St Vincent de Paul

Our vocation is to go and enflame the heart of men, to do what the Son of God did, He who brought fire into the world to set it alight with His love. What else can we wish for, than for it to burn and consume all things?” -St Vincent de Paul

On this Memorial of St Vincent de Paul we cannot help but be reminded of our calling to serve the poor to align our resources to those who suffer, who do not have adequate food, shelter, clothing, no means at all.  They are among us. And God calls to us to reach out to them as quickly and passionately as if they were brothers and sisters born of our own mother.  For Jesus came so that all men and women would be able to hear the good news and be fed his word and their needs would be met. 

Our brother Jesus Christ gathered us and paid our ransom so we could find the road and way to eternal life with out Father. He came and fed us spiritual food and understanding. And he then said, go love others. It is our calling not to hesitate to give what we can, help those we find in  out path, seek out those who are lost and need blessings we have been given to share. Sometimes that is just our time or prayer. Sometimes that is to make sure they have good food, shelter, clothing. That we do whatever we can to help them. Helping the poor provides the giver grace and it is to be seen as a prayer or further aligning our life with Christ. When we give nad help others out of love we received from Jesus Christ we are making our work, prayer, and so we form our actions and life more and more toward God. 

But we cannot just tell someone, go help others, and expect them to be changed by it. They may be changed by the action but it requires someone to be sustained by prayer and humility first. Prayer is everthing for the follower and must be the focus of our day. How we start and how we end. 

St Vincent said, 

“What food is to the body, prayer is to the soul, if persons were satisfied with taking a meal every three to four days, they would soon grow weak. . . they would be very weary, incapable of making any useful effort, and at last would have a body without strength or vigor. Soul not nourished by prayer becomes tired, weary, without strength, courage or power, a source of annoyance to others and unbearable to itself.”

It is why we must first attend to nourishing our soul and preparing it for our mission, to love others, to give to the poor, to do all we can that our society supports and provides for those who have not received the blessings we have. 

Helping the poor is not an option for the Christian. For we are to see others, and treat others, as our own flesh and blood. For it was through the flesh and blood of Jesus Christ we became children of God. And when we help the poor, we are attending to Jesus himself.

St john Paul II said, “Every day devote some time to conversing with God. This is the real proof of your love for Him, for love always seeks to be near the beloved. This is why prayer should be put before everything else. Whoever does not understand this or does not put it into practice cannot excuse himself by saying he has no time, he has no love”.

Saint John Paul II also said, “The more ready you are to give yourself to God and to others, the more you discover the authentic meaning of life.”

St Vincent de Paul is known for his charity, his singular focus on helping the widow, the prisoner, the poor. While our life may not be all consumed by this mission as St Vincent was. we should take it as our model as we strive to incorporate sharing our blessings with the poor for our own spiritual growth.

For loving others wherever we find them is a nonnegotiable commandment of Jesus Christ.