Divine Mercy is generous.
Hopeful.
Powerful.
Compassionate.
Glorious.
I am–
A pilgrim of mercy.
The saints are always around us, and their lives are intertwined with each other's and with ours. During my last couple of years of high school, the students would take turns visiting the homeless shelter in the seediest part of Sydney. The men were homeless primarily because of alcoholism. The place was called Matt Talbot's and was run by the St. Vincent de Paul Society. We would visit on Friday nights, serve the men their dinner, and then sit and talk to them. My introverted self didn't like that at all. But this is how Vincent de Paul, Frederic Ozanam, Rosalie Rendu, and Matt Talbot entered my life. And they have never been too far from me, each for their own reasons.
Vincent de Paul was a Catholic priest in France who was ordained in 1600 and dedicated his life to serving the poor. