Gospel Delights!

Wednesday, September 27, 2023

Feast of Saint Vincent de Paul

1 Cor 1:26-31; Mt 9:35-38

Today’s gospel that highlights Jesus’ compassion for needy humanity resonates well with the legacy of St. Vincent de Paul and his missional love for the poor. 

The young Vincent was ambitious. He was driven towards ‘success’ even in his priestly vocation. He wanted to retire early and help his family thereafter. Though he was clear about his life goals, a particular experience transformed his life altogether. 

When he was a chaplain to the rich Gondi family and the peasants working on the Gondi estates, a dying servant’s confession opened his eyes to the suffering of the French peasantry and the lack of spiritual guidance available to them. That was the real beginning of St. Vincent de Paul, the champion of the poor. Later, he expanded his ministry to prisoners who greatly suffered in the galleys. He collected relief funds to help care for and ransom over 1200 galley slaves in North Africa. St. Vincent loved to repeat, ‘When you visit the poor, you encounter Jesus.’

Deeply moved by the missionary commitment of St. Vincent, Pope Francis said, ‘A Christianity without contact with those who suffer becomes disincarnate, incapable of touching the flesh of Christ.’ Did St. Vincent not say, ‘It is not sufficient for me to love God if I do not love my neighbor; I belong to God and to the poor?’ Hence, in his devotion to St. Vincent, Frederic Ozanam founded the Society of St. Vincent de Paul and modeled it on his mentor’s call to ‘see Christ in the poor and to be Christ to the poor.’ 

St. Vincent de Paul’s vocation thrived on a beautiful paradox:

He wanted to retire early, but he never stopped working.

He wanted to help his family, but he never stopped helping his new family – the poor. 

Like St. Vincent de Paul, we will be selfless in our mission to the needy if we are open to the ‘Divine Inbreaking.’ 

Fr. Dhinakaran Savariyar