality her redeemer whom she had served.

St. Catherine of Siena visited Pisaat about this time, and the two saintly women were drawn together into a holy friendship. As they prayed together in the Dominican church one day, they were surrounded by a bright cloud, out of which flew a white dove. They conversed joyfully on spiritual matters, and were mutually strengthened by the meeting.

On the advice of St. Catherine of Siena, Catherine (Mary Mancini) retired to an enclosed convent of the Second Order. In religion, she was given the name Mary, by which she is usually known. She embraced the religious life in all its primitive austerity, and, with Blessed Clare Gambarcota and a few other members of the convent, she founded a new and much more austere house, which had been built by Peter Gambacorta. Our Lady’s prophecy of his benefactions was thus fulfilled.

Blessed Mary was favored with many visions and was in almost constant prayer. She became prioress of the house on the death of her friend Blessed Clare Gambacorta, and ruled it with justice and holiness until her death.

She died in 1431 and was beatified by Pius IX in 1855.

 

Words

They went to Capernaum; and when the Sabbath came, he entered the synagogue and taught. They were astounded at his teaching, for he taught them as one having authority, and not as the scribes. Just then there was in their synagogue a man with an unclean spirit, and he cried out, “What have you to do with us, Jesus of Nazareth? Have you come to destroy us? I know who you are, the Holy One of God.”
But Jesus rebuked him, saying, “Be silent, and come out of him!”
And the unclean spirit, convulsing him and crying with a loud voice, came out of him.

They were all amazed, and they kept on asking one another, “What is this? A new teaching–with authority! He commands even the unclean spirits, and they obey him.”

At once his fame began to spread throughout the surrounding region of Galilee. Mark 1:21-28 (NKJV)

I love words. I am addicted to words. Words are such an important part of life. We are flooded with words – words from the radio, from the TV, from the phone, from fellow workers, from sales people, from neighbors, from noisy children. We are surrounded by words on paper, on the screens of computers and mobile phones, on billboards, pinup boards, signposts and screens. You think about it. There aren’t too many of our waking hours when we aren’t surrounded by words.

And words have power. I was reminded of this yesterday. One of my favorite “downtime” activities is to play “Words With Friends” on Facebook. Brother Joshua and I were playing yesterday morning, and he made the word, “cry,” and scored 12 points. I was ever so glad that he did, because I really needed that “Y” he used. I played “joy” on top of his “cry” and scored 14 points, then made the observation that “joy” tops “cry,” and stated that there was a sermon right there in front of us. How funny that that little episode has led to this sermon!

Today we focus our attention on the words Jesus used to fight a battle as he engaged the power of evil. The scene of this battle between Jesus and evil was in a synagogue. The time was a quiet Sabbath about 2000 years ago. The place was a sleepy little backwoods town tucked away on the shore of the Sea of Galilee. Jesus had been teaching in the synagogue in words that were straight and direct and loaded with power. Those who listened were amazed because it seemed as if God was talking directly to them through this man’s words. As they were listening intently, all quiet as the teacher spoke to them, a wild man, tormented by an evil spirit, burst into the synagogue and screamed at the top of his voice, “What do you want with us, Jesus of Nazareth? I know who you are – you are God’s holy messenger. Have you come to destroy us?”

Who was this man? We have no clue, but I can imagine his anguish, his loneliness, living on the outskirts of the town, rejected and feared by everyone, made fun of by many, and shunned by all.

To the man’s question, or the unclean spirit’s question, “What do you want with us, Jesus of Nazareth? I know you are – you are God’s holy messenger. Have you come to destroy us?”

Jesus responded with a resounding “Yes!” With authority, in a no nonsense voice, Jesus spoke the words, “Be quiet! Come out of the man!”

And with a shrill agonizing cry the evil spirit came out of the man, shaking and contorting him violently. This loud scream must have reverberated throughout the synagogue, echoed around the assembly, and the worshippers must have shrunk back in fear at the sight and the sounds of witnessing such a struggle.

Then, silence. I would imagine that the congregation stood in shocked and amazed stupefaction for a few moments, and the man who had had the demon sat or stood where he was, trying to catch his breath, trying to understand what had just happened, and enjoying a calmness, a silence, a peace, that he had not known before.
All too soon I imagine the silence was broken by the amazed cries, the clapping and cheering of the crowd, as they celebrated and talked about what Jesus had done in front of them. The words they spoke to each other, questioning what they had just seen and heard, must have been spoken quickly, with a sense of wonder: “He said….” or “With just a few words…” or “Did you see? Did you hear???”

“Just a few words….” Mark relates to us that with just his word – God’s Word – Jesus has power and authority over evil in this world. He has power over the forces which seek to cripple, distort and destroy human life. A simple word from Jesus can destroy this evil. Jesus is the conqueror over all the evil that paralyzes human life and makes us less than what God has created us to be.

The words of Jesus Christ: we read them, we gather in our churches to hear them, we listen to the words of a Savior who came to free us from the power of all evil that tries to overwhelm us. The words of Christ are as powerful today against evil as they were that day 2000 years ago in the synagogue. Whenever evil seeks to distort and destroy our lives, the words of Christ have power to free us.

