Heart to Heart

JMJDFC

Program - number 1

Welcome to the inaugural broadcast of, "Heart to Heart." My name is Dorothy Covey, TOP and I will be the hostess for this program. While the TOP may spell "top," it stands for Tertiary of the Order of Preachers. It means that I'm a member of the Dominican Family; a daughter of St. Dominic.

Many Catholic parishes are served by priests who are trained at the local seminary for their diocese. Some parishes are served by priests who are trained by an Order or community or congregation. There are Augustinians, Benedictines, Carmelites, Dominicans and Franciscans; Jesuits, Marianists and Oblates to name a few. Each of these groups have their own special way of following the call of Christ in their lives. For example, Franciscans are known for prayer and poverty; Dominicans are known for prayer and the pursuit of truth.

Of the Orders, the Priests are the First Order; the cloistered nuns who live in a Monastery, are the Second Order. The Third Order or Tertiaries are split into two branches: Third Order Religious and Third Order Laity. You may know the Religious as Sisters who live in community and work as nurses, teachers, maintain retreat houses and things of that nature. (By the way, ONLY those who live a cloistered life can truly be called NUNS, the others are SISTERS.) The laity are those of us who live in the world; married or single who wish to live a life dedicated to the Lord.

As I told you earlier, I am a Third Order Dominican. A lay woman, married for nineteen years, with four children, three of whom are teenagers. My day job is serving as a firefighter for the city of Philadelphia - I've been doing that for over eleven years. In addition to these blessings, I have had the privilege of serving my Dominican Chapter as Prioress for two terms. Also, I serve on the Regional and Provincial Councils for the Dominican Family and I am the contact person for private tertiaries within St. Joseph's Province. If any of you are involved with the Internet, write to us and we'll send you our site address.

Now, another great blessing has been given me. The request that I share with you the fruits of my prayer and study. With the help of God's grace, I will do my best to help you grow in your own understanding of the things of God. Please know, first and foremost, that God loves you and wants you to learn the truth. As in all things dealing with the Spiritual life, it is not perfection, but the attempt at perfection that makes one holy. If we live our lives trying to do God's Will, even if we don't always succeed, God is pleased. Together, you and I will explore these things of God and grow in our love for, and service of, the One Who created us.

From time to time, there will be guests joining us to discuss the issues that you find close to your heart (always from the Dominican point of view). Today in the studio with us is Father Michael Leo Novacki, OP, and Joe Veltri, TOP. Father Novacki is a Dominican Friar who is in residence at Holy Name of Jesus Church in Philadelphia. Joe, besides being a Dominican Tertiary, is also on the staff of, "My Jesus Mercy." Welcome to both of you and thanks for your support.

If there is a question that you would like discussed on this show, write to us at: Heart to Heart, P. O. Box 11431, Philadelphia, PA 19111. Or call us at: (215) 743-8332. This information will be repeated again, later in the program.

Another thought you could keep in mind, if you are not already a Dominican, is that you too may become a Dominican, if the Lord calls you. There will be a future show dedicated to sharing the necessary information with you. For those who are Dominicans, and receive the "Torch-lites" you may recognize the title, "Heart to Heart." That's because it's the name of the column that the Holy Spirit writes for me in that quarterly publication.

If you have any questions beyond this information as to why I am presenting the material in this program, please feel free to write to us or call us. Be sure to include your return address and phone number if you would like a personal response.

To be a Dominican is to follow in the footsteps of St. Dominic: to live our lives based on the example of his life. So now let's learn something about St. Dominic himself. St. Dominic lived in a time when pictures were not taken with camera's. The only description we have of him comes from one of his first daughters, Blessed Cecilia who tells us:

"He was thin and of middle height. His face was handsome and somewhat fair. He had reddish hair and beard and beautiful eyes. From his forehead and eyes shown a sort of radiance which drew everyone to respect and love him. He was always cheerful and alert, except when he was moved to compassion at the sight of someone's troubles. His hands were long and fine and his voice pleasingly resonant. He never got bold, though he wore the full tonsure, which was mingled with a few gray hairs."

