Preachers of the Word:
so that the world doesn’t miss out on the Gospel!
Dear Young People,
It is with great joy that I send greetings to all the participants and organisers of the 6th International Meeting of the Dominican Youth Movement which takes place in Sassone (RM) from the 20th to the 27th August 2000.
The theme which you have chosen for this meeting makes us think not only about your identity as preachers, but also about your common mission. We are preachers of the Word of Life, come down to Earth to save the world; and the idea that someone might not know of this Word should stimulate us to accept a deeper, more focussed commitment. Just as St. Dominic, to use St. Catherine of Siena’s expression, "took up the Word as his profession", we are called to preach, with passion, the Word that saves, to preach the "Word of Life" that is the base of our communion and our mission. Be conscious of your mission: the Gospel will not be absent in the world as long as your lives are the Gospel in places where others can recognise the great things which God has done and continues to do among his people.
The Youth Movement is now a vibrant and significant reality in the Dominican Family. The Chapter of Bologna defined it as a sign of the Spirit that acts in our time. It represents the youth of the order. Bring vitality and freshness to our communities; look after and bear witness to your belonging to Christ. The Order is proud of you!
In his first letter, St. Peter exhorted the Christians to manifest the hope that they felt. In today’s world, filled with tempting alternatives that offer an easier way, may your preaching be the hope and may your determination be the merciful face of Christ. Be the sign of a new humanity that does things with passion and joy, in the certainty that God loves and invites every person to join Him in His Kingdom. As Fr. René Bouchet OP said in a homily: It is worth giving one’s own life to announce to one’s fellow man things other than the rumours of war, the fruits of hatred, the laws of indifference and the price of money. It is worth losing one’s life to announce to the poor that they are loved, to those that cry that they will be comforted, to the pure of heart that they will see God and to everyone that they should not fear. This Word is born in those who must become centres of passion, sanctuaries of compassion.
This is how Dominic wished it from the start: he knew no peace until he found some brothers, not to swell the ranks, but to live with them and experience with them all the ways of the Word that he must preach. It is by becoming the bearer of the Good News that he has attracted, and continues to attract, men and women who follow in his footsteps and cannot bear the idea of going towards the City of God without sharing with their own brothers and sisters and with all mankind the joy that has been given to them.
That every man and woman be saved, that each man and each woman be saved, this is our passion, our prayer and our duty… (Jean-René Bouchet OP, 12.IX.1987)
Be witnesses, for all those around you, of this optimism which gives you new life and of which you are the privileged bearers. Only in this way will you be salt of the earth and light of the world, called like Dominic to preach the Word of Life.
Our participation in a great and dedicated mission, made up of successes and failures, but comforted by the presence of He who has said "I will be with you until the end of the world", should stimulate us for a continuous inner journey, capable of taking us to depths where we are needed.
Once again my most sincere good wish that these days might be full of great and true fraternity, but especially the ability to come to the heart of things, and discover their value
Your Brother,
22 of July 2000.
S. María Magdalena.
Prot. No. 50/00/1,171 LMO