HOMILY FOR THE MEMORIAL OF ST. VINCENT DE PAUL
THEME: GOD’S PRESENCE IN THE MIDST OF CHALLENGES
BY: Fr. Francis Onwunali
HOMILY FOR TUESDAY SEPTEMBER 27 2022
Today, we celebrate the Memorial of St. Vincent de Paul. He was a great apostle of charity, and brought a great revival of the priesthood in the 17th century. St. Vincent de Paul was born in 1576 in Gascony, France, ordained a priest in 1600. As a young priest, he was captured by pirates and sold into slavery in Africa. He was freed when he converted his owner and returned to France. He founded the Congregation of the Priests of Mission and the Congregation of the Sisters of Charity to care for young girls, for the needy, sick, and foundlings. He died in Paris in 1660 and was canonized by Leo XIII who proclaimed him special patron of charitable institutions.
In the first reading (Job 3: 1-3, 11-17, 20-23), Job seems to have lost his cool in the midst of the life challenges facing him. He curses the day he was born, wishing he was not alive to witness the negative events in his life. Though he didn’t curse God nor lose his trust in God, but he expressed anger at the calamities that have befallen him. How do you react to disappointments in life?
Jesus, in the gospel (Luke 9: 51-56) rebukes James and John who wish to destroy the Samaritan town that refused Jesus to pass by their town on his way to Jerusalem. What role does your position play in your relationship with those who have different opinion from yours?
Dear friends, it is always easy to strike out in anger when things are not going our way. Such anger affects our relationship with those around us. What is your level of trust in God in the face of life turbulence? Do you allow frustration and depression to hold you down?
I pray as we journey in life today, we will be aware of God’s presence in the midst of our challenges. May the storms of our lives draw us into a close and deeper relationship with God than becoming a barrier. May we constantly experience the lifting hand of God in the midst of the challenges of our lives. Have a Divine upliftment-full day!