Notes from the annual Magdalene Retreat: "Quo Vadis, America?" (July 2021)

The annual Magdalene Retreat that took place on July 17th, 2021, began with the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass offered by the Chapter's Religious Assistant, a Dominican priest.

Notes From the Homily During Holy Mass:

We gather for a special purpose as a Dominican family. Every year it is important for us to take time away from work and to spend time with the Lord in a retreat. That’s what we are doing today. It’s important to have a Mass at every retreat because the Mass is the offering of the perfect sacrifice: Our Lord, Jesus.

In the Gospel today, Jesus went healing all the people and then asked them to keep it secret. People sometimes find it odd or interesting that he would keep all this work secret. This is an important element for us to reflect on because it’s what we are meant to do as well.

When Jesus was baptized by John the Baptist a voice said “this is my beloved son” and the Holy Spirit descended upon Jesus. Each and every one of us has also been baptized, and in our baptism we now share the mission of Jesus to be prophets, priests, and kings. That means we share with Jesus that task of prophecy, priesthood and kingship. What does that mean? It might be a little different for each one of us.

We share as prophet when we witness, with our life, what God is doing in our lives.

We fulfill the duty of priesthood every time we offer up sacrifice and when we pray for someone.

Finally, as kings, it’s a servant kingship — anytime we serve and love others we are fulfilling that task of kingship.

How do we go about doing it? Jesus would tell his apostles: when you pray, go to your room and do it in secret, don’t do it like the hypocrites. Go to your room, lock the door, pray to your father in secret. He says the same thing about fasting and almsgiving. This is what we’re challenged to do; just as Jesus told others not to make known His works in public, that all should be done in secret.

This says a lot about Jesus and what we as Dominicans are challenged to do. The image that I like to think of is a light. What kind of light are we challenged to be? Here, the challenge is to be a candle light. It gives light but is not noticed, as opposed to being a strobe light which attracts your attention. Jesus was a candle light, not a strobe light.

We Dominicans have a saying: when you become a leader, you become a peacock. That means you become something special in the eyes of others. But then, we say, when you cease to be a leader you become a feather duster. 

Even if you are a peacock in a place of leadership, you should fulfill your task like you are a feather duster. You don’t need to let others know how good you are. We strive to be the candle-light, not the strobe light. We strive to be a feather duster, not the peacock. Jesus reminds us, that is what he is doing and we are called to that same reality.

Today’s gospel is speaking to each and every one of us. God is speaking to you: here is my servant who I have chosen, my loved one in whom I delight. On your baptism you were chosen by God to be a servant of God and you have been given a mission to care for others. We strive to do that using the model of Jesus as our perfect model. 'Learn from Me for I am meek and humble of heart.' That is something we strive to do every day.

Do everything with love, in a humble and gentle way. On this retreat, meditate on how you can live that out in your daily life.

After Mass, the first talk was given by Father.  The topic was 'Quo Vadis,America?' (Where are you going, America?)

Notes From Father's First Talk:

As Lay Dominicans, you live in the world.  It is important to ask yourselves, where is the world going?  The direction America is going is against Catholicism.  When the world goes against our Catholic faith, how are we to respond?

This priest has worked in college ministry for 10 years and shared his experience of working with youth on the university campus.  He identified the following as the prevailing trends he observed:

• The university has indoctrinated their students.  They pick and choose what narrative to teach, promoting certain things and completely excluding others.  The trend is to teach certain theories which the students are taught to embrace as truth and fact.
• There is a true desire in the students to learn and grow in their faith, however they are deeply influenced by various "isms," such as relativism and individualism.
• The American understanding of freedom is a freedom of indifference, an ability "to do whatever I want." This is a flawed understanding of freedom.  
• There is a distinction between freedom of religion and freedom to worship, but most don't know the difference.  We must be free to not only practice our religion in our churches, but to share our religion in the public sphere.
• The world used to say "I'm spiritual, not religious" but now it says "religion is irrelevant to my life."  The world says the only truth is what science offers.  The trend is that religion is irrational and only science is reasonable.
• Young people are ignorant of the basic fundamentals of the faith because they are moving away from what is supernatural to only what is natural.  They have no faith in what they cannot see and prove with natural science.
• People are becoming more individualistic which is heavily influenced by increased smartphone usage.  They pay more attention to a screen than to people.  As a result, they are losing their ability to communicate face-to-face and have almost no ability to deal with conflict.

