19/04/2026
Saint Dominic was not a pessimist. We see this clearly in his preaching against the Albigensians, who believed that God did not create material things. St. Dominic saw the flaw in this belief and preached the opposite: God created us, both body and soul.
Not only has he wondrously made us, but he even more wondrously redeemed us, the whole of us. St. Dominic held fast to this notion in his preaching and in the Order he founded: we can have confidence in the human person because of our confidence in God.
How do Dominicans understand this idea of confidence? Following in the steps of St. Dominic, we have hope in God’s plan for each friar and confidence that God has called him to the Order for a reason (ST II-II q. 129, a. 6).
This confidence isn’t presumptuous. It’s a recognition of the primacy of God’s grace. This grace gives Dominican life a kind of liberty conducive to growth and maturity as we follow Christ. This confidence is what led the early friars to preach, and it’s what motivates us today.
For over 800 years, we have been compelled by grace to preach because we want to help others experience this same confidence in God’s plan for their lives. Excessive self-confidence leads many people to look inward at the cost of losing sight of their end: God. Confidence in ourselves apart from God isn’t confidence. It’s presumption (ST II-II q. 21, a. 1).
Ironically, when we engage in this God-less introspection, we don’t go deep enough. We don’t tap into the confidence of St. Dominic. Not only does God have a plan for us, but he also dwells in our souls. This awareness of the divine indwelling should spark a well-ordered hope, with confidence and compunction as we see how poorly we bear his image.
Recognizing this indwelling also sheds light on a Dominican motto: Contemplare et contemplata aliis tradere (To contemplate and to give others what has been contemplated). It follows perfectly from the confidence of St. Dominic.
He preached for the salvation of souls because he recognized the One dwelling within them. He contemplated this divine image in man, and he confidently preached the One he contemplated.
—Fr. Bertrand Hebert, O.P.
