Memorial of St. John Vianney
Scripture:
Numbers 11:4-15
Matthew 14:13-21
Reflection:
Serving The People of God…Opportunities and Challenges
In today’s Gospel, St. Matthew recounts Jesus’ actions after He heard of the death of John the Baptist: “…he withdrew in a boat to a deserted place by himself.” John the Baptist gave his life for Jesus and His proclamation of the Kingdom of God, and the Baptist’s death must have grieved Jesus deeply. And yet, crowds followed Jesus, and His heart was moved with pity for them; and He cured their sick. He even worked a miracle for the large crowd: feeding the crowd of over 5,000 men plus the women and children, starting with just five loaves of bread and two fish! What love, what an example of service!
The reading from the Book of Numbers tells of Moses’ response to the grumbling of the people of Israel as they wandered the desert; in their hunger they complained about the miraculous food God provided in the manna from heaven. They longed for the meat and vegetables they had in Egypt, and they cried aloud to Moses and to the Lord. Moses was deeply challenged by this situation and himself cried to God for some sort of relief. Oh, the challenges!
An example of faithful ministering of God’s Life and Love is given us in the life of today’s saint, the 19th century St. John Vianney. He was a simple man with a humble background, an unsophisticated theology – and a zeal for spreading God’s forgiveness and love! He is especially known for his gracious, generous, and insightful ministry of the Sacrament of Reconciliation at his parish in Ars, France — daily spending many hours sharing God’s love through the Sacrament with thousands of penitents who traveled great distances for those few graced moments with him. His loving ministry flowed from an intense spiritual life based on prayer and mortification. St. John Vianney truly witnessed the age-old love of the Lord witnessed in the lives of both Moses and John the Baptist. In 2009, Pope Benedict XVI named John Vianney patron of parish priests worldwide.
Jesus and St. John Vianney pose some questions for our faith journey: How zealous are we for our faith? Do we offer forgiveness and encouragement to those who may threaten us? Do we really listen to those who come our way? Do we zealously and tirelessly give of ourselves in service to our sisters and brothers, especially those with more serious needs? As Jesus’ disciples, we have many great examples of zealous, charitable love of God and neighbor.
As we today honor the “patron of priests”, let’s pray this day especially for priests and all those serving us in our parishes— those active, retired, deceased. -May God bless us all in our vocation as 21st Century disciples of Jesus Crucified; may we be blessed with a great and generous love!
Fr. John Schork, CP, serves as the Province Vocation Director and also as Local Superior of the Passionist Community of Holy Name in Houston, Texas.