St Dominic proposed as model for those seeking truth

In a conference focused on St Thomas Aquinas at Holy Family Parish, Te Atatu last month, Sydney-based Fr James Baxter OP delivered a talk titled “St Dominic, Teacher of Truth”.

What distinguishes St Dominic from other great founders, Fr Baxter said, is not a large collection of writings – he left almost none – but rather the way of life he established: a life centred on study, prayer, community and preaching.

A central theme of the talk was St Dominic’s profound love for truth, grounded in Scripture. As a young man, he studied late into the night, memorised large portions of the Bible and carried the Gospels and St Paul’s letters with him. His biographers describe him “drinking” from Scripture and finding it “sweeter than honey”. His devotion to study was not academic vanity, but a preparation for preaching; truth had to be interiorised before it could be proclaimed.

Fr Baxter also explored how human beings come to truth. Drawing on classical rhetoric and Dominican spirituality, he emphasised that truth is not grasped by reason alone.

People are moved by love, repelled by fear, shaped by social pressures and swayed by emotion, he explained. To embrace truth, people must first love it. Likewise, people fall into error not only by faulty logic but through haste, laziness, prejudice or the desire for approval.

St Dominic understood this deeply, Fr Baxter proposed, saying the saint’s holiness, humility and joy made him a credible preacher; people trusted his words because they trusted his life. His example is a reminder that ideas matter, study matters and virtue matters.

In closing, Fr Baxter proposed St Dominic as a model for all who seek truth today: a man who studied tirelessly, prayed fervently, preached boldly and loved truth for its own sake – allowing it to shape his mind, calm his spirit and direct his mission.

FULL STORY

St Dominic, Teacher of Truth – reflections from a Talk by Fr James Baxter OP (Dominicans NZ)

Auckland Aquinas Conference 2026: The Beauty of Truth | Facebook (Holy Family Parish, Te Atatu)