Heart to Heart

JMJDFC

Program 3

Welcome to our broadcast of Heart to Heart. It truly is a pleasure to be back with you. In the studio with me are Father Michael Novacki, OP, and four members of the St. Martin de Porres Young Dominican's Chapter: Jennifer Covey, Stephanie Covey, Shawn Dougherty, and Autumn Zellers. We will be available to answer your calls during this program. You can dial: area code 609-

Father Novacki, OP will read us a passage from Paul's letter to the Ephesians: "Draw your strength from the Lord and His mighty power. Put on the armor of God so that you may be able to stand firm against the tactics of the devil. Our battle ultimately is not against human forces but against the principalities and powers, the rulers of this world of darkness, the evil spirits in regions above. You must put on the armor of God if you are to resist on the evil day; do all that your duty requires, and hold your ground. Stand fast, with the truth as the belt around our waist, justice as your breastplate, and zeal to propagate the gospel of peace as your footgear. In all circumstances hold faith up before you as your shield; it will help you extinguish the fiery darts of the evil one. Take the helmet of salvation and the sword of the spirit, the Word of God.

At every opportunity pray in the Spirit, using prayers and petitions of every sort. Pray constantly and attentively for all in the holy company. Pray for me that God may put His Word on my lips, that I may courageously make known the mystery of the gospel - that mystery for which I am an ambassador in chains. Pray that I may have courage to proclaim it as I ought."

Thank you, Father, for sharing with us the reading from today's Mass. It is an appropriate message when you think about the life of St. Dominic. He too, like St. Paul, needed to arm himself against the snares of the evil one. In the life of Dominic, we see an example of how to follow the advice of St. Paul.

St. Dominic was a canon of the Cathedral chapter of Osma. In 1203 Alfonso VIII of Castile made a request of the local Bishop: Bishop Diego was asked to travel to Denmark and arrange for a marriage between a Danish princess and Alfonso's son. The Bishop knew how dangerous this trip would be both physically and spiritually; as a traveling companion he chose Dominic, a pious and prayerful man. This trip was to open the eyes of the young priest and change the direction of his life forever. On this trip, Dominic met an Albigensian for the first time.

For those who are unfamiliar with the Albigensians let me explain. The Albigensians followed a heresy that started in the second century. It seems that these folks believed there were two gods: one of them was good, but he remained hidden; the second god was evil but creative. This meant for them, that there was nothing good in created nature; they believed that all visible creation came from the evil god. This gave rise to many abuses.

St. Dominic listened to one of these members, an innkeeper; he was so fired up that he spent the whole night in debate with this man. While the discussion was exhausting for both of them, it was the passion behind their beliefs that fueled them. Truth always prevails in the end, between people of good will. By dawn, St. Dominic had converted the innkeeper back to the true faith.

There is something else that we need to follow in St. Dominic's example -- that is the example of prayer. Truth will win in the end, but the process of getting there, can be made a lot easier if only we would spend our free time in prayer. Remember that we said St. Dominic always spoke either with God or about God. It is the effects of these prayers that aided his negotiation with those who had lost their way. Prayer and fasting are very important before any major undertaking in our lives.

[Talk with St. Martin de Porres members.]

A very special hello to Mrs. Diane Curran and room 27 at St. Christopher's School in Northeast Philadelphia, who are listening to us today.

We would like to thank Doris for taking the time to write to us. We are keeping you and your intention in our prayers. Please keep all those who do not live their life for Christ, in your prayers. Pray that they will receive the light from above and return to their loving Father.

If anyone is interested in becoming a Dominican, or joining the Young Dominican Chapter, give us a call and we'll get the information to you. We'll get the information to you.

If there is a question or subject matter that you would like discussed on this program, write to us at: Heart to Heart, P. O. Box 11431, Philadelphia, PA 19111. You can call us away from the program at:

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.

Father Michael, will you please grant our listeners a blessing?

May the blessing of Almighty God the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit fill your hearts with peace, joy and happiness now and forever. In the Name of the Father, and the Son and the Holy Spirit. Amen.