“We Are Not Used to Suffering”

Sowing with Faith in Times of Fragility: A Word from the Heart of the Chapter

The Power of Testimony in Preaching

Readers of these notes may be surprised that the chronicler dedicates so much space to the sermons preached during the Chapter.

This is because these commentaries on the Word are imbued with the life experience and Church experience of those who deliver them. And if the Chapter is a gathering of brothers from around the world, then through their words we can glimpse, if only for a moment, the world from which they come.

The Provincial of Canada, Brother Yves Bériault, began his sermon, as is often the case, with a story:

“I’d like to comment on God’s word by first recalling an event that happened to me when I was 29… I had undergone knee surgery. On my third night of hospitalization, while the pain was still acute, the nurse informed me that I was no longer entitled to the painkiller, since I was supposed to have exceeded the critical pain threshold. Compassionate in the face of my suffering, the nurse nonetheless agreed to give me a pass, and as she handed me my medication, she said: “It’s just that you’re not used to suffering.” I found her very wise, and I’ve always been convinced that [in this] I learned a great lesson about life. This lesson concerns us all.”

He immediately added:

“There’s a lot to be concerned about in some of our provinces and vicariates. The lack of priests, the scarcity of vocations, the closure of our churches and monasteries, the spiritual emptiness that seems to be gradually submerging our societies, the total lack of understanding of our Christian roots among the younger generations…

Because we’re not used to suffering like this for our Church, we run the risk of despairing, but the Lord says to us too: “Don’t be afraid”. Look how tiny the seed of the Kingdom is, cast into the earth, crushed and suffocated by the damp earth that covers it, plunged into total darkness, and yet, in due course, bursting forth and bearing fruit. This parable speaks to us not only of Christ and His life given, but also of our work in this world, which Jesus compares to that of a gardener.”

A Common Dominican Conviction

If the chronicler wanted to add anything to these words, he would simply have to paraphrase the preacher, trying to describe in his own words a similar experience of the Church, which is shrinking, or of work that does not bring the expected results. In the end, he would have to express the same belief, because he is also a Dominican, that:

“as disciples of Christ, we are asked to sow—to sow to the four winds, without doubting the power of our acts of love, and the power of that love to transform the world one heart at a time…”

A Day of Reflection and Commitment

The very rainy Monday was filled with work in committees and an evening meeting with representatives of Commissio Leonina, which is working on a critical edition of the works of St. Thomas Aquinas. The topic of yesterday’s visit to the former concentration camp in Auschwitz also came up repeatedly in conversations.

The Call to Radical Fidelity

“It’s about being good where God calls us to be good, charitable where God calls us to be charitable, patient, merciful, thirsty for justice, where God calls us… To do this, we need to listen to the Gospel, and hear through the cry of the poor and the little ones, the cry of God Himself.

It’s up to us, then, to cast the seed widely and not hesitate… As for its destination, its growth and its future, that belongs to the secret [ways of] God, and to His mysterious action at the heart of the life of the Church and of our world, He who never ceases to whisper in our ear: “Don’t be afraid. Trust that I am with you! Amen.”