The letter seems very inspiring to me. The theme of fishers and shepherds is wonderful, and above all the reflection it offers on the images of the fisher, the shepherd and the “Domini canes,” like sheepdogs.
What could be explored more deeply?
First, I think it would be good to begin from the fact that we are in the midst of the world, and the things that afflict the world are things that we also experience. I think personally, for example, that priests, whether diocesan or religious — and women religious as well — sometimes think that “it is others who suffer,” as though we were immune. But the reality is that in our communities, or even in ourselves, we also encounter difficulties such as anxiety, depression, crises of meaning, panic attacks, affective immaturity, resistance to silence, the reduction of mission to activism, little cultivation of the interior life, the selfishness that leads us to close ourselves off within our own positions, cancel culture, and so on.
Perhaps, when examining ourselves in view of Pentecost 2033, we cannot forget that the salvation of souls is not a purpose directed only toward those outside. We must also make every effort so that the message of salvation may impact the life of the Dominican himself, impelling him toward a holy life that becomes visible in the different dimensions of his personal, family and community history.
Second, another important point is to recover a commitment to the family. Along with young people, we cannot forget that they live within a concrete environment. The same is true of consecrated persons and priests: although through religious profession and ordination we certainly enter a new reality, we are not entirely separated from our home. That too is an environment of preaching and of living out preaching. In a particular way, I think mention should be made of the lay fraternities and permanent deacons who form part of the Dominican Family.
In the field of youth ministry, it is also important to discover young people’s longing for a love that does not disappoint and their thirst — even if they sometimes do not realize it — to live in reality rather than in the simulation of the virtual world.
Third, when the section on the parish is discussed, it is clearly oriented toward the friars. But perhaps a brief reflection could be added there on how Dominicanism itself is flourishing in these settings through the Priestly Fraternities. The Order has enriched the lives of many diocesan priests, and in recent years we have seen an increase in the number of those who embrace this way of life rooted in Dominican spirituality. Sometimes, even without a campaign to promote them, we see how the charism of St. Dominic attracts many priests — not in order to become friars, but in order to live their own vocation in a Dominican style.
As diocesan priests, we discover a richness that helps us in our journey within the parishes. We do not merely place an image of St. Dominic in our parishes; we also seek to be steeped in his way of life, knowing that he began as one of us. I am thinking not only of his time in Osma, but also, for example, of the 10 years he spent alone in southern France before the Order was properly born. Already there, the desire within his heart was being formed and was beginning to take its first steps.
Fourth, it would also be interesting to consider how our diocesan identity becomes a contribution to the Order. It is not only about what the Order gives me, but also about what I can contribute from my own reality. All members of the Dominican Family live in a concrete diocese. How does this also shape the way Dominicanism is lived?
Each diocese has a particular accent in which the Holy Spirit is at work. When a friar or a sister is transferred, for example, they must also learn a new language. Synodality and the spirituality of communion impel us to dialogue with those with whom we “play at home.” Itinerancy, for example, is lived in a different way, and after a long time in one place, one begins to know life in another way.
I think this can help us not to see the diocese simply as a place where one arrives and where there is a clergy and a bishop to whom one is a stranger. Rather, it is also a place where the Holy Spirit is already acting, and where one seeks to work in communion in order to walk together, accompany the People of God together and carry out mission among those who are distant or who do not yet know the Lord.
Finally, I find it interesting, for example, to consider the relationship that exists in our particular case, the Province of St. Louis Bertrand, with brothers from other countries. We are together with El Salvador, Aruba, Venezuela and Colombia, and also with the friars. Little by little, we see how much we can learn from one another, how much we can walk together as brothers and feel ourselves members of one family. Something similar is true with the sisters.
For us, the contribution of permanent deacons and their family reality has also been enriching. The world is seen from another dimension.
