Tough times! Scandals in the Church. A society consumed with greed and a shameless pursuit of money and material prosperity. Many sincere Catholics demoralized and falling away. On the political scene, chaos…confusion… disgraceful ambition, factions, and incessant fighting. And looming in the East, the threat of Radical Islam. Certainly “the worst of times”… 800 long years ago!

Seems like history is repeating itself! Like our 21st century, the 13th dawned, not brightly but darkly. Yet for those who know their history, the 1200’s AD are remembered as one of the greatest eras in the life of the Church. The transformation from the darkness and confusion of its early years to the glory and light for which the century is remembered is worth considering as we “go about our Father’s business” in our own trying times. Perhaps we can learn from their example how more effectively to preach the good news of Jesus Christ? In the early 13th century the “turnaround” had much to do with the lives and service of two men…and a fine and regal lady.

New ways of preaching The Good News
With ignorance at a premium and heresies rampant, Dominic Guzman, a priest of Spain, responded by founding the Order of Preachers—a band of itinerant preachers, beggars, and brothers. His spiritual sons set out… “mendicants marching” across the continent, teaching the ignorant, forming future priests, and laying the foundations for the cathedral schools which eventually grew into the great Universities of Medieval Europe. Towering intellects of the age… St. Albert the Great and St. Thomas Aquinas came to be known as “Dominicans” in the new order named for its founder, St. Dominic.

In Italy, Francesco Bernadone, the spoiled son of a wealthy cloth merchant, heeded the command of Jesus Christ, who spoke to him from a crucifix in the chapel of San Damiano… “Francis, rebuild My Church, which as you see is falling into ruins.” With his “fratres minores”… his poor little brothers of Assisi, Francis was permitted by Pope Innocent III to preach the Gospel, not merely with persuasive and wise argumentation, but with holy poverty and simplicity of life.

Essential to the mission of Francis and his brothers was the collaboration and support of noblewoman Chiara Offreduccio (also known as St. Clare) and her Poor Ladies… “Poor Clares,” contemplative nuns, quietly cloistered and praying in support of the mission. The “Franciscans” swiftly spread throughout Europe, and after years of effort, and two failed attempts, Francis eventually realized his dream—traveling into the heart of Islam and preaching the Gospel of Jesus even to the Sultan of Egypt.

Evangelization and Adaptation
The challenges posed by an evolving society and by crises and confusion in the Church in the early 1200’s made it clear to Francis and Dominic (and other true reformers) that a radically different approach to preaching Jesus … a “new evangelization” was necessary. Again, in its essence, the New Evangelization in any age is the Church’s endeavor to engage a culture more effectively, with greater ardor, clearer expression, and a more systematic methodology, bringing people into an experience of Truth, Goodness, and Beauty… and ultimately, an intimate and Holy Communion with Jesus Christ.

Recognizing the signs of their times, Francis and Dominic adapted the manner in which they preached the Gospel to their audiences. Like Jesus Christ, they became poor for the poor (and for the rich!) Dominic focused on intellectual formation and education. He and his followers conceived and composed over time a magnificent synthesis of Faith and Reason.

Francis’ vision was to imitate Jesus’ way of living to an extraordinary degree—to “incarnate” our Lord’s presence so completely that centuries later, Pope Pius XI would write, “it would appear that in no one has the image of Christ our Lord, and the ideal of the Gospel life, been more faithfully (and strikingly) expressed than in Francis….because he appeared like Christ reborn to his contemporaries…”

Within a single generation of Francis and Dominic’s embarking on their respective “adventures” the tide had turned. The “High Gothic Age” and its glories of art and architecture imaged the spiritual transformation of so many souls in the Church; the Light shone even more brightly in the darkness that could not overcome it. A little “leaven” goes a long way! (MT 13:33)

Ever Ancient, Ever New
Although the Gospel itself does not change, in every age of crisis or challenge, with the guidance of Holy Mother Church, we must consider how most effectively to engage our brothers and sisters with the Gospel message.

In our age we too must adapt our proclamation of the Gospel. Given the particular challenges of our times, we must begin and end with the story of Jesus Christ in the Gospels. We must be “joyful heralds” of the Great King. We must practice and incarnate what we preach! There must be a liturgical/spiritual component to our methodology. We should be family/parish centered – providing parents with the means; 1) to grow in an intimate relationship with Jesus, 2) to catechize their own children, and 3) to work with their pastor to make their parish the ecclesial family it is meant to be. Perhaps the “turnaround” in our generation will be as swift as the reform spearheaded by Dominic, Francis, Clare… and their sisters and brothers who walked and prayed and preached with them those 800 years ago?

Certainly Blessed Pope Paul VI had Francis and Dominic in mind when he challenged us; “Our contemporaries listen more willingly to witnesses than to teachers, and if they do listen to teachers, it is because they are witnesses”. By God’s grace, in our times may we be the witnesses we are called to be!