t
is obvious that Francis Coll's beatification will be
an inspiration and a source of renewal for the congregation
he founded (. In 1875 he founded the Congregation of
the Dominican Sisters of the Annunciation). But will
it be the same for his brethren ? In what way did he
live our life in the troubled period his country then
experienced ? Choral office common life, regular observance,
religious obedience and poverty: he probably lived all
these, at least in his heart. But is that enough for
him to become a model for us ? As we approach his beatification
I think that Francis Coll does teach us two very pertinent
lessons.
A
plea for itinerant preaching
During
the life-time of Father Coll, most religious, as they
were forced to live outside their houses, offered their
services to a bishop and ran a parish while they were
waiting, most of them, to be incardinated into a diocese.
Thus Francis though he still remained a Dominican was
a curate in two parishes in the space of ten years.
In
this situation, proud of his title of "friar preacher",
he spent as much time as possible preaching. But this
did not satisfy him. As soon as he could find a replacement,
he left the parish, gave up all his pastoral commitments
and spent the remaining twenty-five years of his life
engaged in "itinerant preaching". In the life
which he then led, poor according to the Gospel, and
going from village to village preaching, he saw the
very life of Saint Dominic, and delighted in it. This
is the "friar preacher" whom the Holy Father
is going to bring to the attention of the faithful by
declaring him "blessed".
Far
be it from me - and from Father Coll - to criticize
existing Dominican parishes, or other stable ministries
such as the activities and engagements so widespread
in our days, which demand the continual presence of
brothers in the same place. Situations also, and the
needs of the Church differ from country to country.
But the question put to me by the soon-to-be-beatified
Father Coll is the following: What importance is attached
to itinerant preaching in the Order to-day ?
Nobody
can doubt the part it has played in our history. Our
greatest preachers - for example Saint Vincent Ferrer
amongst many others - became famous as itinerant preachers.
Yet still, three years ago, on 3rd December 1975, during
a general audience, Paul VI said to a group of Dominican
novices and postulants: "Dominicans are said to
be preachers, but you rarely hear a Dominican preaching".
Is this true ?
It
is often said that parish priests no longer look for
us. During my visitation of the provinces I met religious
who were engaged full time in preaching, and what struck
me was, usually, they were unable to take up all the
invitations they were offered. Which goes to show that
itinerant preaching is more alive than is sometimes
imagined, and also that if one can preach in a way that
shows one understands men and women today, their difficulties,
their social situation, the problems of their professions,
one will be listened to and appreciated. Are we sufficiently
aware of the present day world and its various milieus
? Do we take enough care to make our preaching relevant
and interesting ? I was also struck by the fact that
these not-so-young brothers who are in constant demand,
regularly took refresher courses.
"Nobody
looks for us any more". But do real apostles wait
to be asked ? They hear for themselves the appeals that
others do not hear, and know how to set about getting
in touch with these people. In keeping with our modern
technical and scientific world, specialists in one or
other kind of apostolate are becoming more and more
common in the Order. And this is a good thing. But how
many "specialists in preaching" have we ?
Research should be done on this and statistics drawn
up.
The
Quezon City chapter speaks of "new preaching places".
We no longer preach just from a pulpit inside a church.
These "new preaching places" can be of many
kinds: for example a hall where people can be assembled
whom you would not meet anywhere else; and also places
where men and women meet of their own volition and where
one could preach without intruding: film or television
clubs, recreation centers, and other informal groups.
It would be interesting and indeed very useful to hear
from any of our brethren who are experienced in this
field. They could tell us especially how their preaching.
To-day deals with the points stressed in that sane chapter
of the Acts of Quezon City: the problem of dechristianisation,
socio-cultural trends, young people, new countries.
Of course here also situations will vary considerably
from country to country, but surely the Order has some
part to play in bringing about a renewal of preaching
?
Our
world which is continually expanding continues also
to reveal stratas of society where apparently God is
not recognized. To deal with this the Church needs priests
who are free enough and unhindered by other ties or
obligations to answer calls as soon as they make themselves
heard. When Saint Paul said: "they cannot chain
up God's news" (2 Tim 2 : 9), did he not mean this
too ? Such availability was something Saint Dominic
wanted, something he lived.
Naturally
such a life has its own difficulties and problems, especially
in the economic order, problems which more stable forms
of the apostolate such as parishes, chaplaincies, teaching
religion in schools, etc., do not normally experience.
But people like Father Coll accepted and embraced difficulties
and risks like this. (quite deliberately and in the
name of his Dominican profession he chose to give himself
entirely to itinerant preaching living a life of evangelical
poverty such as that practiced by Saint Dominic and
his companions. For two thousand years poverty and preaching
have very often gone hand in hand and surely to accept
certain risks today in this order of things is just
one aspect of evangelical and Dominican poverty in our
time.
When
all is said and done there is something fascinating
about this apostolate of the Word: large audiences of
all sorts, new situations, the need to adapt, the thrill
of preaching a message bringing new graces. And besides,
up to date Dominican preaching of this sort will surely
foster vocations among young people by leading them
to get a better grasp of one of the most characteristic
aspects of the Order.
I
have been making a plea for itinerant preaching. Here
then are a few questions which may help us to reflect.
In
our houses and provinces how many full time itinerant
preachers are there, compared with those working in
other apostolates ?
2. What place has preaching in the plan for the future
which our Constitutions ask us to make (LCO 106-107)
?
3. In practice how do we rate religious who specializes
in preaching in comparison with those who specialize
in other fields ?
Committed
to the Dominican vocation
Father
Coll was completely committed to the Dominican life:
This seems to me to be the second message he gives to
his brethren today.
