St Vincent Ferrer Leads Us By Example
St Vincent Ferrer's feast day was April 5th. This year it fell on Easter Monday, so the solemnity of Easter Week took precedence and his feast kind of slipped by. He's a good example for us Catholic men at work.
A Dominican priest, he lived in the 14th century. Dominican's, as you know, are the preaching order. So St Vincent preached a lot. But he a had a special vocation towards the end of his life. He preached penance in preparation for Judgment Day all across Europe for the last 20 years of his life. He let the people of Europe know that someday the world would end, that they would be personally judged by God before all the world. And he suggested that the best way to be prepared for that inevitable day was a life of penance.
St Vincent, son of a knighted father who helped the Christians conquer Valencia (taking it back from the Muslims) was also called upon by the king and other potentates of his day to assist in political matters. For example, he served as one of the judges who determined the next king of Aragon, after a dispute among potential candidates.
His preaching skills were so powerful that, in addition to his call to the faithful to live a life of piety and penance, he was thought to have been responsible for the conversion of many Jews (25,000) as well as many heretics (specifically a sect called the Waldensians).
So here was a man of great skill and great piety. He used his preaching ability to serve the Lord. He was called upon by the powerful to assist in negotiating delicate, important political matters.
Through it all, he led an austere life of personal penance and prayer. On top of all that, St Vincent also tended to sick children when he was stationed in Spain by the Domnicans and not traveling about.
So here we are, Catholic men in the workplace. Some of us work obscurely, some in the limelight. Maybe some one or two of you are involved in politics and the great public issues of the day.
Now we have St Vincent to remind us that no matter what our calling, no matter what our work, God comes first. Charity comes first. Work can never take precedence over God and charity.
It's up to us, in our own lives, to look and see what's really at the center of our lives. It's up to us to do the work God gave us to do, and to do it in a spirit of penance. It's up to us to keep prayer at the center of our daily activities. It's up to us to always give a charitable example to those around us and never be a source of scandal.
By our example, maybe some folks who have led a lukewarm life as Catholics will be inspired to love Christ as they see us love Him. Maybe some who don't know Christ will get to know Him when they see us at work, joyfully and earnestly doing our best.
And don't forget, in the end our work is important because we carry out God's will. That's why it's so important that we always give good example to anyone we work with or who might be observing us. We don't know the effect our work and how we do it has on others. But we pray through St Vincent that we can, each in our own way, work for His greater glory.
We must aspire to be saints, as St Vincent Ferrer was a saint. And we can pray to him, for his intercession, to help us in our struggle to be saints in this world, in the midst of our busy lives.
A Dominican priest, he lived in the 14th century. Dominican's, as you know, are the preaching order. So St Vincent preached a lot. But he a had a special vocation towards the end of his life. He preached penance in preparation for Judgment Day all across Europe for the last 20 years of his life. He let the people of Europe know that someday the world would end, that they would be personally judged by God before all the world. And he suggested that the best way to be prepared for that inevitable day was a life of penance.
St Vincent, son of a knighted father who helped the Christians conquer Valencia (taking it back from the Muslims) was also called upon by the king and other potentates of his day to assist in political matters. For example, he served as one of the judges who determined the next king of Aragon, after a dispute among potential candidates.
His preaching skills were so powerful that, in addition to his call to the faithful to live a life of piety and penance, he was thought to have been responsible for the conversion of many Jews (25,000) as well as many heretics (specifically a sect called the Waldensians).
So here was a man of great skill and great piety. He used his preaching ability to serve the Lord. He was called upon by the powerful to assist in negotiating delicate, important political matters.
Through it all, he led an austere life of personal penance and prayer. On top of all that, St Vincent also tended to sick children when he was stationed in Spain by the Domnicans and not traveling about.
So here we are, Catholic men in the workplace. Some of us work obscurely, some in the limelight. Maybe some one or two of you are involved in politics and the great public issues of the day.
Now we have St Vincent to remind us that no matter what our calling, no matter what our work, God comes first. Charity comes first. Work can never take precedence over God and charity.
It's up to us, in our own lives, to look and see what's really at the center of our lives. It's up to us to do the work God gave us to do, and to do it in a spirit of penance. It's up to us to keep prayer at the center of our daily activities. It's up to us to always give a charitable example to those around us and never be a source of scandal.
By our example, maybe some folks who have led a lukewarm life as Catholics will be inspired to love Christ as they see us love Him. Maybe some who don't know Christ will get to know Him when they see us at work, joyfully and earnestly doing our best.
And don't forget, in the end our work is important because we carry out God's will. That's why it's so important that we always give good example to anyone we work with or who might be observing us. We don't know the effect our work and how we do it has on others. But we pray through St Vincent that we can, each in our own way, work for His greater glory.
We must aspire to be saints, as St Vincent Ferrer was a saint. And we can pray to him, for his intercession, to help us in our struggle to be saints in this world, in the midst of our busy lives.
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