Hope on a Monday: The Chapter Begins Its Mission

Liturgical Foundation of the Week

After Sunday, inevitably and irrevocably, comes Monday. And although the structure of the week is well known to us, let’s admit it—it always holds a trace of surprise.

The General Chapter is no exception to this relentless rule, established long ago without our consent. The first Monday in Krakow is the first day filled to the brim with meetings and conversations.

But before the brothers begin any discussions, before they gather in rooms and attempt to overcome the challenges of Monday and the weather—summer is in full swing in Krakow and the sun makes itself clearly known—they first gather to listen.

Each day of the Chapter begins not with deliberations, not even with coffee or breakfast, but with liturgy. It is the liturgy that gathers and binds the community.

A Call to Preach

Today’s preacher, the Spanish provincial br. Jesús Antonio Díaz Sariego, reminded us of the need to go out and proclaim the Gospel wherever today’s Nineveh may be. Commenting on the Gospel, he asked:

“As an Order of Preachers, what should we do to go to the world from the heart of the Church? How can we invite it to know God and his Good News? How does our life commitment represent, incarnate, the dynamism and the virtues and values of the Gospel? Undoubtedly, in many General Chapters we have kept all of this very much in mind. We have not forgotten it; but, perhaps, we should recover it with more force and conviction from the experience of Jonah. We cannot overcome our wounds, our ruptures, our adulteries in the heart, our small or great perversions, if we have not first lived the experience of forgiveness and the mercy of God in our inner self.”

Later, the brothers discussed the mission ad gentes—that is, directed toward those who have not yet heard of Christ—as well as the mission to those who already know Him but remain on the way, in need of further accompaniment and encouragement.

Reconciliation as Prophetic Witness

In this context of dialogue, questions, and doubt, the preacher’s closing words remain especially powerful and moving:

“In the measure in which we have reconciled what is separated and confronted; in the measure in which we have succeeded in bringing closer what is distant and separated; in the measure in which we have succeeded in uniting the unknown and bringing closer what is more alien to us. In that same measure we will have succeeded in widening the walls of the Church and we will have succeeded, as an Order of Preachers, in preaching in accordance with the signs of our times, not very distant in the fundamentals from the experience described in the culture of the Ninevites, the culture in which the prophet Jonah is called to preach. As preachers, we must not give up in this endeavor: to succeed in building bridges between differences, to help reconcile what is at odds and, to integrate, with God’s wisdom, as a prophetic sign, the reconciled differences.”

Trusting Again

Perhaps our reluctance to preach in places where we do not expect fruit stems from our disappointment—with the world, with people, and maybe even with God.

Yet as Dominicans, we are called to trust once more in the greatness of God’s mercy and in the infinite power of the One who sends us to go and proclaim.

The Chapter is a sign of hope in the face of widespread hopelessness. It is letting the voice of God resound in every one of our Jonahs.
This is evidence that even Monday can bring positive surprises and be a sign of God’s presence.