So when evil whispers in your ear, “It’s no use, you can’t do it, give up!” we turn to the words of Scripture, and there we hear the words of St. Paul thunder in our ears, “I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me!”(Phil 4:13).

When evil whispers in your ear, “You’re alone, there’s no one who cares for you, and no one who will stand by you”, Christ’s words assures us, “I will be with you always, to the end of the age.” (Mathew 28:20).
When evil whispers in your ear, “You’re a failure, no one can possibly love a person like you”, the word of the Lord gives us the strength to carry on. “Your sins are forgiven,” (Luke 5:20), we are told. “The mountains and hills may crumble, but my love for you will never end” (Isaiah 54:10).

When evil whispers in your ear, “There is no hope and no help or comfort in the face of sickness and grief, a word comes from Christ, “I am the good shepherd. I know my sheep and they know me.” “I will never forget you! I have written your name on the palms of my hands” (Isaiah 49:15).

When evil whispers in your ear, “You’re going to die and that will be end of you” and terror strikes your heart, Jesus comes with a word, “Don’t be worried and upset. Trust me. I have gone to prepare a place for you,” (John 14:1-4). “All those who live and believe in me will never die,” (John 11:26).

When evil whispers in your ear, “Why bother with the church? You don’t need them; they don’t need you.” Jesus says with authority, “If anyone wants to come with me, he must forget himself, take up his cross every day, and follow me,” (Luke 9:23). In other words, being a disciple is not easy; it’s not about being comfortable, but about giving yourself for the sake of everyone else, just like Jesus did.

When evil whispers in your ear, “There is no point in praying, don’t waste your time. You have better things to do.” The word of the Lord comes to us with authority, “When you call on me, when you come and pray to me, I will listen,” (Jer. 29:12).

When Jesus spoke that day in the synagogue, the demons fled. When words from God are spoken with power and authority into the everyday circumstances of our lives things happen – sins are forgiven, strength is given to resist temptation, comfort and assurance are given in times of grief, hope and patience and strength are given to see our way through an illness or accident. When Jesus speaks, things happen.

We learn in 1st John 1 that “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was God.” There is a word… Jesus Christ is the word that comes into our lives and defeats the powers of darkness that distort our lives. He can turn back the tide of evil that comes against us.

So when trouble comes into our lives, and we reach the point when we don’t know where to turn, or how we will survive this crisis, or how to deal with all that stress, we cling to the strong word of Christ. It has power and authority. It supports and holds us up through the worst situations. HE has the power. HE has the authority. HE has the strength. Listen with a renewed freshness to the powerful words of Jesus, listen to His voice, and like the people in the synagogue, we too will be amazed. And we, too will know, that “cry is topped by joy.” Amen.

Saint Thomas Aquinas

Thomas was born in Roccasecca circa 28 January 1225, in the castle of his father, Count Landulf of Aquino, in Roccasecca, from which the great Benedictine abbey of Montecassino is not quite visible, midway between Rome and Naples, in what is now Sicily. Through his mother, Theodora, Countess of Theate, Thomas was related to the Hohenstaufen dynasty of Holy Roman emperors. His family was related to the Emperors Henry VI and Frederick II, and to the Kings of Aragon, Castile, and France. Calo relates that a holy hermit foretold his career, saying to Theodora before his birth: “He will enter the Order of Friars Preachers, and so great will be his learning and sanctity that in his day no one will be found to equal him.” Landulf’s brother, Sinibald, was abbot of the original Benedictine abbey at Monte Cassino. While the rest of the family’s sons pursued a military career, Thomas was intended to follow his uncle into the abbacy; this would have been a normal career path for the younger son of southern Italian nobility.

At the age of five, Thomas began his early education from the Benedictine monks at Monte Cassino. Diligent in study, he was thus early noted as being meditative and devoted to prayer, and his preceptor was surprised at hearing the child ask frequently: “What is God? “However, after a military conflict broke out between the Emperor Frederick II and Pope Gregory IX spilled into the abbey in early 1239, Landulf and Theodora had Thomas enrolled at the University of Naples, which had been recently established by Frederick.

At Naples his preceptors were Pietro Martini and Petrus Hibernus. The chronicler says that he soon surpassed Martini at grammar, and he was then given over to Peter of Ireland, who trained him in logic and the natural sciences. The customs of the times divided the liberal arts into two courses: the Trivium, embracing grammar, logic, and rhetoric; the Quadrivium, comprising music, mathematics, geometry, and astronomy. Thomas could repeat the lessons with more depth and lucidity than his masters displayed. The youth’s heart had remained pure amidst the corruption with which he was surrounded, and he resolved to embrace the religious life.
It was here that Thomas was introduced to the words of Aristotle, Averroes and Maimonides, all of which would later influence his theological philosophy. It was also during his studies in Naples that Thomas came under the influence of John of St. Julian, a Dominican preacher in Naples, who was part of the active effort by the Dominican order, which had only recently been established, to recruit devout followers.