How do we engage in dialogue with people?

Before you can engage in dialogue, you need to determine whether the person is even open to dialogue or not.  Some people are too closed off to even dialogue.  A good question to ask: "Is this person seeking, or do they already have an answer?"  If they believe they already have the answer, they are not going to listen to you.  However, if they have a "seeking attitude" then they will be much more open to hearing what you have to say. 

If they say "I feel this way" then they are not seeking the truth with reason.  There are actually reasonable methods to use to seek the truth, it's not something based on personal feelings.  Make sure when you begin a discussion that you are starting from the same place and you share the same methodology; that you are both on the same common ground.

Don't walk into a conversation with an attitude of "I have all the answers."

Before we can have a discussion with someone, we need to determine if there is trust in the relationship.  Does he trust me enough to listen to me?  Do I trust this person?  Before discussion or dialogue, trust must be built.  Build a trusting relationship before you engage.  You can build trust by showing that you are listening to the and valuing what they are saying.

Move the discussion gently, humbly, and in a positive direction.  Frustration and anger are not helpful.

Ask them questions to get a sense of where they are at, then you will understand them better and have common ground to start on.  For example, if someone asks you "Why can't women be priests?"  It would be a good idea to ask them, "What is a priest?"  They might not even know the role or duties of a priest, they may have a completely flawed understanding of the priesthood.  Find your common foundation first. 

First, listen well so you can get to that point of understanding.  Then you can recognize the barriers that need to be overcome.  

Our tendency is to want to very bluntly tell people that they are wrong, but this shuts down the conversation.  Ask yourself, "what is the purpose of this conversation?"  Is the purpose to tell them they are wrong, or are we trying to engage in a deep conversation?

Science and Faith 

We need to help the younger generation understand that there can be dialogue between scientists and theologians.  Don't let them hear only one narrative.

Philosophers understand "matter" differently from how scientists understand "matter."  Science reduces things to their material cause only.  There is more than material existence; there are more causes.  You need philosophy and theology in addition to science. Can you put a chair in a test tube and determine its purpose? Most people today aren't taught philosophy or logic.

Our faith puts no opposition between science or religion.  It is the world that makes them enemies.  Science and faith are not opposed to each other; rather, they are different perspectives.  Science is the "how?" while faith is the "why?"  Scripture is not opposed to our understanding of science.

Next, our Prior gave a talk on the same topic, Quo Vadis America? Here are a few of the random notes that I wrote down from the discussions that took place after his talk:

• When you deny Truth, you deny Christ Himself 
• Recognize the truth.  Be ready to speak the truth. 
• Be prepared to give a reason for your faith. 
• Preach.  Preach well.  Get crazy good at preaching.  Preaching can change the world. 
• The difference between preaching and preaching well is humility. 
• Counteract the lies being pushed with the truth. 
• The world teaches many lies, we must relentlessly expose the truth. 
• We can talk about the truth in a respectful manner with anyone we come in contact with. 
• People always have a reason to believe what they believe, but often it is a bad reason.  Use the Socratic Method.  Through questioning, expose the lie. 
• Expose "facts" for the opinions that they actually are. 
• We can find others who speak the truth effectively and support them. 
• Some people cling so tightly to their ideology -- to their feelings -- that even when presented with truth they won't accept it. 
• Each individual must honor truth and reason.  This is what will change America, not the political process.

Father's Final Wrap Up

• Catherine of Siena was a lay woman who loved the Church at a time when the Church was falling apart.  She loved the Pope even though he was in Avignon.  She called the Church back to holiness.

• "The Church" isn't just a building or the magisterium; the Church is the people of God.  The Church is a body of members; a community.  We need to live out what it means to be the Church. Dominican spirituality emphasizes community.  It is one of the pillars of Dominican life. Dominicans shares a vision, they share prayer, they share recreation -- the whole community shares the same mission.  All Dominicans enter into a continuous community.  What are the needs of the Church and how can we meet those needs?