Memorial of St. Vincent de Paul <\/em><\/p>\n (Haggai 2:1-9; Ps 43; Lk 9:18-22)<\/p>\n **********************************************<\/p>\n Jesus and Moses were golfing one day, and it turns out Jesus was a great fan of Tiger Woods. If he hit a great shot, he would exclaim, \u201cYes \u2013 just like Tiger Woods.\u201d If he hit a poor shot, he would lament, \u201cIf only I was like Tiger Woods.\u201d Then he hit a very bad shot over a pond of water. Moses said to Jesus, \u201cLord, do you want me to part the waters for you so you can go get your ball?\u201d Jesus replied, \u201cNo, I\u2019ll just walk over and get it myself,\u201d and proceeded to walk on the water to retrieve his ball. Another golfer came by, saw what was happening, and said to Moses, \u201cWho does that guy think he is, Jesus Christ?\u201d To which Moses replied, \u201cNo \u2013 Tiger Woods!\u201d<\/p>\n This little story connects with the gospel which highlights the identity of Jesus as the Messiah, the importance of finding our identity in him, and living it out through the Paschal Mystery.<\/p>\n Bishop Robert Barron points out the unique ontological nature of Jesus, in stating that \u201cWho am I?\u201d is a question no other founder such as St. Ignatius or leader such as Mahatma Ghandi would ever ask. Who Jesus is, is of critical importance, and so Jesus puts that question to his disciples. The answer from both the Synoptic Gospels and from Martha in the Gospel of John, is: \u201cYou are the Messiah, the Christ, the anointed Son of God.\u201d<\/p>\n As the long-awaited Messiah, Jesus actually had a three-fold mission \u2013 to redeem, to sanctify and to inaugurate the kingdom or reign of God here on earth. To redeem is to forgive, and to sanctify is to heal, thus Jesus would inaugurate his kingdom especially through forgiveness and healing. So, we must come to him to receive forgiveness of all our sins, and to experience healing of all our painful emotions and negative attitudes, our sinfulness \u2013 that which makes us sin.<\/p>\n The method the Father invited Jesus to use to accomplish his mission is called the Paschal Mystery, made up of six stages: his passion or suffering, his death on the cross, his resurrection from the dead, his appearances to his friends, his ascension into heaven, and finally, the outpouring of his Spirit on the early church at Pentecost. That was the event capping both the identity of Jesus and the mission that identity entailed.<\/p>\n The question Jesus posed to the disciples about his identity is also posed to us. Who do we think Jesus is? Having contemplated that question for many years, I now begin my holy hour each morning with this prayer of praise to him: \u201cLord Jesus Christ, totally receptive to the Father\u2019s love; humble, obedient, pure and faithful in response to that love; Son of God, Son of Man, Son of David; Savior, Redeemer, Word made flesh; sinless one, free from addiction, the Way, the Truth, the Life; the resurrection, suffering servant, crucified Messiah, sacrificial victim, risen Lord, victorious king.\u201d Perhaps each of us could come up with our own prayer proclaiming who Jesus is for us?<\/p>\n Identity is an important question for each of us as well. The late motivational speaker, Serge LeClerc, mentioned in his talks how all through his life as a gang leader in organized crime, he was searching for an identity, and discovered he could manipulate both the rich and famous because they were also searching for identity.<\/p>\n Mary Eberstadt, a Senior Research Fellow at the Faith & Reason Institute, wrote a book entitledPrimal Screams: How the Sexual Revolution Created Identity Politics. <\/em>In an interview about the book, she responded to what motivated her to write the book this way: \u201cFor several years, following the discussion over identity politics, I kept feeling as if something were missing. Conservatives and traditionalists tend to write off identity politics as the expression of overly coddled youngsters. Liberals and progressives tend to embrace such politics as a way of attaining power. In listening to the various manifestations of identity politics, I was struck by something else: Suffering. Rage. Despair. Watching footage of demonstrations by identity-first groups on campus, say, or reading the movement\u2019s characteristically furious prose, I was impressed by how rancorous this phenomenon is – and how sad.<\/p>\n A lot of people today really seem frantic to know who they are, frantic to attach themselves to collective and exclusive political groups based on shared characteristics like ethnicity or erotic longings – as opposed to universally shared humanity. That is a remarkable fact, and a remarkably moving one. I concluded that beneath the noise of identity politics lies something real: A desperation to find in collective identities some simulacrum of a family, at a time when the literal family of humanity and the figurative family of God are in decline across our civilization.\u201d<\/p>\n The commentary in The Word Among Us builds on this idea of family and relationships as a source of our identity. Our identity doesn\u2019t really exist in a card with our picture on it. Our identity exists in the web of relationships that define us and sustain us: our parents, siblings, close friends, children, colleagues. All of them helped shape us in ways no single card could ever contain.<\/p>\n Peter\u2019s response, then, to the question posed by Jesus, comes from the way his contact with Jesus had already indelibly marked and shaped him and eventually led him to give his entire life to following Christ, as well as sharing in his suffering and death (tradition tells us he was crucified upside down on a cross).<\/p>\n We can stand tall in our identity in Christ: We are children of a loving God, brothers and sisters of Jesus Christ, temples of the Holy Spirit, a Beatitude people, living in the reign of God by living the commandments to love God, others, ourselves and our enemies as Jesus has loved us.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n Our intimate relationship with Jesus will hopefully empower us to pick up our cross and follow him through our own version of those six stages of his Paschal Mystery \u2013 dealing with our hurt (passion) through forgiveness (ascension); dealing with our losses (deaths) by grieving (the appearances); going beyond surviving to thriving (resurrection) and enjoying the new eternal life of peace and joy only the Risen Jesus can give us (Pentecost).<\/p>\n![\"\"](\"http:\/\/archbishopsylvainlavoie.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/09\/St-Vincent-de-Paul-poster-300x158.jpeg\")
Today the Church honors someone who truly had an intimate relationship with Jesus Christ, and who followed his teachings to the full: \u00a0St. Vincent de Paul, founder of the Congregation of the Missions (Vincentians) and co-founder of the Daughters of Charity. Born in France in 1580, the son of a peasant farmer, Vincent attended university and was ordained at 20. His first inclination was to earn a good income, but appointed to the Queen\u2019s household, he came under the influence of B\u00e9rulle (later Cardinal), and became a changed man. Vincent devoted the rest of his life to acts of charity. He organized groups to provide food and clothing for all who were poor: orphans, prostitutes, the sick, the disabled and the homeless. He established a congregation to preach and to train clergy. He collected large sums of money for his many projects and his influence spread from France across Europe. He died in 1660, was canonized in 1737 and is patron saint of charitable societies.<\/p>\n