FRIARS OF THE ORDER OF PREACHERS
GENERAL CHAPTER OF PROVINCIALS
Bogotá – 2007

MASS OF THE HOLY SPIRIT – HOMILY
By
Fr. Jose Gabriel Mesa Angulo, OP
Prior Provincial
Province of San Luis Bertrand, Colombia.

Texts: Hch. 2: 1-11; 1 Cor 12: 3b-7.12.-13; Jn. 20: 19-23.

Dear brothers and sisters in our Holy Father Dominic.

I would like to thank my brother Carlos, Master of the Order, for its special deference to the Province of San Luis Bertrand, Colombia, shown in the invitation he gave me to preside this Eucharist. I would like to confess that I have never been so afraid of having to preach! If you have not been able to sleep well these past nights because you are sleeping in a different bed, I, in spite of being sleeping in my own bed… I have also slept very little!

We invoke the Holy Spirit in a very special way this morning, as we begin this General Chapter. We beg God in a trusting and humble way to continue sending his Spirit over our Order so that, just like during Pentecost, the fruits of the preaching of the Gospel be verified in us. It is only with the help of the Spirit that we will be able to discern the presence of God in the life of the Order today, as well as in our own lives. The readings we have heard inspire in us to notice the presence of the Spirit in three aspects: the Word, Communion and Peace.

THE WORD

We listened how the Acts of the Apostles recreates the Pentecost event. The Holy Spirit made Himself manifest there by means of tongues of fire and in the abundance of languages. Since the beginning of this week, friars in this convent have been listening to many different languages. Do not be afraid, brothers; our guests are going through the same experience! In fact, when you are not able to understand them, think that they are telling you something good and you will see how communication will be born. The great miracle of Pentecost is the word listened in trust, which moves people to discover new challenges, new horizons. It is the Word of Truth that guides us to the fullness of Truth (Jn. 16:13).

We, Dominicans, have been acknowledged throughout history as teachers of the word; however, our first preaching consists on the testimony of silence that sustains the word. We learned this from our holy father Dominic since the beginning of our Order. We have come here not only to speak, but also to silently listen to whatever the Spirit wants to tell us through the Word of God and through the words of our brethren.

We have so many words to share during these days, as well as so much silence to create together! There are so many and so different voices… that we will have to listen to one another to discover the Spirit´s voice that comes to us from the farthest corners of the world and, maybe, from the saddest and more heart-breaking human situations that hurt our sensitivity as preachers of the Gospel.

And… talking about preachers…  let me tell you an anecdote: In the year 1992, after the closing of the General Chapter in Mexico, fr. Michel Van Aerde from the Toulouse Province—and whom many of you know—came by this house on his way back to Cuzco, Peru. While we were having supper in our dinning room, I asked him: “Besides electing and Englishman as Master of the Order, what else was new during the General Chapter?” –Michel answered me with a chuckle: “That we, Dominicans, must preach!”
So, my brothers, let us ask the Holy Spirit that we might be the Order of Preachers that today´s world needs; but let us ask Him first that his Word might be seeded in us and in the life of our communities.

COMMUNION

Saint Paul makes us think that when we get together to proclaim: “Jesus is Lord,” the Holy Spirit acts among us with stronger force. How wise has been the rule in which we have been born and which reminds us that the main purpose for our having come together as community is to live harmoniously in our house, intent upon God in oneness of mind and heart.

But… how can we build communion in our communities? How can we identify a common note that unites our various charisms? Probably, the most recent encounter of leaders of the Church in Latin America at Aparecida, Brazil, at the feet of Mary, can shed some light on this issue: first, we have to feel like and know that we are disciples in order to become missionaries and apostles. First we have to be disciples more than clerics or lay people.

Community life is a great challenge nowadays and even more so after the weakening of family structures in so many places around the world. This weakening has affected us not only regarding our vocations, but also on our understanding of family and fraternity and how we translate this to the way we live our conventual life. This weakening entails a risk of wanting to live in an impersonal way in which there is no room for solidarity. How much we have talked about compassion and mercy! How much about communion! But how much we still need them--but “Dominic´s style:” not as a discourse, but as a prophetic fact of our lives. Community life poses a challenge to us regarding vocations, formation of young friars, the care of the elderly, and even in the way in which we read our Constitutions, including our Fundamental Constitution.

This Chapter begins with the Eucharist and must revolve around the Eucharist, a profound sign of our communion with the Lord, lived in the Church. Throughout these days, let us allow the Spirit to make our hearts vibrate with solidarity and love for those we live in community with and for our family of preachers so that our hearts may burningly vibrate for the suffering People of God, for the poor, for the abandoned, for the immigrant, and for all victims of violence from the four corners around the world.

PEACE

The Gospel of John teaches us that the Risen Jesus, before sending the Holy Spirit over his disciples, gave them peace. Peace is the advanced promise of the life in the Spirit. Peace is happiness; it is salvation; it is a gift from God. Peace kisses justice; peace is similar to goodness. Peace is the great paradigm of humanity nowadays, but we have to pursuit it, not as the world gives it, but as Christ does.

That peace that the Risen Jesus gave was built upon the wounds on his hands and on his side. That is why He shows his wounds to his disciples. And it is for that same reason that the peace that Christ gives us is an experience that moves to the forgiveness of sins.

The Constitutions of the Order ask us, provincials, to verify if our brothers live in peace (L.C.O. 341, 2º). This is our competency! But, at times, it is necessary to allow wounds to be open in our hands and in our side in order to be able to build peace and unity in our communities. Let us not be afraid of pain, if with it we can give peace to others: the peace that the Lord gives.

Christ´s peace is not static or resigned; it is dynamic, it confronts the world, reconciles peoples, reconciles humanity with creation; for that reason, those who work for peace are blessed—and besides, those who strive to bring peace, get to the bottom of things.

I would like to ask all of us, in a respectful and simple way, to look for peace during these days, to go to the bottom of things and to allow our common dreams to surface, leaving aside small details. Time is brief… our remote preparation has been very long… some of you have come from so many far away places… let us allow our Order to see the fruit of our work!

My dear brothers and sisters, may this Chapter be a moment of grace and blessing from God to our Order and may we, as the Holy Virgin Mary,  be docile to the Spirit and live attentive to the Word of God, in an attitude of communion and of commitment to peace.

I commend this Chapter to our Lady of the Holy Rosary of Chiquinquira, Queen and Patroness of Colombia. May she look upon us with mercy and intercede for us before the Lord.

Amen.