In this Jubilee Year of the Order, a profitable Christmas reflection might be to look at how God worked in the life of our Blessed Mother, and see in our holy Father Dominic the shadow that follows Mary’s every move. As she was a model for him, she is today the pattern on which we would best model our lives.

The following is the Christmas Chapter Homily by our Sister Mary of the Sacred Heart, O.P.

Mary had been prepared for the moment of the Annunciation by years of reading the Scriptures, filling her mind and heart with the words of God, letting these words plow, water and enrich her heart to become the perfect soil for the Seed, the very Word of God. When the angel came to Mary she was prepared, she was completely open to the will of God in her life, no matter how fantastic the message might sound – and fantastic is putting it mildly.

Dominic too, spent years as a Canon Regular pondering the words of Sacred Scripture. He ruminated on them and let them turn over the soil of his heart and water it with grace, thus, all unknown to him, preparing his heart to receive the seed of a new Order in the Church. When in 1206 the sign from God came to him, he was open and prepared to nurture the tiny seed which would in time grow to worldwide proportions.

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Scripture does not tell us exactly what Mary was doing at the moment that the Angel came to her, but tradition has it that she was deep in prayer, pleading with the Father for the coming of the Messiah. She was asking what she could do to help. Some writers tell us that she had a wild dream that she might be the humble servant of the woman who would be chosen as the mother of the Messiah. Whatever God might ask of her would be fine, she simply offered herself for anything He might ask.

History does tell us that Dominic was at prayer when he received his messenger from the Lord. He had been wrestling with the problem of what God might be asking of him. There were nine young women of the local country who had been raised by zealous Catharist leaders. These women were fervent and eager to serve the Lord. But since Dominic’s preaching had brought about their conversion, they were in danger. To send them back to their homes would put them once again in the hotbed of heresy. This was unwise, but the culture of the time did not allow young women to live alone. Dominic needed to bring them into a community where they would have his direction for the maturing and development of their faith. But how could this be done? He had no building to use and no money to purchase one. As always he turned to prayer with his problem. He walked to the outskirts of Fanjeaux, the little town where he was staying, and prayed in the evening twilight. It was at that moment that he saw the ball of fire descend on the neighboring village of Prouilhe, where there was a chapel dedicated to Our Lady. Was this the answer to his prayer?

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We are told that the Holy Spirit came upon Mary and therefore the Child to be born of her would be holy – in fact THE Holy One. It was only the Holy Spirit that could bring about such an unbelievable miracle. But Mary trusted that God can do it and that He would give her the strength and courage to carry out the task He set before her.

At the Seignadou the Holy Spirit also came to Dominic, and the Order he conceived was and is holy. True, each and every member of that Order may not have achieved sainthood, in fact we are in varying degrees of holiness (or lack thereof), but the Order itself is holy, and therefore living in the Order and being faithful to its Rule and Constitutions will bring one to the high degree of holiness that God has prepared for him/her.

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At Nazareth the Angel reminded Mary of the words of Genesis, "nothing is impossible for God". Elizabeth was beyond the years of child bearing. It could not be that she, in her old age, would conceive and have a son. But Mary believed.

Nor did it seem possible to found a new Order at the time of Dominic. The Church had just made a law that no new Religious Rules would be approved. But our holy founder believed in the guidance of the Holy Spirit and was inspired to adopt the ancient Rule of St. Augustine. And therefore his Order was approved.

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A trip to visit her cousin was Mary’s response to the news the Angel had given her. Elizabeth needed help during her pregnancy and Mary was young enough to be just what she needed. And besides, they needed to be together to join their voices in praise of the wonderful mercy and goodness of God the all powerful Creator.

Dominic, too, traveled to help others. His missionary journeys and his preaching helped many souls to grow into God’s plan for them. He also visited his nuns. They needed much help and guidance in establishing a new community and the Holy Spirit worked through Dominic in drawing up a plan for the way of life they would follow. But most important, the nuns and their dear founder needed to be together to praise the wonder of God’s omnipotence and love in bringing about this new creation.

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The time came for her to be delivered – that time was the dead of winter – the world was cold – cold in temperature, cold in fervor. But Mary warmed her Child with her own body warmth and her own love.

Dominic also brought forth his Order in the dead of winter. On Dec 22 he received the bull from the Holy see proclaiming the birth of the Order of Preachers. Again the world was cold, because of the weather and because of the lack of fervor and truth. But the fire of love in Dominic’s heart was enough to enliven not only the Order he brought forth, but also all those to whom he preached.

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She wrapped the Child in swaddling clothes and laid Him in a manger. Swaddling clothes were not the garments of growing children, but the way to protect a newborn. Later the mother would make little tunics for Him to wear, but for now these temporary bands would protect His tiny body and strengthen His limbs.

When the new Order was brought forth, Dominic had to wrap it first in bonds of customs which he largely borrowed from existing orders. Later, after they had grown a bit and experienced life as a community, he would fashion for them a proper Constitution to cover all their needs.

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Twelve hundred years elapsed between the Annunciation of the Angel to Mary and the Seignadou to Dominic, and these events were similar in many ways. Now another 800 years have flown by and we in the 21^st century, the children of Mary and of Dominic, are following the example and carrying on the tradition of these great models of openness to God’s word. We have been spending years in hearing, reading, and pondering the Scriptures. Have they prepared our hearts to be open to whatever God might choose to do in or with us? Are we faithful to the hours of private prayer which are dedicated not only to speaking to God but more important, to listening to Him? We believe that in contemplative prayer God stirs up our souls, gives us peace at times, and deeply disturbs us at other times. Do we yield to this ploughing and watering? How does it make us really open and eager to carry out whatever He reveals as His will in our lives?

We too, can be holy ones of God. This is not presumptuous. To be holy means to be set apart for the work of God. We are each set apart for Him first by our Baptism and then by our religious Profession, therefore we ARE holy.

We are brought together by our religious Profession in Dominic’s Order. Together we can give to God the praise and thanksgiving which is due to Him, by singing and praying together in our worship and our service of one another.

Again today the world is cold. Can we help to bring Jesus to birth in our lives? in the world? This Christmas let us pray for real openness to whatever God might ask in our lives, whether it be small, insignificant things, or great new works. And let us trust that He will give us the strength and courage to help bring His word into the world anew in these years of Jubilee.