LISTEN
God is Calling You“If today you hear his voice, harden not your hearts.” – Psalm 90.
God’s grace, blessings, and love are so vast, so strong.
Don’t ignore Him.
Resist being distracted or fooled – preoccupied by the challenges of life.
God has a plan for each of us. We have to silence our world listen to Him.
An ideal role model for this is found in the life of St. John Vianney, whose memorial we honor on August 4.
Many are familiar with him, because he is the patron saint for parish priests. He was one for 41 years in France.
It is said he had hopes of living the contemplative life devoted to prayer as a sequestered monk, but God’s plan for him was to share his love of prayer and the sacraments by shepherding in the Church. It wasn’t easy, but he put aside his own wishes. He redefined his goal to “win many souls for God.”
He was human. He struggled, faced challenges, personal turmoil, and grew up in a time, when religious persecution stole from him and the faithful of the Church in France the joy of publicly celebrating the sacraments in a physical church, before grand art of saints, a life size crucifix, and ornate candelabras.
Vianney was born on May 8, 1786, in Dardilly, France. His parents Matthew and Marie Vianney had six children. They were devout Catholics and ran a humble farm. Life was simple and God was the center of their lives.
When St. John Vianney was three the French Revolution aimed to destroy the French monarchy which had strong roots in the Catholic Church. Priests went into hiding. Churches closed. Faithful had to gather unsuspectedly and plot out how they could celebrate and honor the Sacraments. Most of the time they were done so in near silence in cellars or barns and often in the dark of night.
Saint John Vianney made his first confession at the age of 11, not in his parish, but in his family’s living room.
He made his First Holy Communion at 13 in his neighbor’s kitchen.
Through the grace of God these life experiences propelled St. John Vianney’s determination to listen and be close to Christ.
FIND JOY IN GOD’S PRESENCE
Look to St. John Vianney for inspiration, treasuring Christ’s True Presence in the Eucharist. Call upon him to help us not take Mass for granted.
As we honor this holy priest of God, reflect upon the importance of the priesthood. He once said, “If I were to meet a priest and an angel, I would greet the priest first and then the angel…. If there were no priest, the Passion and death of Jesus would serve no purpose. What use is a treasure chest full of gold if there is no one who can unlock it? The priest has the key to the treasures of Heaven.”
Saint John Vianney died at the age of 73 on August 4, 1859.
His incorrupt body is in a glass reliquary at the main altar in the Basilica of Ars, in Ars, France.
Saint John Vianney, pray for us!
