Called to Paradox: The Dominican Prophet in Today’s World

Called to paradox. This is Day two of the General Chapter in Krakow. Today’s reflection concerned the nature of a prophet and how Dominicans are prophets. After the liturgy, the Master of the Order presented his Relatio – an account of the state of the Order and of his service. Later in the afternoon, the Syndic of the Order followed suit, offering a report on the financial health and stewardship of the Dominican mission. Both presentations were discussed by the friars in three language groups – the entire Chapter takes place in the three official languages of the Order: English, Spanish, and French. All documents, homilies, sessions, and deliberations are translated accordingly.

The Nature of the Prophet

Who is a Dominican? A prophet.

And who, then, is a prophet? A paradox.

It was a French theologian – a Jesuit, a cardinal, one of the great fathers of the Second Vatican Council – who once wrote that Christianity is a religion of paradoxes, a faith whose very heart is paradox. Christianity, he argued, does not run from paradox – it grows within it.

The Incarnation is a paradox: the infinite God taking on finite flesh without ceasing to be divine. The Church is a paradox: holy and sinful, a community and an institution, the Mystical Body of Christ rooted in concrete history, in concrete time.

So who is the prophet? He is the one who is free – but his freedom, as Fr. Łukasz Wiśniewski reminded us in his homily, comes from the Word of God, of which he is a servant. He serves the truth– but that truth exceeds him. The prophet is a witness to human greatness, and at the same time to human fragility. Through the preacher-prophet, the unsettling truth of eternity meets the difficult truth of daily life. The prophet is a servant of both. He sees more – and yet he acknowledges the limits of his own vision, allowing God to sketch the horizon before him. In our Dominican expression, the prophet is also one who tends to the home – and yet does not hesitate to leave it behind for the sake of the Gospel, when the call comes.

The Opening of the General Chapter

Today, after yesterday’s day of retreat, the General Chapter of our Order officially began at 9:00 a.m. with a solemn Mass to the Holy Spirit. More than 100 friars gathered around the altar, praying together under the leadership of the Polish Provincial, asking the Spirit once more to lead us where God sends us.

After the liturgy, the Master of the Order presented his Relatio – an account of the state of the Order and of his service. Later in the afternoon, the Syndic of the Order followed suit, offering a report on the financial health and stewardship of the Dominican mission. Both presentations were discussed by the friars in three language groups – the entire Chapter takes place in the three official languages of the Order: English, Spanish, and French. All documents, homilies, sessions, and deliberations are translated accordingly.

The day concluded with another voice – or rather, many voices – united under the direction of Fr. Dawid Kusz, who led them in singing the mystery and beauty every prophet is called to receive and proclaim.

Who is a Dominican? A prophet.

And the prophet is the one who boldly walks wherever God sends him.

Today we began a Chapter where, through the harmony of many languages, one voice and one truth shall resound – the truth whose name is Jesus Christ.

🪶

Communication Office of the General Chapter of Provincial Priors
Krakow, July 19, 2025
Photographs by: @dominikanie.pl

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