20190928
TEACHER
OF SPIRITUAL LIFE BEFORE TEACHER OF CHARITY
27 SEPTEMBER,
2019, Friday, St Vincent de Paul
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First reading
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1 Corinthians 1:26-31 ©
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Take yourselves for instance, brothers, at
the time when you were called: how many of you were wise in the ordinary sense
of the word, how many were influential people, or came from noble families? No,
it was to shame the wise that God chose what is foolish by human reckoning, and
to shame what is strong that he chose what is weak by human reckoning; those
whom the world thinks common and contemptible are the ones that God has
chosen – those who are nothing at all to show up those who are everything.
The human race has nothing to boast about to God, but you, God has made members
of Christ Jesus and by God’s doing he has become our wisdom, and our virtue,
and our holiness, and our freedom. As scripture says: if anyone wants
to boast, let him boast about the Lord.
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Responsorial Psalm
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Psalm 111(112):1-9 ©
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Happy the man who fears
the Lord.
or
Alleluia!
Happy the man who fears the Lord,
who takes delight in all his
commands.
His sons will be powerful on earth;
the children of the upright
are blessed.
Happy the man who fears
the Lord.
or
Alleluia!
Riches and wealth are in his house;
his justice stands firm for
ever.
He is a light in the darkness for the
upright:
he is generous, merciful and
just.
Happy the man who fears
the Lord.
or
Alleluia!
The good man takes pity and lends,
he conducts his affairs with
honour.
The just man will never waver:
he will be remembered for
ever.
Happy the man who fears
the Lord.
or
Alleluia!
He has no fear of evil news;
with a firm heart he trusts in
the Lord.
With a steadfast heart he will not fear;
he will see the downfall of
his foes.
Happy the man who fears
the Lord.
or
Alleluia!
Open-handed, he gives to the poor;
his justice stands firm for
ever.
His head will be raised in
glory.
Happy the man who fears
the Lord.
or
Alleluia!
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Gospel Acclamation
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Jn10:14
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Alleluia, alleluia!
I am the good shepherd, says the Lord;
I know my own sheep and my own know me.
Alleluia!
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Gospel
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Matthew 9:35-37 ©
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Jesus made a tour through all the towns
and villages, teaching in their synagogues, proclaiming the Good News of the
kingdom and curing all kinds of diseases and sickness.
And
when he saw the crowds he felt sorry for them because they were harassed and dejected,
like sheep without a shepherd. Then he said to his disciples, ‘The harvest is
rich but the labourers are few, so ask the Lord of the harvest to send
labourers to his harvest.’
TEACHER OF
SPIRITUAL LIFE BEFORE TEACHER OF CHARITY
SCRIPTURE READINGS: [ 1 COR 1:26-31; PS 112:1-9; MT 9:35-37 ]
Today we celebrate the
Feast of St Vincent. We tend to think of him as the teacher of charity. He is associated with a love and
care for the poor. Understandably so, because he founded a society to
care for the poor. St Vincent responded to the hunger of God by founding
a society based on solidarity and love for the poor. This is a charism
given by the Holy Spirit for the work of evangelization. He was able to
involve everyone, rich and poor, the ordinary and the influential, the
royalties and the common people, young and old in the work of service to the
poor.
Members of St Vincent De
Paul carry out the works of charity to the poor as inspired by St Vincent. This is the great asset for members of
SSVP because unlike most other charitable organizations, SSVP members have
someone whom they can imitate in the work of charity. They have a good
example and model of one who knew how to love and care for the poor. That is
why we turn to St Vincent to find orientation and inspiration to serve the
poor.
What was the foundation
of his spirituality? Basically two: one was his own personal traumatic
experience, and the other, his love for the Lord. The turning point of St Vincent’s
spiritual life came about through the adversities he met in his ministry.
In one of his journeys, the ship he was on was captured by Turkish
pirates. He was given lashings. He had to work with the other
slaves before he was taken to Tunis. Two years of slavery later, he
returned to France. He became very ill. But sufferings in life need
not make us bitter but better. It was so in the case of St Vincent.
Through his sufferings,
he sought consolation and comfort by contemplating on the Crucified Christ. It was through these years of
suffering that his spiritual life was moulded as he began to see humanity’s
suffering in the Crucified Christ. He gave himself entirely to Christ and
to the poor. He shared, “The net result of my experience is the judgment
I have formed, that true religion is to be found amongst the poor.” His
heart went out to the poor, especially those who were in sin.
