Setting the World on Fire: Lay Dominican Preachers as Grace in the World, Gift for the Church

By Laura R. Dejmek and Donald J. Goergen OP

Laypersons receiving a divine call to preach in the Roman Catholic Church may feel caught between a rock and a hard place--both figuratively and ecclesiastically. They may feel constrained between the Rock of Peter and the hard place of resistance to the preaching gift they believe they have and their desire to share it. At first glance, the Roman Catholic Church, with its two millennia of Sacred Tradition, seemingly offers little that favors the inclusion of lay preachers. In addition, many lay preachers may experience the bias of clergy and assembly members who unconsciously presume there is no role for laity to preach within the Roman Catholic Church.
Preaching does not occur solely within liturgical settings, or only via pulpit preachers. All Dominicans, as members of the Order of Preachers, are called to embody the Sacra Praedicatio--the Sacred Preaching. In fact, canon law does permit laity to preach in certain liturgical settings. Setting the World on Fire details one Roman Catholic woman's experience of her own call to preach, the grace and gifts brought to both the preacher and the assembly, as well as her desire to help all Dominicans--and indeed, all Christians--embrace their rightful role as "preachers."

• Language: English
• Publisher: Wipf and Stock
• Release date: Aug 19, 2014
• ISBN: 9781630874780

Laura R. Dejmek

Laura R. Dejmek, OP, is a member of the Order of Preachers as a Lay Dominican. She currently serves as the Promoter of Preaching for Lay Dominicans in the Central Province (USA). Laura holds a doctorate of ministry in preaching and preaches regularly at both Roman Catholic and Episcopal parishes in the Chicago area, as well as online. In addition to her preaching ministry, she is also a full-time elementary school music teacher.

Book preview

Setting the World on Fire

Lay Dominican Preachers as Grace in the World, Gift for the Church

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Laura R. Dejmek, OP

Foreword by Donald Goergen, OP

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Setting the World on Fire

Lay Dominican Preachers as Grace in the World, Gift for the Church

Copyright © 2014 Laura R. Dejmek. All rights reserved. Except for brief quotations in critical publications or reviews, no part of this book may be reproduced in any manner without prior written permission from the publisher. Write: Permissions. Wipf and Stock Publishers, 199 W. 8th Ave., Suite 3, Eugene, OR 97401.

New Revised Standard Version Bible: Catholic Edition, copyright 1989, 1993. Division of Christian Education of the National Council of the Churches of Christ in the United States of America. Used by permission. All rights reserved.

Scripture quotations marked (NIV) are taken from the Holy Bible, New International Version®, NIV®. Copyright © 1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by Biblica, Inc.™ Used by permission of Zondervan. All rights reserved worldwide. www.zondervan.com The NIV and New International Version are trademarks registered in the United States Patent and Trademark Office by Biblica, Inc.™

Scripture taken from the New King James Version (NKJV). Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson, Inc. Used by permission. All rights reserved.

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ISBN 13: 978–1–62564–153–3

EISBN 13: 978-1-63087-478-0

Manufactured in the U.S.A. 04/14/2014

To my family: here on earth and at home with God

—both human and four footed—

but especially my mom, Patricia Dejmek-Crotty

and to

my fellow Lay Dominicans, and all people called to preach.

May our lives reflect the Sacred Preaching.

Laudare, Benedicere, Praedicare.

God saved us and called us with a holy calling, not according to our works but according to divine purpose and grace. This grace was given to us in Christ Jesus before the ages began.

2 Tim 1:9, adapted from NRSV

Foreword

by Donald Goergen, OP, PhD

The Order of Preachers, founded by St. Dominic in 1216, and better known as Dominicans, comprises several branches, which include approximately six thousand friars, close to three thousand cloistered nuns, as well as twenty-four thousand apostolic Dominican sisters. There are, however, 150 thousand Lay Dominicans. Yet we do not as often here their voice, especially not their voice as preachers. Thus it is a welcomed note to have Laura Dejmek’s brief but substantive treatment of the preaching charism as it is manifest among Lay Dominicans and which ought to inform the Lay Dominican vocation as well as that of the friars, nuns, and sisters. Like Catherine of Siena, another Lay Dominican, Laura longs to set the world on fire through preaching.

Dejmek addresses the questions of the Lay Dominican’s vocation to preach, preaching from within the context of one’s life experience, the canonical context for lay preaching, the theological implications and foundations of such, along with practical aids and suggestions. Hers is a passionate, practical and substantive treatment.

There are many questions, and many that the Order of Preachers itself has been asking for years now. Is there a role for lay preaching in the Church? What would this look like? Is there a place for laity preaching within a liturgical context? Is the call to preach intrinsic to the call to a Dominican way of life? Is there any connection between profession as a member of the Order of Preachers and the preaching vocation? Indeed, wrestling with these questions takes us to the very heart of the matter: What is preaching? What role does evangelization play in the life and mission of the Church? Dejmek guides us through a reflection on all of these questions.

She is well acquainted with her sources, and a wide variety of them, and responsive to the many questions that people will have, including those of Dominicans and especially lay Dominicans. Preaching, even among Dominicans, can be misconstrued as implying only or primarily preaching during the Eucharistic Assembly. But as one of my confreres likes to say, We are not an Order of Homileticians but an Order of Preachers. Sisters, nuns, lay persons, and cooperator brothers among the friars are all essential to the Order in this respect as well as in many others. They remind us that our theology of preaching must embrace a wider understanding of the communication of God’s Word.

