We celebrate the feast of St. Dominic on Aug. 8. The motto of the Dominican order is contemplata aliis tradere — to hand on to others the things that have been contemplated. They’re known as the “Order of Preachers,” and this motto is a key aspect of their preaching. First, they contemplate the things of God; only then do they speak about those things with others. There’s a richness to their words because they’re rooted in contemplation. The world needs that richness.

That, I think, contains a good lesson for us. We have a tendency to contemplate the things in the news and to hand on to others our reaction to those things. If we’re going to become an evangelizing Church, however, we need to learn to shift gears: to contemplate the things of God and hand on the fruits of our contemplation. That takes discipline, but it brings hope. The world needs that hope.

We hear two readings this week that have one theme but two completely different outcomes. We hear about the Canaanite woman who came to Jesus to ask for her daughter’s healing. When she persists in her request, Jesus praises her faith and says to her: “Let it be done for you as you wish.” Right before that, however, we hear about how the Israelites refused to enter the Promised Land. They said they would rather stay in the desert. God basically said to them: “Let it be done for you as you wish!”

That, I think, contains a good lesson for us. When it comes to how we talk about our parishes and communities, do we, like the Israelites, focus on the difficulties and “spread discouraging reports” and dig in our heels in the desert? Or do we, even in the face of difficulties, keep up hope that God is acting and will act? Do we have to be realistic about the challenges we face? Yes, absolutely. But spreading discouragement in the face of challenge is not from the Lord; faith and hope are.

We celebrate the feast of St. Lawrence on Aug. 10. St. Lawrence, a deacon in the 200s, was asked to assemble the treasures of the Church and turn them over to Rome. He assembled the poor, whom the Church served in various ways, and brought them to the senate.

St. Lawrence, I think, gives us a great lesson. What are the treasures of the Church? We tend to think of buildings. St. Lawrence challenges us to think more deeply and develop a new imagination about the deepest treasures of the Church.

Finally, on the feast of St. Clare of Assisi on Aug. 11, we hear Moses recite a litany of the great things that God has done for Israel. He concludes by saying: “This is why … you must keep His statutes and commandments.”

That, I think, contains a great lesson for us. Each of us can develop our own litany of the things that God has done for us — our witness. And each of us needs to develop the ability to link that litany with our fidelity to the Church — to have our own “this is why.” The ability to give that witness is one of the great tools of evangelization, a key to inviting people to become disciples of the Lord.