he
revised Constitutions of the Brethren of the Order of
Preachers in 1969 included a "Fundamental Constitution,"
based on a careful historical study of our traditions.
This is the most authoritative statement of the permanent
features of the Order which St. Dominic founded and thus
of his spirituality. An analysis of this statement shows
that it can be simplified still further and expressed
as the four fundamentals of Dominican life: (1) the Order's
mission of the Ministry of the Word; (2) community life;
(3) prayer; and (4) study of the Word.
Ministry
of the Word
Dominic
was called by God in a special way to the Ministry of
the Word -- to "preach." It was from this call
that his whole spirituality, his whole emphasis in the
Christian life developed and in terms of which it can
best be understood. It is important, however, not to misunderstand
the term "preaching" as it stands in the title
of the Order of Preachers. That is why the revised Constitutions
use the term "Ministry of the Word" to avoid
misunderstandings that have arisen because of the misleading
connotations in our times of the term "preaching."
The
first misunderstanding is to take the term "preaching"
too broadly to mean simply "witnessing to the Gospel"
in any of the ways it can be witnessed. The whole of the
Christian life is a witnessing to the Gospel and this
includes every form of ministry. Vatican II made clear
that the ministry of Christ and of every Christian is
threefold: (1) the Ministry of the Word (preaching, teaching,
evangelizing, prophesying); (2) the ministry of community
building ( governing, shepherding, social action, charitable
works, etc.); (3)the ministry of worship (priestly ministry
in the narrow sense of celebrating the sacraments and
intercessory prayer). It is confusing to speak of ministries
of the second and third sort as "preaching"
(although they may present opportunities for preaching).
Only the first is preaching in a strict and proper sense
and it was to this Ministry of the Word that Dominic was
called.
Dominic
made a choice of this ministry and left the rest to others,
as did the Twelve when they said, "It is not right
for us to neglect the preaching of God's word in order
to wait on tables....We ourselves, then will give our
full time to prayer and the work of preaching" (Acts
6:2,4). It is a mistake, therefore, to say that "the
Dominican apostolate is anything a Dominican does."
To be true to our calling as followers of Dominic, faithful
to his spirit, we must choose the Ministry of the Word
in preference to any other of the great Christian ministries.
A
second misunderstanding of the term "preaching"
is to take it too narrowly as do those who identify it
with the preaching of the homily at the Eucharist by an
ordained priest. In the early days of the Order brothers
(even novices) who were not yet ordained were sometimes
sent to preach, and preaching was often done outside Mass
and even outside a church. St. Paul tells us to "preach
in season and out of season " (II Tim. 4:2). The
place or time does not characterize preaching. Nor is
Dominican preaching limited to any one class of people.
It should be adapted to meet the needs of all people from
the youngest to the oldest, the least educated to the
most learned, and must deal with the simplest and also
the most profound topics.
Nor
is Dominican preaching limited to some one style of communication
or some one medium. Its aim is to reach people both intellectually
and emotionally, whether by the written or spoken word,
or even through the plastic and performing arts, by radio
or by television.
What
makes preaching really preaching is none of these things
but only that it is a communication of the Gospel Word
in a way that not only moves the heart but also illumines
the mind with the light of an understanding, growing faith.
It was St. Dominic's special insight that a true understanding
of the faith is not just for the elite but for every Christian.
Strangely, although Our Lord devoted His own ministry
chiefly to instructing the people, even the most ignorant
to whom He communicated His message in the stories we
call "parables," yet throughout the history
of the Church it has been the Ministry of the Word which
seems to have been the most neglected. We build churches,
celebrate the sacraments, perform works of charity, but
we neglect to instruct the people. It was this ignorance
of their religion which exposed the people of Dominic's
day to the Manichaean heresy and St. Dominic's perception
of this great need was the founding inspiration of his
Order.
The
third misunderstanding about the meaning of the term "preaching"
-- an error which is encouraged by the individualism of
American culture -- is the notion that if the purpose
of the Dominican Order is to preach, then every Dominican
must be a preacher. Certainly, this was not St. Dominic's
understanding. Even before he founded his brotherhood
he founded a convent of cloistered nuns who did not preach.
The nuns of our Dominican family are not any less Dominicans
because as contemplatives they are excluded from the active
ministry of preaching. Moreover, in the Brotherhood there
were always brethren who did not preach, including some
who were ordained priests. Preaching is the purpose of
the Order as a community, not of the its members simply
as individuals.
Just
as in any army only some of the soldiers are front-line
troops and these could not fight without the support of
many other soldiers who may never actually engage in a
battle, so in the Dominican family the cooperative effort
of preaching requires many particular tasks other than
the actual delivery of sermons, of which one fundamental
task is that of the intercessory prayer and vicarious
penance of the nuns, as Dominic so clearly realized. 
(Source
: Benedict M. Ashley, O.P.Dominican Spirituality)
