Homily for Thursday 27th September 2018 -
Feast of St Vincent De Paul
Readings:
Isaiah 58:6-11a
Matthew 25:34-40
May the words of my mouth and the meditations of my heart be acceptable to you O God, my Saviour and Redeemer, Amen
St. Vincent De Paul’s extraordinary life began in 1561 in the village of Pouy, France. From his humble beginnings as the child of peasant farmers St.
Vincent would one day become an adviser to the Queen of France, and from preaching one mission to peasants in 1613at the age of 29, his life was changed.
Summoned to hear the dying confession of a peasant on the estate of the wealthiest family in the city, Vincent was profoundly moved by the man’s faith and by his need, and experienced
a new understanding of the seriousness of his own vocation as a shepherd of souls. From that day onward, he was determined that his priesthood would be dedicated to the service of the poor.
St. Vincent went on to found an order of priests who would continue this work all over the world.
Travelling abroad, he was taken captive by Pirates and sold as a slave. After spending two years as a slave in Tunisia, he managed to escape and he returned to France and became a
missionary to prisoners in Paris and Marseilles, and he was instrumental in the ransom of over 1,000 Christian slaves from North Africa.
He began hospitals, he founded communities where the poor could work to support themselves, and he set up homes for orphans.
As a result of his devotion to the poor, the sick, and the imprisoned he is the patron of charitable organizations and he is called the “Apostle of Charity.”
Both Isiah and Jesus in today’ old testament reading and the Gospel tells us that those who work for the poor, the sick and imprisoned will be blessed in heaven:
"Come, you that are blessed by my Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world; for I was hungry and you gave me food, I was thirsty
and you gave me something to drink, I was a stranger and you welcomed me, I was naked and you gave me clothing, I was sick and you took care of me, I was in prison and you visited me."
St. Vincent de Paul’s Congregation of the Missions were first known as the Lazarist Fathers – and while he would employ them very successfully in the formation of clergy,
their original mission was to the rural poor whom Vincent found “troubled and abandoned like sheep without a shepherd”.
Like Jesus, Vincent’s heart was also moved with pity for all the “troubled and abandoned” of his time which included not only the rural poor, but the poor in the
cities as well as convicts and slaves.
Vincent found Christ in the poor. His spirituality was based on the encounter with Christ in the needs of one’s poor neighbors. In one of his letters, he describes
this new way of seeing that had been revealed to him:
“Christ chose to be born in poverty and called his disciples from among the ranks of the poor; he himself became the servant of the poor and so shared their condition that
whatever good or harm was done to the poor, he said he would consider done to himself. Since God loves the poor, he also loves the lovers of the poor… We visit them then, we strive to concern ourselves with the
weak and needy, we so share their sufferings that with the Apostle Paul we feel we have become all things to all people. Therefore we must strive to be deeply involved in the cares and sorrows of our neighbor and pray
to God to inspire us with compassion and pity, filling our hearts and keeping them full.”1
Vincent devoted his life to this work, trusting in Jesus and the Holy Spirit to inspire it and to allow his influence on the great and good to enroll their assistance in supporting
this vital work.
His evident success was due to a personal humility and belief that enabled him to acheive great things.
As we come to the Table of Grace today for Holy Communion we are reminded that our commitment as disciples of Jesus is to to work for peace and justice in the world, and is born
of a person, Jesus Christ. In solidarity with him, we engage in the world of pain as our commitment to those whose needs are desperate and who deserve to share in the good news and Peace of Jesus Christ.
This solidarity may be seen by each of us working out our relationships with Jesus as Lord and Saviour and with each other as we live our lives day to day.
God takes the side of the poor, the oppressed, the marginalized – through their works of mercy, the saints –like Vincent de Paul – show us that we too can and must
take their side as well. If we strive to do this than in Isaih’s words
“then your light shall rise in the darkness and your gloom be like the noonday. The Lord will guide you continually”
Amen
1 Atwell, Robert (compiler); Celebrating the Saints: Devotional Readings for Saints’ Days; (Norwich [England]: Canterbury Press, 1998); p.338.
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