At the age of nineteen, Thomas resolved to join the Dominican Order. Thomas’s decision to do so did not please his family, who had expected him to become a Benedictine monk. Some time between 1240 and August, 1243, he received the habit of the Order of St. Dominic, being attracted and directed by John of St. Julian, a noted preacher of the convent of Naples. The city wondered that such a noble young man should don the garb of poor friar. His mother, with mingled feelings of joy and sorrow, hastened to Naples to see her son.

In an attempt to prevent Theodora’s interference in Thomas’s choice, the Dominicans arranged for Thomas to be removed to Rome, and then to Paris. However, on the way to Rome, his brothers who were soldiers under the Emperor Frederick, following their mother’s instructions, seized him as he was drinking from a spring near the town of Aquapendente and took him back to his parents, who were then at the castle of Monte San Giovanni Campano. He was held for in the family homes at Monte San Giovanni and Roccasecca in an attempt to prevent him from assuming the Dominican habit, and to convince him to become a Benedictine. Political concerns prevented the Pope from ordering Thomas’s release, which extended his detention, during which he spent tutoring his sisters and communicating with members of the Dominican Order. Family members became desperate to dissuade Thomas, who remained determined to join the Dominicans. At one point, two of his brothers hired a prostitute to seduce him, but he drove her away, wielding a burning stick. According to legend, that night two angels appeared to him as he slept and strengthened his resolve to remain celibate.

The time spent in captivity was not lost. His mother relented somewhat, after the first burst of anger and grief; the Dominicans were allowed to provide him with new habits, and through the kind offices of his sister he procured some books — the Holy Scriptures, Aristotle’s Metaphysics, and the “Sentences” of Peter Lombard. After eighteen months or two years spent in prison, either because his mother saw that the hermit’s prophecy would eventually be fulfilled or because his brothers feared the threats of Innocent IV and Frederick II, he was set at liberty, being lowered in a basket into the arms of the Dominicans, who were delighted to find that during his captivity “he had made as much progress as if he had been in a studium generale.”
Thomas immediately pronounced his vows, and his superiors sent him to Rome. Innocent IV examined closely into his motives in joining the Friars Preachers, dismissed him with a blessing, and forbade any further interference with his vocation. In 1245, Thomas was sent to study at the University of Paris’s Faculty of Arts where he met Dominican scholar Albertus Magnus, then Chair of Theology at the College of St. James.

The theological program Thomas entered in Paris was a grueling one, with the master’s typically attained in the early thirties. Extensive and progressively more intensive study of the scriptures, Old and New Testament, and of the summary of Christian doctrine called the Sentences which was compiled by the twelfth century Bishop of Paris, Peter Lombard. These close textual studies were complemented by public disputations and the even more unruly quodlibetal questions. With the faculty modeled more or less on the guilds, Thomas served a long apprenticeship, established his competence in stages, and eventually after a public examination was named a master and then gave his inaugural lecture.

When Albertus was sent by his superiors to teach at the new studium generale at Cologne in 1248, Thomas followed him, declining Pope Innocent IV’s offer to appoint him as abbot of Monte Cassino as a Dominican. Albertus then appointed the reluctant Thomas magister studentium. In the schools Thomas’s humility and taciturnity were misinterpreted as signs of dullness, but when Albert had heard his brilliant defense of a difficult thesis, he exclaimed: “We call this young man a dumb ox, but his bellowing in doctrine will one day resound throughout the world.”

Thomas taught in Cologne as an apprentice professor, instructing students in the books of the Old Testament and writing Expositio super Isaiam ad litteram (Literal Commentary on Isaiah), Postilla super Ieremiam (Commentary on Jeremiah), and Postilla super Threnos (Commentary on Lamentations). Then in 1252, he returned to Paris to study for a master’s degree in theology. He lectured on the Bible as an apprentice professor, and upon becoming a baccalaureus Sententiarum (bachelor of the Sentences); he devoted his final three years of study to commenting on Peter Lombard’s Sentences. In the first of his four theological syntheses, Thomas composed a massive commentary on the Sentences entitled Scriptum super libros Sententiarium (Commentary on the Sentences). Aside from his master’s writings, he wrote De ente et essentia (On Being and Essence) for his fellow Dominicans in Paris.

In the spring of 1256, Thomas was appointed regent master in theology at Paris, and one of his first works upon assuming this office was Contra impugnantes Dei cultum et religionem (Against Those Who Assail the Worship of God and Religion), defending the mendicant orders which had come under attack by William of Saint-Amour. During his tenure from 1256 to 1259, Thomas wrote numerous works, including Questiones disputatae de veritate (Disputed Questions on Truth), which was a collection of twenty-nine disputed questions on aspects of faith and the human condition and which was prepared for the public university debates he presided over on Lent and Advent. He also wrote Quaestiones quodlibetales (Quodlibetal Questions), a collection of his responses to questions posed to him by the academic audience; and both Expositio super librum Boethii De trinitate (Commentary on Boethius’s De trinitate) and Expositio super librum Boethii De hebdomadibus (Commentary on Boethius’s De hebdomadibus), commentaries on the works of 6th century philosopher Anicius Manlius Severinus Boethius. By the end of his regency, Thomas was working on one of his most famous works, Summa contra Gentiles.

