A FRANCISCAN urged the faithful to “walk the talk” of what they preach as the Church celebrated the Feast of St. Dominic de Guzman, the founder of the Order of Preachers.
In his homily, Fr. Bernardo Lanuza, O.F.M., rector of the Basilica Minore de San Pedro Bautista in Quezon City, said walking the talk means not only preaching the truth but also defending it.
“Dominic and his companions had to live their lives according to what they preached. We walk the talk,” Lanuza said in his homily during Mass on Thursday, Aug. 8, at the Sto. Domingo Church.
“It is not only in living what we preach but in our zeal to defend the truth of the Church against the dictatorship of relativism and the triumph of post-truth religiosity.”
Lanuza also warned that the effectiveness of today’s preaching has been trumped by the emergence of social media.
“Our effectiveness as preachers of grace is now measured by how many Likes we have on TikTok, YouTube, and Instagram, and how many Stars we receive that we can monetize for our earnings,” he said. “We preach not Christ, but ourselves, our images, and our popularity. Truth is eclipsed by popularity and consumerism.”
Still, the virtue of Christian liberty also means not forcing people to follow the word of God, he said.
Lanuza cited the stance of the Catholic Bishops’ Conference of the Philippines, saying they could “only propose but never impose” on the issue of civil divorce as the Church is not in a position to “dictate.”
“Let us remember that in our zeal, let us not force people to believe in the good news,” he said.
“Love of Christ is never forced. It is a voluntary response to the grace being offered by faith in Christ. Let us become not only preachers but healers of division,” Lanuza added.
The Mass was concelebrated by Fr. Lino Gregorio Redoblado, O.F.M., minister provincial of San Pedro Bautista Province of the Franciscans.
St. Dominic founded the Dominican Order in 1215 at Toulouse, France, which the Vatican approved a year later.
The original Sto. Domingo Church in Intramuros served as the headquarters of Dominican missionaries after their arrival in 1587. Reya Vincent Misa with reports from Vince Alfred Pillagara
