8/8/2013 – St Dominic – Thursday of 18th week in Ordinary Time – Psalm 95

       If today you hear his voice, harden not your hearts.  The people of Israel hardened their hearts and turned their backs on God, even though he had made a pact with God and made them his people.  Rather than singing joyfully to the Lord like the psalmist suggests, the people of Israel complained often and turned to other idols. 

         The saint today, St Dominic, was born in the late 12^th century in northern Spain. He founded the Order of Preachers, known today as the Dominicans.  Dominic saw that in his era many of the faithful had become complacent and had turned away from God and their faith.  This is so similar to what we see happening today, isn’t it?  Dominic wanted his order to bring people alive in their faith through their preaching of the Gospel.  The popularity of the rosary to this day can be traced back to Dominic and the way he encouraged the faithful to pray the rosary and to pray for the prayers and intercession of our Blessed Mother.

         If we are to open our hearts to God rather than harden them, we must have authentic conversion and renewal in our lives, we much place our trust in God and allow God’s graces to work in our lives.  God word must live in our hearts, but most importantly, He must live in our own words and in our actions.