Around 1259, Thomas returned to Naples where he lived until he went to in Orvieto in September 1261. In Orvieto, he was appointed conventual lector, in charge of the education of friars unable to attend a studium generale. During his stay in Orvieto, Thomas completed his Summa contra Gentiles, and wrote the Catena Aurea (The Golden Chain). He also wrote the liturgy for the newly created feast of Corpus Christi and produced works for Pope Urban IV concerning Greek Orthodox theology, e.g. Contra errores graecorum (Against the Errors of the Greeks). In 1265 he was ordered by the Dominican Chapter of Agnani to establish a studium for the Order in Rome at the priory of Santa Sabina. He remained there from 1265 until he was called back to Paris in 1268. It was while in Rome that Thomas began his most famous work, Summa Theologica, and wrote a variety of other works, such as his unfinished Compendium Theologiae and Responsio ad fr. Ioannem Vercellensem de articulis 108 sumptis ex opere Petri de Tarentasia (Reply to Brother John of Vercelli Regarding 108 Articles Drawn from the Work of Peter of Tarentaise). In his position as head of the studium, he conducted a series of important disputations on the power of God, which he compiled into his De potentia.

In 1268 the Dominican Order assigned Thomas to be regent master at the University of Paris for a second time, a position he held until the spring of 1272. Part of the reason for this sudden reassignment appears to have arisen from the rise of “Averroism” or “radical Aristotelianism” in the universities. “Averroisms” was the belief that there is no God, that the soul has two parts, one individual and one eternal; the world is eternal; the soul is not eternal. (During this period in history, Averroism was virtually synonymous with atheism.) In response to these perceived evils, Thomas wrote two works, one of them being De unitate intellectus, contra Averroistas (On the Unity of Intellect, against the Averroists) in which he blasts Averroism as incompatible with Christian doctrine. During his second regency, he finished the second part of the Summa and wrote De virtutibus and De aeternitate mundi, the latter of which dealt with controversial Averroist and Aristotelian beginninglessness of the world. Disputes with some important Franciscans such as Bonaventure and John Peckham conspired to make his second regency much more difficult and troubled than the first. A year before Thomas re-assumed the regency at the 1266–67 Paris disputations, Franciscan master William of Baglione accused Thomas of encouraging Averroists, calling him the “blind leader of the blind”. Thomas called these individuals the murmurantes (Grumblers). In reality, Thomas was deeply disturbed by the spread of Averroism and was angered when he discovered Siger of Brabant teaching Averroistic interpretations of Aristotle to Parisian students. On 10 December 1270, the bishop of Paris, Etienne Tempier, issued an edict condemning thirteen Aristotlelian and Averroistic propositions as heretical and excommunicating anyone who continued to support them. Many in the ecclesiastical community, the so-called Augustinians, were fearful that this introduction of Aristotelianism and the more extreme Averroism might somehow contaminate the purity of the Christian faith. In what appears to be an attempt to counteract the growing fear of Aristotelian thought, Thomas conducted a series of disputations between 1270 and 1272: De virtutibus in communi (On Virtues in General), De virtutibus cardinalibus (On Cardinal Virtues), De spe (On Hope).

In 1272 Thomas took leave from the University of Paris when the Dominicans from his home province called upon him to establish a studium generale wherever he liked and staff it as he pleased. He chose to establish the institution in Naples, and moved there to take his post as regent master. He took his time in Naples to work on the third part of the Summa while giving lectures on various religious topics. On 6 December 1273 Thomas was celebrating the Mass of St. Nicholas when, according to some, he heard Christ speak to him.
Christ asked him what he desired, being pleased with his meritorious life. Thomas replied “Only you Lord. Only you.” After this exchange something happened, but Thomas never spoke of it or wrote it down. Because of what he saw, he abandoned his routine and refused to dictate to his secretary, Reginald of Piperno. When Reginald begged him to get back to work, Thomas replied: “Reginald, I cannot, because all that I have written seems like straw to me,” And he seemed to be seriously ill. What exactly triggered Thomas’s change in behavior is believed to be some kind of supernatural experience of God. After taking to his bed, he did, however, recover some strength.

Looking to find a way to reunite the Eastern Orthodox churches with the Catholic Church (the Eastern Orthodox were excommunicated by the Roman Catholic Church in A.D. 1054 over doctrinal disputes) Pope Gregory X convened the Second Council of Lyon to be held on 1 May 1274 and summoned Thomas to attend. At the meeting, Thomas’s work for Pope Urban IV concerning the Greeks, Contra errores graecorum, was to be presented. On his way to the Council, riding on a donkey along the Appian Way, he struck his head on the branch of a fallen tree and became seriously ill again. He was then quickly escorted to Monte Cassino to convalesce. After resting for a while, he set out again, but stopped at the Cistercian Fossanova Abbey after again falling ill. The Cistercian monks of Fossa Nuova pressed him to accept their hospitality, and he was conveyed to their monastery, on entering which he whispered to his companion: “This is my rest for ever and ever: here will I dwell, for I have chosen it” (Psalm 131:14). The monks nursed him for several days, and as he received his last rites, he prayed: “I receive Thee, ransom of my soul. For love of Thee have I studied and kept vigil, toiled, preached and taught…” He died on 7 March 1274.

