What can you contribute?
A first reading of the letter brought to mind the image of Saint Dominic with the first women converted from Catharism. In that first generation of our brothers in the Order, we have a clear example of the call to be fishers and shepherds. Through the “fishing” of the holy Founder, those women were restored to the Catholic faith, and through his accompaniment they became part of the Holy Preaching of Prouilhe.
Monasteries preserve a great potential for evangelization and, therefore — contrary to what we might suppose at first glance — many possibilities for being nets with which to draw souls toward Christ. While it is true that we nuns do not go out to preach, the monastery itself can be a hook for men and women who are searching, even if they do not quite know what they are seeking. They come with a thirst for spirituality, and through a cordial welcome and an open, carefully celebrated liturgy that communicates beauty and humanity, we can evangelize that spirituality. Perhaps they arrive seeking an encounter with themselves, and the challenge is to help them leave having encountered Christ and having discovered themselves in Christ. When this happens, it is not uncommon for them to establish bonds of closeness with the community and for an accompaniment in their faith to begin.
Elements concerning the task of fishers of men and shepherds of the flock
In the work of fishing, there is a hidden but very necessary task of intercession for the fruits of the fishing and for the fidelity and self-giving of the fishers, so that they do not grow faint. This is not exclusive to nuns, but we are specifically called to collaborate in preaching through our prayer, as stated in the Fundamental Constitution of the nuns, §2, and as the rich history of the Order has also shown throughout more than eight centuries of existence.
There is also the care, time and attention required for the shepherding and accompaniment of the Dominican Family itself as a foundation for the evangelization of the Holy Preaching. At times, accompaniment ad extra of the Family may seem more “attractive,” while we ourselves are in need of brothers and sisters who preach to us, encourage us, correct us and offer us formation. Conversion is a daily task whose greatest danger is to take it for granted simply because one has been consecrated. Accompaniment and permanent formation are required, and they are just as important as initial formation or vocation promotion.
Ways of renewing the propositum Ordinis
We must deepen and become convinced of the call to live the Holy Preaching for the salvation of souls in the key of the Dominican Family. The richness of the Order lies precisely in the fact that, as several vocations with one same mission and charism, we are called to carry out this purpose of the Order in communion amid our diversity.
From my own experience in the accompaniment I offer, it is normally the case that a person’s first contact with the Church or with the Order comes through the “fishing” of our brothers or sisters of active life. However, when we work as a family, it becomes possible to refer these people to the contemplative sisters, who are called to live spiritual motherhood and who have the possibility of offering spiritual accompaniment, as so many examples throughout the history of the Church show.
In a society where loneliness ends up suffocating both the young and those who are not so young, I have witnessed the fruits that preaching as a family can bear, through mature, concrete and evangelical fraternal relationships. To project the propositum Ordinis beyond oneself enriches us — in the complementarity of men and women — motivates us — “they are counting on me” — and makes it more effective: “See how they love one another.”
— sr. Teresa de Jesús Cadarso, OP
