From the Vicar — August 11th, 2024
St. John Vianney, Pray for us and for our Priests
As I made mention of in the homily this past weekend, August 4th was the feast day of St. John Vianney, who is the patron saint of all parish priests! He is one of the very few parish priests to be canonized a saint, and is a great model for us of priestly life.
When St. John Vianney arrived as pastor of Ars, he was faced with many challenges, with many problems and obstacles that I’m sure he felt were beyond his strength to overcome. I think that we can feel the same sometimes, when we look at the state of our world, our country, or our family. When we think about those we know and love who have walked away from the faith. When we consider the problems facing us at work or at home. What do we do?
Fr. Mathias and I (and Fr. Miguel and Fr. Joe) attended St. John Vianney College Seminary in St. Paul, MN. In the chapel, behind the altar, there was a mosaic of five loaves and two fish. Why would this, of all things, be in a seminary chapel? Well, if you recall the gospel from two Sundays ago, these five loaves and two fish were brought to Jesus when there was a huge crowd, thousands of people that needed to be fed. The Apostles didn’t think it would be enough, and in human terms, they were right, but Jesus took the loaves and fish and multiplied them, and everyone had enough.
Now, wait a second... Jesus is God, right? The same God who created the Universe from nothing, right? Why did he need five loaves and two fish? Couldn’t he have just snapped his fingers and made Filet-o-fish sandwiches appear for everyone? Yes, he could have, but Jesus is teaching us an important lesson: what we do matters. What we bring to Him matters. The Lord delights in, and intends that we play a part in His saving work. A little part, certainly: five loaves, out of the twelve baskets full at the end. But an indispensable part. What if they hadn’t given those loaves to Jesus, but had kept them for themselves? There wouldn’t just have been five less loaves out of thousands: there would have been none.
When St. John Vianney arrived in Ars and saw the difficulties facing him, he didn’t just throw up his hands and give up, retiring to his rectory to watch the Olympics and eat French fries. No, he trusted that the Lord would use his priesthood, his prayers, his simple efforts, his five loaves and two fish, to bring about the transformation of his people. This was an invaluable lesson for us men at St. John Vianney Seminary, and speaks to us right where we are today. When faced with difficulties, challenges, with the call to evangelize and witness, it’s tempting to think, “what good will my small contribution or effort do? What difference will I make? What good are five loaves for so many?”
As I mentioned in the homily, we are all hungry for God. There are so many out there in the world today who are hungry, but have no idea where to look. Who are lost, and don’t know where to turn. Some are our co-workers, our neighbors, even members of our family, and we can struggle to know how to reach them. But take courage! If we are willing to pray, if we are willing to take opportunities to witness to them, to share the Gospel with them, God will take those simple efforts and bear great fruit. He will transform hearts! But, if instead, we keep our five loaves to ourselves out of fear, then our world will continue to starve.
If you would like to read more about St. John Vianney’s life and work in Ars, here is a good article on how he can give insight and inspiration to today’s priests.
And if you are looking to read even more about St. John Vianney’s life, there is an excellent biography called The Cure of Ars by Trochu.