When the devil’s advocate at his canonization process objected that there were no miracles, one of the cardinals answered, “Tot miraculis, quot articulis”—”there are as many miracles (in his life) as articles (in his Summa).” Fifty years after the death of Thomas, on 18 July 1323, Pope John XXII, seated in Avignon, pronounced Thomas a saint.

In a monastery at Naples, near the cathedral of St. Januarius, a cell in which he supposedly lived is still shown to visitors. His remains were placed in the Church of the Jacobins in Toulouse in 1369. Between 1789 and 1974, they were held in Basilique de Saint-Sernin, Toulouse. In 1974, they were returned to the Church of the Jacobins, where they have remained ever since.

In the General Roman Calendar of 1962, in the Roman Catholic Church, Thomas was commemorated on 7 March, the day of death. However, in the General Roman Calendar of 1969, even though the norm in the Roman Catholic Church is to remember saints on the day of their death, Thomas’s memorial was transferred to 28 January, the date of the translation of his relics to Toulouse.

Saint Thomas Aquinas is honored with a feast day on the liturgical of the Episcopal Church in the United States of America on 28 January.

Blessed Andrew of Peschiera. C.O.P.

As a child, Andrew Grego lived on the southern shore of Lake Garda, in northern Italy. His training for a life of heroic sanctity began early, with voluntary penances and unquestioning obedience to his father. Andrew’s first desire was to be a hermit, an ambition that was met with ridicule from his brothers. Failing to realize this hope, he made for himself a severe schedule of prayer and penance, and, in his own house, lived the life of one wholly given to God.

After the death of his father, it became increasingly difficult to carry out his plan, so he resolved to enter the cloister. Although his brothers had persecuted him without mercy, he knelt and humbly begged their prayers and forgiveness for having annoyed them. Then he gave them the only possession he had, a walking-stick. This stick, thrown carelessly in a corner by the brothers, was forgotten until, long afterwards, it bloomed like the legendary rod ofSaint Josephin token of Andrew’s holiness.

The 15-year old received the Dominican habit at Bresciaand then was sent to San Marco in Florence. This convent was then at its peak of glory, stamped with the saintly personalities of Saint Antoninus and the Blesseds of Lawrence of Riprafratta, Constantius, and Antony della Chiesa. Andrew’s soul caught the fire of their apostolic zeal, and set forth on his mission in the mountains of northern Italy.

Heresy and poverty had combined to draw almost this entire region from the Church. It was a country of great physical difficulties, and, in his travels in the Alps, he risked death from snowstorms and avalanches as often as from the daggers of the heretics. Nevertheless, he travelled tirelessly, preaching, teaching, and building–for his entire lifetime.

Churches, hospitals, schools, and orphanages were built under Andrew’s direction. He would retire from time to time to these convents for periods of prayer and spiritual refreshment, so that he could return with renewed courage and zeal to the difficult apostolate. He was known as “the Apostle of the Valtelline,” because of the district he evangelized.

Blessed Andrew performed many miracles. Probably his greatest miracle was his preaching, which produced such fruits in the face of great obstacles. At one time, when he was preaching to the people, the heretics presented him with a book in which they had written down their beliefs. He told them to open the book and see for themselves what their teachings amounted to. They did so, and a large viper emerged from the book.

Blessed Andrew closed a holy life by an equally holy death, and died in 1485.  He was buried in Morbegno. He had labored so long among the poor and the neglected that his place in their hearts was secured. Because of the miracles worked at his tomb, and the persistent devotion of the people, his relics were twice transferred to more suitable tombs.  He was beatified in 1820.

 

By This They Will Know

“Blessed are the peacemakers, for it is they who will be recognized as sons of God.” – Matthew 5:9 (Weymouth New Testament)

On January the 25th, the WEEK OF PRAYER FOR CHRISTIAN UNITY began, and here we are as Christians, nearly 2,000 years after Christ gave the Beatitudes to His early followers in the Sermon on the Mount… and as I write this, I wonder:  If I were put on trial today for being a Christian, would there be enough evidence to convict me?  Or you?  Would we be convicted not only by our words, but by our actions?  Are we making peace with our neighbors, with the world, with our fellow Christians?  Around 197 A.D., Tertullian, who has been billed by many as “The Founder of Western Theology”, wrote in his Apologeticus, his work defending Christianity and asking Emperor Septimius Severus to allow Christianity to be treated as a legal religion, just as any other sect that existed within the empire at that time.  The Emperor knew nothing of Christianity, except that he wanted it done away with, and so Tertullian took it upon himself to explain, that is to Apologize, Christianity to Septimius Severus and the other magistrates of Rome.  To me, the most fascinating and telling lines Tertullian wrote are:  “But it is mainly the deeds of a love so noble that lead many to put a brand upon us. See, they say, how they love one another… how they are ready even to die for one another, for they themselves will sooner put to death.”

