Monday, August 8, 2016 Feast of Saint Dominic

Philippians, Chapter 1, Verse 12-14

¹² I want you to know, brothers, that my situation has turned out rather to advance the gospel, ¹³so that my imprisonment has become well known in Christ throughout the whole praetorium^* and to all the rest, ¹⁴ and so that the majority of the brothers, having taken encouragement in the Lord from my imprisonment, dare more than ever to proclaim the word fearlessly.

Christ is preached fearlessly by those who have known Him. You cannot preach Christ unless you know Him. Paul was always a warrior and as such he sought as Saul, before he met Christ, to kill any who got in the way of his purpose and then when Saul met Christ and became Paul; he discovered to live is Christ. To the warrior his purpose is to serve his king.

The power of Purpose[1]

Paul was a leader who never drifted from his mission. George Washington Carver wrote: “No individual has any right to come into the world and go out of it without leaving behind him distinct and legitimate reasons for having passed through it.” Paul purpose kept him in the battle even in prison. Consider the following:

1. A purpose will motivate you.

2. A purpose will keep your priorities straight.

3. A purpose will develop your potential.

4. A purpose will give you power to live in the present.

5. A purpose will help you evaluate your progress.

Saint Dominic[2]

St. Dominic had for many years preached against the errors of the Albigenses and other heretics, with such zeal and profound ability that they were often convinced. But nevertheless the results were unimportant; but few returned to the bosom of the Catholic Church. In this discouraging state of things St. Dominic redoubled his prayers and works of penance, and in particular besought Mary for support and assistance. One day Mary appeared to him and taught him the Rosary. He zealously labored to introduce everywhere this manner of prayer, and from that time preached with such success that in a short period more than one hundred thousand heretics and sinners were converted. The divine origin of the Rosary is testified to by the bull of Gregory XIII. of the year 1577.