The fact that he knocked at the door of the convent
in Gerone although he had already been refused in Vich
is not what is most remarkable here. It is the years
that followed after this that are remarkable. We must
remember the anti-clerical atmosphere widespread in
Spain in those times to appreciate Father Coll's deep
faith. He was quite untouched by such pressures, and
once he took up that itinerant preaching which fulfilled
all his ambitions, he had no more problems about the
kind of life that was his. No longer did he wonder about
joining a diocese, or leaving the country, or going
on the missions. He just went straight ahead and as
far as he was able he did his best to live up to his
religious profession, giving himself full time to what
is its most fundamental aim: itinerant preaching to
the poor according to the Gospel. And this is where
Father Coll gives us food for thought.
Living
in a difficult world
He
lived in a "hard world", and ours is very
different from his, though just as hard, indeed even
more so. And without being pessimistic or playing the
prophet, it could be said that remaining faithful to
one's Dominican life, as to religious life in general,
is going to be harder still in the years to come. This
follows from the very notion of changing cultures and
civilizations.
One
of the major difficulties of life today is surely the
abundance of material objects which overwhelm us: comforts,
commodities of all sorts, cars, means of relaxation
and amusement etc. If we were always able to use these
things so as to be more available to the service of
the Word of God, we could simply give glory to God for
them. But is this really the case ? Do we not often
become their slaves ?
And
then there is that virus which slips in from every side
and attacks, almost unknown to us, the very marrow of
our religious lives, our Christian values, and sometimes
even the fundaments of our faith. And this difficulty
is all the greater because, if we are to remain true
to our vocation as preachers of the faith, we have no
right to close our eyes to facts. A biologist who is
preparing a new vaccine can fall victim to the disease
he is trying to cure, and it can be the same for us.
So the greatest danger is a lack of conviction and of
religious vitality, because by profession and the grace
of our state, we should be able to face up to these
difficulties without the risk of destroying ourselves.
Questions
about our Dominican life
How
convinced are we ? Have we that strength, perseverance
and commitment, without which our Dominican life can
only drag itself along, leaving us in a state of dissatisfaction
? The changing world continually questions us about
the way we live as Dominicans. However, without burying
our heads in the sand, we should bear in mind that some
questions, which come easily into our minds, hinder
rather than help us to shape our Dominican identity.
Genuine married people do not spend their time at an
unhealthy examination of the "identity" of
their love. They simply live it. And we should do the
same.
And
this leads to another question. Are we sufficiently
attached to, or should I say possessed by, the apostolate
we are engaged in ? I would like to speak here of the
"apostolic hope" of provinces, houses and
religious, meaning by that the interest and enthusiasm,
coupled with the feeling of doing "something"
for the Kingdom of God, which should inspire us. Our
own personal work must fit in to the general plan for
the province. We hear a great deal nowadays about planning,
and I am very glad about this, but I must admit that
the people who speak most about it are not always ready
to accept the sacrifices which planning inevitably presupposes.
Thus they do not want to be changed from one house to
another, or give up work that they have become attached
to or accept responsibilities . . . There is no point
in talking about planning if you just mean planning
for other people and not for yourself. This would be
to rule out religious obedience and to do so in something
that affects the very heart of our apostolic life.
Except
at the beginning of his religous life Father Coll never
lived in a Dominican house. This should lead us to reflect
once again on the advantages and the grace that come
to us from life in community. But in our convents and
houses are there not "exclaustrated community members",
i.e. religious who take their board and lodging but
play no part, or practically so, in community life ?
And though the case is not qute the same, I am thinking
also of those of the brethren who habitually live outside
their religious house. To what extent is this necessary
for apostolic reasons ?
Our
constitutions have been changing during the last hundred
years and more, and we have all accepted the new constitutions
which have been introduced since the Council and are
in conformity with its directives. But the question
I ask myself all the time is whether we accept their
spirit and radical demands.
We
have new structures which we are still inclined to look
on with some suspicion, such as community meetings,
regular renewal chapters, continuing formation, a "ratio
studiorum" which is special to a province, etc.
Regulations about silence, mortification and other points
of our regular life are now left to provincial or conventual
chapters. But what does this mean in practice ? Other
important things like mental prayer have been left to
the responsibility of the individual, and it was with
reason that the 1977 General Chapter made a declaration
on this point. I also wonder whether the way in which
the apostolate has developed has not given rise to that
"private life" which did so much damage in
former times. I will do no more than suggest these points,
which themselves suggest many others.
A
word about formation
It
is very important to chose carefully those in charge
of formation: novice and student masters, and others
who help them as part of a council of formation or whatever.
Provinces should be prepared to make any sacrifice for
this reason, and the right choice of the house of formation
is not the least of considerations. It is better too
to defer entry into the novitiate if there are doubts
about the maturity of candidates. Otherwise brothers
will leave the Order in greater or lesser numbers during
their first years of formation, and this is good for
nobody, because the fervour of the novitiate or studentate
will inevitably suffer.
Lastly
we must try to give people convictions. We must try
to give them deep and personal motivations which will
be rooted in what is deepest in them. And this can only
come about and grow stronger when one is completely
caught up in the living presence of God, the light and
strength of all life.
Itinerant
preaching and commitment to the Dominican life, these
are the two messages Father Coll gives us on this day
of his beatification. They are very relevant because
they are linked with the two fundamental questions which
force themselves on our attention today: the question
of our Dominican identity, and the question of our apostolic
work. May Blessed Francis Coll obtain by his prayers
the grace for us to listen to the life-giving words
he speaks to us, and to carry them out in our lives.
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