Sadly, in today’s world, we live in a time when people outside the church are certainly not saying of Christians “See how they LOVE each other!”  Sadder still, and more apparent than our lack of love for one another in the Church, are our extreme divisions.  Of the Church today, we’re more likely to hear “Can’t they AGREE on ANYTHING?!” It is difficult enough to be a Christian in today’s times with the influence of so many anti-Christian “role-models”- companies, music, books, websites, ad infinitum, infecting and influencing the minds of so many to turn from God and to run toward what is considered “cool” by so many, that the fact that there are those who claim Jesus Christ as their Lord and Savior, and who demonstrate such a lack of love and support for their brothers and sisters that it is truly disheartening.  And, sadder still, there are so many fractures and total breaks within the Body of Christ – His Church Universal – that many multi-denominational gatherings, Facebook pages, blogs, magazines and other media do their best to focus on all the differences between their denomination and the denominations of their brothers and sisters in Christ Jesus.  Until recently, I was a member of a particular group on Facebook promoting unity between Catholics and Protestants – however, instead of anyone posting anything celebrating what we hold in common and trying to bring about that unity, nearly every post was an argument, Protestants saying “the problem with Catholics is…” or Catholics saying “the problem with Protestants is…”   WHERE IS THE UNITY?!  WHERE ARE THE PEACEMAKERS?!  Can we say, honestly, of ourselves and the Church as a whole, that we can be recognized as– instantly known to be – sons and daughters of God Almighty?

In John 17, verses 20-24 (NIV) “20My prayer is not for them alone. I pray also for those who will believe in me through their message, 21 that all of them may be one, Father, just as you are in me and I am in you. May they also be in us so that the world may believe that you have sent me. 22 I have given them the glory that you gave me, that they may be one as we are one— 23 I in them and you in me—so that they may be brought to complete unity. Then the world will know that you sent me and have loved them even as you have loved me.” – Christ Jesus prays that we be one.  This is God’s desire for his Body, of which Christ Jesus is the Head.  When the Lord looks down upon His people, His Church – he doesn’t want to see dissention, argument and down-right hatred amongst the sheep of His flock.  Can you imagine how sad this makes Our Savior?  He came to set the captives free; and now, many of us have put ourselves in chains of our own making with all of this quarrelling with our brethren.

It is time, not just during this Week of Prayer for Christian Unity, but now and evermore for us to put aside our differences and focus on the fact that we all seek to serve the same GOD: Father, Son and Holy Spirit.  Yes, we may choose to serve and worship in varied and sometimes drastically different ways, but that should not prevent us from, asSaint Paulsays in Philippians 2:2, “…being of the same mind, having the same love, being in full accord and of one mind.”

Let us remember that our Savior told us “A new command I give you: Love one another. As I have loved you, so you must love one another.  By this everyone will know that you are my disciples, if you love one another.” – John 13:34,35 (NIV) Let us notice that it is a COMMAND He gives us, not a suggestion or a wish… it is an order from our King of Kings and Lord of Lords.  Let us also agree on this, that we are indeed, as Christians, children of the SAME GOD, who should be striving to the SAME purpose:  serving one another, out of love, to glorify the Lord… the rest are, for the most part, our ego-driven, however well meant, differences.  It’s time we lay aside the differences, at least in our minds and in our concerns with one another, and focus on the LOVE OF GOD dwelling within us and flowing THROUGH US, so perhaps, once again, we can be RECOGNIZED as God’s children by our LOVE and desire to MAKE PEACE.   Amen?  Amen!

Blessed Marcolinus of Forli

Blessed Marcolinus of Forli

Born in at Forli, Italy in 1317, Marcolino Amanni entered the Dominicans at age 10. He occupies a place unique in Dominican annals because he was almost purely contemplative . There is outwardly little to record of Blessed Marcolino, except that for 70 years he kept the Dominican Rule in all its rigor. That is a claim to sanctity that can be made by very few, and is of itself enough to entitle him to canonization. He did accomplish the reform of several convents that had fallen from their primitive fervor, but this he did by his prayers and his example rather than by teaching or preaching.

It is said that Marcolino was most at home with the lay brothers, or with the neighborhood children who enjoyed talking to him. He seldom went out of his cell, and could not have engaged in any active works; neither did he leave any writings. His work was the unseen labor presided over by the Holy Spirit, the work of contemplation. “To give to others the fruits of contemplation,” is the Dominican motto and one might be curious to know how Blessed Marcolino accomplished this. In order to understand the need for just such a type of holiness, it is well to remember the state of the Church in the 14th century. Devastated by plague and schism, divided and held up to scorn, preyed upon by all manner of evils, the Church militant was in need, not only of brave and intelligent action, but also of prayer. Consistently through the centuries, God has raised up such saints as could best avert the disasters that threatened the world in their day, and Marcolino was one answer to the need for mystics who would plead ceaselessly for the Church.