But it is important to
take note that serving the poor was not just a humanitarian concern for St
Vincent. His
love for the poor was not simply rooted in human compassion for the poor. This
is the basis for most humanitarian organizations. Whilst it is certainly
a noble thing to act in compassion for the sufferings of the poor, a mere
humanitarian response will not go far enough to give real happiness to the
poor. The poor will always be in our midst. In our efforts to
satisfy the needs of the poor, we will find ourselves overwhelmed by the lack
of resources and manpower, and the constraints imposed upon us by
authorities. At any rate, just by providing the needs of our fellowmen
does not mean they will be satisfied. The truth is, no one can be
satisfied with temporal needs alone. Ultimately, the hunger of humanity
is the hunger of the human heart, the hunger for love and hunger for God.
His mission was
primarily a spiritual mission. He was concerned for the souls of humanity. He
wanted to offer them the fullness of life in Christ. In his intense
moments of prayer, he was convinced that we can bring the fullness of life to
others only when we renew their spiritual life, helping them to encounter the
love of God. He saw the importance of preaching the love and mercy of
God. He charged the priests of his congregation to proclaim the mercy of
God to those trapped by their sins. For this reason, in order to realize
the mission of helping the poor, he was equally concerned about the spiritual
and intellectual formation priests for this work. He was concerned to
form priests who are zealous in the ministry.
That is why we must
return to the heart of St Vincent’s spirituality. St Vincent said, “So our vocation is to
go, not just to one parish, not just to one diocese, but all over the world;
and do what? To set people’s hearts on fire, to do what the Son of God did. He
came to set the world on fire in order to inflame it with His Love.” The
spirituality of St Vincent De Paul was not just service to the materially poor
but the spiritually poor as well; indeed, to all of humanity that seeks
God. It included teaching and healing, witnessing and loving.
This was what the Lord instructed us in the gospel. “Jesus made a tour
through all the towns and villages, teaching in their synagogues, proclaiming
the Good News of the kingdom and curing all kinds of diseases and sickness. And
when he saw the crowds he felt sorry for them because they were harassed and
dejected, like sheep without a shepherd.”
The source of his
ministry to the poor was his desire to be in union with God in mind, heart and
actions. It
was his union with the Lord that enabled him to see the face of Christ in every
suffering soul. For him, the poor take the place of Christ because He
chose to be poor. Since Christ came for the poor, we, too, must serve the
poor. We must take care of them, give them hope, console and
encourage them. Truly, his zeal for the poor was the result of his
identification with the Lord. His ministry flowed out of his intimacy
with the Lord. If Vincentian members were to give themselves
wholeheartedly and be like Jesus in compassion for the suffering, they must
spend time with the Lord in contemplation of His love.
In conclusion, to be a
member of the Vincentian, we must follow Christ, contemplate on the Crucified Christ, be
aware of our own blessings, know the poor and the suffering and love
them. St Paul reminds us, “Take yourselves, brothers, at the time when
you were called: how many of you were wise in the ordinary sense of the word,
how many were influential people, or came from noble families? No, it was to
shame the wise that God chose what is foolish by human reckoning, and to shame
what is strong that he chose what is weak by human reckoning; those whom the
world thinks common and contemptible are the ones that God has chosen – those
who are nothing at all to show up those who are everything.”
Regardless, we must put
Christ as the center of our life or ministry. “The human race has nothing to boast about to
God, but you, God has made members of Christ Jesus and by God’s doing he has
become our wisdom, and our virtue, and our holiness, and our freedom. As
scripture says: If anyone wants to boast, let him boast about the Lord.”
We must be evangelizers of the poor and inflame man’s heart with a simple love
for all. Only then we can place ourselves at God’s service and the
service of all.
We must also learn from
St Vincent to involve others, from all walks of life, in serving the
poor. We
do not do this work alone. Even as we help the poor, we must find new
members to collaborate with us, young and old; rich and poor; ordinary and
professional. We must find new ways to reach out to the poor remembering
that you are ambassadors of Christ. You must distinguish yourselves from
other humanitarian organizations by consciously being the face of Christ to the
poor, by your humble and selfless service. Most of all, when the occasion
presents itself, when they have become your friends, bring the gospel of Christ
by announcing Him as your Lord and Savior, sharing what Christ has done for
you.
When we love the poor
and care for them, God will also surely love us who love the poor, since we
share in His heart and love for them. As Jesus said that the Father loves Him
because He does the will of His Father which is to love us and save us, in the
same way, God will also love us as much as we love the poor. They will be
the ones who will sit with the Lord to judge us at the end of time. They
will testify on our behalf before the Lord that we have a heart of love.
Written
by The Most Rev William Goh, Roman Catholic Archbishop of Singapore © All
Rights Reserved
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