Feast Day of St. Dominic: Speaking of Desire

"You arouse us so that praising you may bring us joy, because you have made us and drawn us to yourself, and our heart is unquiet until it rests in you." - St. Augustine, Confessions

Happy feast day, St. Dominic! Thank you for all your prayers, especially for those who have been called to the order you started with your friend and companion, St. Francis! You preached the Good News with such amazing fervor, and you shared the gift of the Most Holy Rosary with everyone! You desired God above all, and your great rule to live for Him alone has brought so many closer to Him! Keep us in your prayers, great Saint!

St. Dominic's rule, although technically from St. Paul's letter to the Galatians, is amazing, especially since it's incredibly challenging: "Speak only to God or of God". This is not only difficult in itself, but is especially difficult in the culture we live in today. Everyone loves to talk so much nowadays, and sometimes we can get nervous and anxious when we're not talking. We love to hear ourselves talk about even the most inane things, topics and ideas with no purpose. So often we desire only to listen to ourselves, to talk about everything and nothing at once, to blather on and on about worthless things.

This is not what we were made for! 

We were made to desire  only one thing: the love of God, the Most Holy Trinity. To hear the Father's Word, the Lord Jesus our Heavenly Bridegroom, in the grace, power, and understanding of the Holy Spirit. We were made to listen to He Who is talking to us constantly, trying to get all of our attention so we can hear His message of eternal life and love. In this culture, we focus so much on ourselves, maybe on others, but our desire is so often on the temporal and the imperfect. We talk about pointless things, trying to pass the time, but we have been made, most of all, to be in love with this God Who is Love Itself. Wouldn't you rather listen and talk to your Divine Lover rather than the things of the world?

In this relationship with our loving God, we have been commanded to go out and tell the whole world the Good News of His life, death, and resurrection, to shout out the truth of the Lord Jesus Christ Who gave Himself up for us. Therefore, our speech must be bent and bound to that command, to His holy will, ready to proclaim the love of God wherever we go. However, this won't be possible for us if we do not desire our Lord and His Word above all, if we don't desire to listen to Him above all! Our desire must be the chain around our speech, to "speak only to God and of God", for how else can we live for Him completely if we're focused on other things? 

In conclusion, let us, by the grace of God, dedicate ourselves, especially our speech, to desiring only our Beloved in Heaven, and to run and tell everyone of Him, not wasting time on pointless conversations and environments that might distract us from our command to shout His Gospel! Let us be completely in love with Him and tell the whole world in the fervor of the Spirit, just like St. Dominic did!

St. Dominic, St. Francis, and all of you holy men and women, please pray for us and for our speech!