The interior life of Marcolino was not recorded by himself or by others. He lived the mystical life with such intensity that he was nearly always in ecstasy and unconscious of the things around him. One of his brothers recorded that he seemed “a stranger on earth, concerned only with the things of heaven.” Most of his brethren thought him merely sleepy and inattentive, but actually he was, for long periods, lost in converse with God. Some had heard him talking earnestly to the statue of Our Lady in his cell; some fortunate few had heard Our Lady replying to his questions, with the same simplicity.

At the death of Marcolino,  on 2 January, 1397, a beautiful child appeared in the streets, crying out the news to the little town that the saintly friar was dead. As the child disappeared when the message was delivered, he was thought to have been an angel. Many miracles were worked at the tomb of Marcolino. One was the miraculous cure of a woman who had been bedridden for 30 years. Hearing of the death of the blessed, she begged him to cure her so that she could visit his tomb.

He was confirmed as a saint in 1750 by Pope Benedict XIV.

Broken Glass

On a dead-end street, in the middle of Suburbia, sits a house, made of stone and wood. As a testament to time, and perseverance, this abode has seen many a family, broken or happy, walk in and out of its doors. Also this very unassuming house has stood witness to drug deals gone bad, police arrests, and ultimately death. But in a few short moments, all those memories were erased from its collective memory by a force few can battle. Fire, that most potent entity that can, and did, destroy everything which Man and nature put in its path.  Witness the battle bravely fought by those men and women who sought to save this time-worn friend, and in the end knew there was no hope. All that stands now is a shell, made of stone, which will, like all things in this neighborhood, slip in to the forgetful plague of progress.

     Here our story diverts, because though this house has stood for many years, so too has a stone archway which greets every visitor, whether policeman, fireman, or medical examiner. As a gateway, this stone piece is not much to look at; being rather plain and brown in color, but atop this entryway is a treasure.

    On another day, quite sunny but chilly, while sitting in her living room, a woman notices something shiny glaring through her window. Looking out, she spots a glimmer atop this plain, brown stone arch. Curious, she crosses the street to investigate and discovers something that seems out of place. For above this architectural gate is a piece of glass, broken into two pieces. Feeling as if put there for a purpose; she leaves without taking this simple treasure, deciding the owners must have their reasons. Only later does she realize that, from her house alone, and only on very sunny days, and only for a few moments each morning, can this beauty be seen. But after the fire, does the real treasure reveal itself.

     Just this morning, barely 24 hours after the tragedy, as the day was reborn in its beautiful sunny glory, once again looking out her window, she was met with an old friend. For there again was that familiar sparkle, and she knew then that God was speaking, telling her to Look, see with new eyes, and learn. Like the mythical Phoenix, rising from the ashes, the brilliance was there once again, and once again she was compelled to cross that street to ponder the wonder of this lesson from God. Then she knew, for in this standstill of time, she was being shown His grace, and given more than man’s treasures of gold and silver. She was given two pieces of broken glass, and nothing she has ever owned can match their glimmer.

    So you ask, dear reader, what lesson, what profound truth can be gleaned from two pieces of glass, whose beauty is truly in the eyes of the beholder, this observant woman. For really she is the only one who sees these pieces of glass, notices their beauty, their shine, but in this moment, is once again reminded that no matter our physical presence, we all are worthy of God’s love, and He has a purpose for our creation. Though broken in two, though rarely seen, and most importantly, still standing in the face of a tragedy that can destroy lives, these broken pieces of glass offer up their glory, as if to uplift a weary spirit such as herself. How can one not, as God’s blessed creation, do anything less? We are all here for a reason, even those of us who are broken, like that broken piece of glass, to first praise God for his grace and love, and then to share our blessings, our hearts, and our life lessons. Oh, and yes, as any treasure seeker will tell you, though tempting to remove the broken glass as a memento, the greatest reward is to know this find was better left in place. So I left it as I found it. Maybe another wounded, broken soul will discover the truest treasures are not always what they seem.

Going Fishing

The Gospel According to Mark:

Now after John was arrested, Jesus came to Galilee, proclaiming the good news of God, and saying, “The time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God has come near; repent, and believe in the good news.”  As Jesus passed along the Sea of Galilee, he saw Simon and his brother Andrew casting a net into the sea–for they were fishermen.  And Jesus said to them, “Follow me and I will make you fishers of men.”   And immediately they left their nets and followed him.  As he went a little farther, he saw James son of Zebedee and his brother John, who were in their boat mending their nets.  Immediately he called them; and they left their father Zebedee in the boat with the hired men, and followed him.  Mark 1:14-20 (NKJV)

The sun was just coming up and the fog was floating gently over the shore and the sea.  It was early in the morning. Few people were out and about at that hour, and the only people really active that early in the morning were the bone-tired fishermen who were just finishing another hard night of fishing on the Sea of Galilee. In one boat, two brothers stand while they cast their nets into the sea and drag them back into the boat, hoping to catch a few more fish to send to market. In another boat nearby, two brothers from a different family sit while they mend their nets, preparing them for the next night of fishing, in the hope that tomorrow night’s haul will be just a little bit better.

