THE TOP Franciscan in the Philippines told the faithful to carry out their vocations with “missionary fire” burning in their hearts as the Church celebrated the Feast of St. Dominic de Guzman, the founder of the Order of Preachers.
In his homily, Fr. Lino Gregorio Redoblado, O.F.M., minister provincial of the San Pedro Bautista Province, said St. Dominic should inspire Catholics to spread God’s word and mercy.
“Let us walk together with St. Dominic’s footsteps – the footsteps of fraternal life, the footsteps toward participation and respect for all people,” Redoblado said in his homily during Mass at the Sto. Domingo Church on Tuesday, Aug. 8. “In our mission, [we must be] filled with fire – a missionary fire – that must always burn in our hearts.”
Redoblado added that the Church, which is hoping to attain “synodality,” could take a page from St. Dominic’s leadership among the Dominicans.
“The [Dominicans] come together as a community with all their resources. They pray together. And communion is a necessary element in their preaching,” he said.
“We are to live in communion; the preaching of St. Dominic is a preaching of the merciful God and the loving mercy of God,” he added.
St. Dominic founded the mendicant Order of Preachers in 1215 in Toulouse, France.
The original Sto. Domingo Church in Intramuros served as the headquarters of Dominican missionaries after their arrival in 1587.
A new shrine was rebuilt in Quezon City in 1954, a decade after Intramuros was leveled by World War II. S.M.S. Balagan