This is a word picture of our first Master of the Order, and it is really the best. When his body was transferred from one tomb to another, a physical exam of the remains, proved Cecilia's description to be accurate. You see, the early followers of Dominic felt that too much popular devotion to him might hinder the mission he had entrusted to them, so they didn't worry too much about the details surrounding his physical appearance. They did record details for us about the spiritual life and attitudes of St. Dominic. It is in following these guidelines that we find a sure path to God, our heavenly Father.

Blessed Cecilia tells us that he was cheerful. I'm sure that just as we sometimes feel down or have a bad day, St. Dominic did also. But the difference comes in how we deal with that bad day. Do we feel sorry for ourselves and tell all those around us about our troubles? There were times, when the Dominican Order was just starting, that Dominic didn't have any bread to feed the men and women who had joined him. His love and trust in God led him to call his small group together and pray the prayer before meals. The trust St. Dominic had in God was rewarded by bread being served by the Angels. If we want to follow Dominic, we must turn all our troubles over to the Lord, realizing that He knows what is best for our salvation.

We are also told that St. Dominic spoke only with God or about God. Even when carrying on with the day to day activities of life, St. Dominic kept his mind focused on God. All his actions were rooted in his love for God and his desire to serve his Lord. For us, the morning offering is a start on this path of giving every action of our day to God. When we offer Him all our prayers, works and sufferings, we follow the example of St. Dominic.

Perfection in making these offerings is not what is important, it's in the trying. Once we start giving these things to God, even if we only remember one time out of twenty, God will reward us with grace. As time goes on, we will find that we remember more times than we forget

This brings out a very important point. For Dominicans, all things must begin in prayer. We give to others the fruits of our contemplation. Now I know you're thinking that contemplation is too far over your head. In reality, contemplation is a gift that comes from God and we know that God wants to share all His gifts with us. We can prepare ourselves for this gift of God if we set some time aside each day to just sit and be present with Him. It doesn't take a lot of fancy words or a long outpouring of words, it just takes being quite and an openness to listen to Him. Not really with the ears on the side of your head, but with the ears of your heart.

Take fifteen minutes each day, if you can: Go to a quiet place in your home and sit before the Lord. Tell Him your needs then, sit with your eyes closed and quietly call His name deep within your soul, not with verbal words, with words from your heart. While you may not "hear" anything, you may notice a tingling in your hands or maybe a heaviness. This is your cue that you are before the Lord Spiritually. Then just wait upon the Lord, as the Scriptures tell us and before you know it, you'll see the fruits of your prayer.

Maybe, after a little while, you'll notice that you don't get as angry as quickly with other people. Perhaps someday you'll answer a question for someone that you didn't even know you had the answer to; or maybe, your just start to love this quiet time alone with your Beloved. These things are signs that your prayer time is being well spent, not a waste of time as some would have you believe. Trust in God, prepare yourself and allow the Lord to do the rest. He won't let you down.

We have a few prayer requests: the first one is from Mrs. Hockel, a teacher at St. Martin of Tours in Phila., who would like prayers for her husband. Another is from Dominic Recchuiti, a lay Dominican who is undergoing some medical tests. Also, let's keep each other in prayer as well.

The song used for the opening of today's program is taken from the prayer, "O Lumen" which means, "O Light." It refers to St. Dominic being the light to guide his children. The words of the prayer were set to music by David Covey. He also plays the bass guitar with Brian Klock on the acoustic guitar, with Greg Hazard singing.

If there are any questions or issues that you would like discussed on this show, write to us at: Heart to Heart, P. O. Box 11431, Philadelphia, PA 19111.

God Willing, we'll be back with you again next week at this same time. October is the month of the Rosary and remember that God's power is in your hands when you pray the Rosary. May God bless you and protect you.