What does it mean to preach? To be a preacher? The words can have their negative connotations. How often we hear the word preachy as a denunciation of something that seems parental or moralistic rather than an appreciation of preaching as reverencing and communicating God’s Word. After all, preaching is the way in which Jesus Himself saw much of His ministry. Let us go on to the nearby villages that I might preach there also. For this purpose have I come (Mark 1:38). The Synoptic vision of Jesus is that of one who preaches, heals, names, and drives out demons.

At the same time as we don’t desire preachy preaching, we recognize the importance of preaching in the life of the Church. How many studies have shown this! And for how long now have we not heard from different popes the importance of evangelization, from Pope Paul VI’s Evangelii Nuntiandi to Pope John Paul II’s call for a new evangelization recently emphasized by Pope Francis as well. And how are they to believe if they have never heard? And how are they to hear without a preacher? Paul queries (Rom 10:14–15). It is thus that Dejmek takes up crucial questions and widens the space of our tents (Isa 54:2).

Acknowledgments

I am profoundly grateful to God for the gift of faith, baptism, the charism of preaching, and my vocation to the Order of Preachers.

I have so many people to thank for their assistance on my preaching journey, and, more specifically, the culmination of this book. I wish to express my gratitude to Donald Goergen for agreeing to write the foreword to this book. By doing so, I have experienced your support of the preaching charism of Lay Dominicans. I am indebted to Thomas Kerber for providing beneficial feedback, disputatio, and clarification as I endeavor to become a better preacher, and a more consistent disciple of Christ. The responsiveness and support I have received from my own Lay Dominican community—Blessed Fra Angelico Pro Chapter—has brought me immense joy.

To the people of Sts. Joseph and Aidan Episcopal Church and St. Clement Episcopal Church: words are inadequate to express my profound gratitude for supporting me, providing insights, and helping me to become a better preacher. Thank you, all, for welcoming me to preach at in your parishes, to become part of your lives, and accepting this Roman Catholic just as I am, Communion canonical restrictions, and all. My thanks to my friend Barbara Gustafson, who was one of the first to believe that I should, and could, have a viable preaching ministry, and took steps that it could become a reality. The Episcopal Communion has a special place in my heart due to all of you.

My family and special circle of friends: your support along this journey has meant the world to me. I am blessed to have each of you in my life. Thank you for celebrating with me in this endeavor.

Abbreviations

Documents of Vatican II (1962–1965)

AA Apostolicam Actuositatem (Decree on the Apostolate of Lay People)

DV Dei Verbum (Dogmatic Constitution on Divine Revelation)

GS Gaudium et Spes (Pastoral Constitution on the Church in the Modern World)

LG Lumen Gentium (Dogmatic Constitution on the Church)

SC Sacrosanctum Concilium (Constitution on the Sacred Liturgy)

Other Documents of the Magisterium

CCC Catechism of the Catholic Church (1992)

CIC Codex Iuris Canonici (The Code of Canon Law)

CL Christifideles Laici (The Vocation and Mission of the Lay Faithful in the Church and in the World, Pope John Paul II, 1988)

EG Evangelli Gaudium (The Joy of the Gospel, Pope Francis, 2013)

EN Evangelii Nuntiandi (Evangelization in the Modern World, Pope Paul VI, 1975)

RS Redemptionis Sacramentum (On Certain Matters to Be Observed or Avoided regarding the Most Holy Eucharist, Card. Francis Arinze, prefect, 2004)

Biblical Translation Abbreviations

KJV King James Version

NIV New International Version

NRSV New Revised Standard Version

Other Abbreviations

AAS Acta Apostolicae Sedis (Acts of the Apostolic See)

USCCB United States Conference of Catholic Bishops

Chapter 1

Lay Dominicans’ Preaching Vocation

Then I heard the voice of the LORD saying, Whom shall I send, and who will go for us? And I said, Here am I; send me!

Isa 6:8

Introduction

Be who God meant you to be and you will set the world on fire.¹ These words of Saint Catherine of Siena may be directed to all people—not only Dominicans. Who is the person God is calling you to be? What is God’s dream for each of us? For a person entering the Order of Preachers (a.k.a. the Dominicans), God is calling that person to become a preacher. Preaching is the charism that all Dominicans are called to embrace—not solely the ordained friars. All Dominicans are charged to become an expression of the Sacred Preaching.² Dominican communities, as well as the lives of individual Dominicans, strive to embody the sacred mission of the Order of Preachers—the Sacra Praedicatio. The Sacred Preaching can be defined as a way of living. It encompasses not only what is said or preached, but everything a Dominican does—their work, family or community life, personal actions, or ministries. The words and actions of all Dominicans are sacredly woven together by the Holy One to form the Sacred Preaching.

Most Lay Dominicans are comfortable with the idea that their actions and verbal witness within the world are part of the holy threads that comprise the Sacred Preaching. Fewer are comfortable envisioning themselves as a preacher in the traditional, liturgical sense. Some Lay Dominicans are concerned that lay liturgical preaching may be contrary to Church teaching. This simply is not the case; there are licit avenues for lay liturgical preachers, which will be discussed further in chapter 3. In the midst of canonical confusion, and sometimes inconsistent Church support, discerning a vocation to become a lay liturgical preacher in the Roman Catholic Church can seem a fearsome, daunting, even an overwhelming call.

When receiving God’s call to preach, it is not one that can be easily ignored.³ Upon learning of my acceptance into a doctor of ministry in preaching program, a retired Roman Catholic bishop assured me of his prayers and mused: "Are preachers