Their long night of work coming to an end, all the men are anxious to get their catch to market and then go home to get some badly needed rest. But, as they finish their morning chores that morning, a man walks along the shore, just coming into view through the fog.  He speaks:  “Follow me and I will make you fishers of men.” They drop their nets, and follow.  He calls out to the men in the boats, and again says, “Follow me.”    They, too, drop their nets, and follow…

Simon, Andrew, James, and John dropped what they were doing, left the life they knew and perhaps loved, to follow Jesus.   Isn’t that what we, as Dominicans, as Christians, are called to do?  What a life-changing experience!  The first four disciples stepped out in faith, not really knowing what they were doing or where they were going, to live their lives in a new way, no longer as fishermen, but fishers of men.  Were they ready for that?  No.  When Jesus called them, he used the future tense:  I WILL make you fishers of men.  Like us when we first become Christians, or Dominicans for that matter, we are not always ready for the tasks that God has set before us.

The fishermen of that time were poor, uneducated, common laborers, and not very high on the social ladder.  Yet Jesus chose them to do great things.  They weren’t ready to be great preachers, great writers, or great churchmen, but God is not bound by who we are.  Jesus looked beyond what and who they were to what they would become. The important principle at work here is that those whom Christ has called He enables and empowers to perform the task to which they have been assigned. Jesus did not simply command His disciples to become fishers of men but he promised to MAKE them fishers of men.  As Saint Basil has taught us, it is “not what thou art, now what thou hast been, but what thou wouldst be.”

So how do we get to that point?  How do we get to the place where we are ready to become “fishers of men?”  And how do we know when we’re ready?  Like James and John, we must mend our nets, and prepare ourselves to be fishers of men.  Most of us never feel that we’re ready enough, or good enough, to consider ourselves ready to be fishers of men, but our father, Saint Dominic, laid down in his rule how to continually prepare for that role by way of two of the four pillars of the Dominican Charism:  those of prayer and study.  In Saint Paul’s first letter to the Thessalonians, he teaches us that we are to “pray without ceasing.” (1Thessalonians 5:1).  Prayer is communion with God. Those who know God best are those who spend quality time in God’s presence. These are people who know the secrets and the heartbeat of God. It is not possible to know God when we are occasional visitors into God’s presence. It is not possible to know God if we are the type of Christian who just pops in to God’s presence to say “hi” and “goodbye”. We cannot get to know God if we are the type of Christians who treat God as “fire extinguisher”- who just run to God to put out our fires and solve our problems. God reveals Himself to those who really care; to those who are willing to the pay the price of separating themselves often and long from their workaday world in order to seek Him. “Then you will call on me and come and pray to me, and I will listen to you.  You will seek me and find me when you seek me with all your heart.” Jeremiah 29:12-13 (NIV)

Further, through our studies, we learn how to live as Christians, and how God might work through, and be seen in, us.  The Psalmist declared, “I have hidden your word in my heart, that I might not sin against you” Psalm 119:11 (NIV). He understood the importance of studying and knowing God’s word so that he could live according to God’s will and perfect plan. God has revealed Himself to us through the Bible, and calls us to read and know ALL that He has said.   In 1 Timothy 3:14-17, Paul emphasizes to Timothy the importance of staying the course, continuing in what he knows, believes and lives, for it is God alone who provided divine revelation to the writers of the scriptures and the teachers in which Timothy followed. True learning comes from God’s perfect word, the Bible, and must not be abandoned nor seldom looked into; it provides guidance and encouragement regarding eternal life and, more importantly, offers a glimpse to the reader of the magnificence and majesty of God.

Finally, that people may see a difference in our lives, and in order to cast our nets and to start “fishing for men,” we should reflect such a joy and hope in our lives that others will ask about it, opening the door for us to share the Gospel.  Matthew 5:16 says, “Let your light so shine before men, that they may see your good works and glorify your Father in heaven.” Christianity, our faith and our witness, is defined in the eyes of the world by our actions, our attitudes, what we say, and how we say it, as well as the good works that we do.

And so I ask you, are your nets mended?  Have you prepared yourself to be a fisher of men?  What must YOU do in order to simply the call to “Follow me.”?  Let us all continue to prepare ourselves that we may ever cast our nets for our Lord.  Amen.

Benedicite!

It is with great joy that we announce the restoration of the Order of Preachers, OPr, to the Reformed Catholic Church.  We are a group of men and women, both clergy and lay, striving to bring to the world the Good News of Christ by following in the steps of our father, Saint Dominic, by way of the Four Pillars of the Dominican Charism:  Prayer, Study, Community, and Ministry.

It is our hope that by our presence in the world we may further the cause of Our Lord and the Reformed Catholic Church, and to be a blessing to those with whom we come in contact.  Though the Order of Preachers is  patterned after an eight-hundred old tradition founded by Saint Dominic Guzman, we strive to remain relevant in today’s society through our  belief in a Christ-centered faith and devotion.  To know and share the truth of God’s Word through teaching, preaching, study, and community, is the foundation of our mission, and the complete surrender to God’s will is central to the heart of  the sincere piety which is the way of God’s most dedicated servants, is that for which we strive.

We ask your prayers as we begin this journey of faith, that we may ever grow in our Christian walk and as we endeavor to bring Christ to the masses.