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| St. Jean Vianney, patron of parish priests |
In these times, so like the ignorant days after the French Revolution when many people had lost the sense of the sacred and the knowledge of Catholic doctrine, we need priests who will instruct the ignorant, counsel the doubtful, admonish sinners, and pray diligently for the living and the dead. Just a handful like St. Jean Vianney, the patron of parish priests, could turn our pagan culture back to God.
Do I need to tell you about St. Jean Vianney, the young seminarian who struggled to learn Latin and was considered one of the most unpromising among the newly ordained priests? He was given the backwater town of Ars because it was the humblest of assignments with a people fully indoctrinated in the errors of the revolutionary government that diligently worked to stamp out religion and tempt people to serious sin. But what St. Jean Vianney lacked in scholarship, he more than made up for in sanctity. That's what Ars needed and it's what we need today as well: Holy priests. MANY HOLY PRIESTS.
Don't we face the same kind of paganism today that St. Jean found in Ars? Perhaps it's even worse today. Surely the peasants and farmers knew that men were men and women were women!
How can people be so delusional that they think cutting off body parts and artificially constructin new ones can change boys into girls and girls into boys? How can anyone believe that killing a baby through all nine months of pregnancy or permitting infanticide is a parental choice like Ralph Northam, a pediatric surgeon who served as governor of Virginia?
We are ruled by madmen who, like the emperor in the fairy tale, are buck naked in their pride and arrogance as they play God and blaspheme Him. Yes, Joe and Nancy and Tim and Gavin -- I'm talking about you.
We need holy priests pushing back against blasphemy and error.WE NEED MANY HOLY PRIESTS.
When Fr. Jean Vianney arrived near Ars looking for the village he got lost and asked a young boy to lead him there. After he arrived, he told the youngster, "You have shown me the way to Ars; I will show you the way to heaven." He spent the rest of his life doing just! Ars was converted from an essentially pagan community into a model of piety and virtue.
How did he do it? Through patience, prayer, penance, and perseverance. He never left Ars but spent his life working for the salvation of the souls in his parish. His holiness drew many to the little village to confess to its humble pastor.
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| Hello, Jesus, here I am; I want to be your little lamb! |
Humility -- It's the secret of great holiness. May we all strive to be little humble children of God, little enough to fit into Christ's Sacred Heart. Fr. John Hardon, S.J. who died in 2000 proved that the words "holy Jesuit" don't have to be an oxymoron. He often said that only faith-filled, little, humble people go to heaven. Let us strive to be those little, humble people, the little lambs. because when you are a little, humble lamb, the Good Shepherd will carry you. Can you imagine a more wonderful place to be than in Christ's arms?
Happy Sunday and last day of June, the month of the Sacred Heart.
Most Sacred Heart of Jesus, I place all my trust in You!
Amen!
ReplyDeleteOur newly ordained deacon baptized grandbaby #2 yesterday. Apparently it was his 1st (ordination last month). Oh, did he do a beautiful job. He radiated such joy of the Lord. He will be a wonderful priest.
You said: “Ars was converted from an essentially pagan community into a model of piety and virtue. How did he do it? Through patience, prayer, penance, and perseverance. He never left Ars but spent his life working for the salvation of the souls in his parish.”
ReplyDeleteI’ve spent the last ten years trying to solve the Papal riddle. I converted to the Catholic Faith 16 years ago. Slowly, but surely, this Papacy controversy eroded my faith so that not much was left at the foundation.
So I went on sabbatical from the controversy for a time. I spent time focusing more on recovering my initial fervor for the Faith, read the Schneider Credo Catechism for example, calmed down, focused on my family, adopted another child …
We are never going to solve the Papacy.
We can, however, become personally holy.
It is easy to solve problems far away.
It is difficult to solve problems inside and nearby.
St John Vianney should be the Patron Saint of Laymen, for he was our champion. Stay in your lane. Find God. Repent of personal sin. Do tangible good. Be at peace. The Church exists outside of all current controversy. We do our duty in our station in life. Trust that other Catholics will do theirs. God reigns!
Such a great saint! I saw his statue in my spiritual director's office today and experienced a moment of thanksgiving. Thank you for another wise comment. The answer to every problem is your statement, "We can...become personally holy." Everything: joys and sorrows, praise, persecution, and slander -- they are all opportunities to grow in holiness. That's what my spiritual director tells me about how to handle the soap opera dramas of life. I'm working on it.
ReplyDeleteThanks, Aqua and Mary Ann. St. John Vianney is one of my favorites. And we need to be reminded frequently in these spiritually distracting times of just those truths mentioned by Aqua. I was grateful for the reminder.
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