Wednesday, August 4, 2010

Homily – August 4, 2010 – St. John Mary Vianney

+ We celebrate the Feast today of the Cure of Ars. John Mary Vianney was born to a farm family in Lyons, France in 1786. In his youth he taught other children their prayers and catechism. He had little education and was not a good student but in 1815 he was ordained a priest. His second assignment in 1818 was the parish of Ars-sur-Formans, a tiny village near Lyons, which suffered from very lax attendance. In his parish at Ars, John Mary began visiting his parishioners, especially the sick and poor; he did penance for his parishioners and lead the people by example. He had great devotion to the Blessed Sacrament. He had the gifts of discernment of spirits, prophecy, hidden knowledge and of working miracles. Though he only got about 3 hours of sleep a night, these hours were often disturbed by the attacks of envious evil spirits. Crowds came to hear him preach, and to confess their sins because of his reputation with penitents. By 1844 there were 20,000 pilgrims a year to Ars. John Mary Vianney spent 40 years as a parish priest in that tiny village of Ars – which has certainly been on the spiritual map ever since. He died August 4, 1859, and was canonized May 31, 1925 by Pope Pius XI. In 2009-10 he was held up as the focal point of the Year of the Priest – and named patron saint of all priests – by Pope Benedict XVI.

Our first reading reminds us that as Christians, priests and lay, we must call things as we see them and help lead the sinner back to a virtuous life – if only by simply pointing out error. If we do – then we shall have done our duty! What happens to the sinner is up to him! But he must always know there is a place for him to come home to and repent and be forgiven by God and the Church. The gospel passage reminds us of the ever-present need for more vocations to the priesthood and religious life: the harvest is rich, but laborers are few – in fact very few in this day and age: we pray to the Lord of the harvest to send more laborers into the fields – those especially who have the generosity, the heart and the love of St. John Mary Vianney!

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