Thought for the Day – 13 February
The Dominican preacher Jordan of Saxony was a man to contend with in the Europe of the thirteenth century. We are told (with some exaggeration perhaps) that mothers would hide their sons when they heard he was coming to town; and (probably with genuine accuracy) that universities feared losing their best professors to the pull of his eloquence.
Jordan had personal gifts and an energy that shook those whose lives he touched, leaving those with whom he came into contact somehow different. His words were a force that prompted men to think about the deeper things of their existence—and to desire what St. Paul called “the greater gifts” (cf. 1 Corinthians 12:31).
What could a man of the thirteenth century, even a very good man, have to offer us today? Ours is a fast-moving world, a far-advanced one in many ways. Would this European whose worldview was so far removed from our questioning and our efforts, discern what God is saying in our day?
Jordan of Saxony met an untimely death at the age of 47, drowning in an accident which occurred on his return from a pilgrimage to the Holy Land in 1237. In his vigorous life, Jordan extended what Father Dominic had begun so carefully and he opened avenues on which the Order would continue to struggle and to flourish. The secret that makes his message so relevant today? It is the secret of deep and personal friendship with Christ, a friendship which cannot be contained, but sets the world on fire! (Nashville Domicans)
And THIS is as relevant today as it was in the thirteenth century – even more so perhaps!
AnaStpaul 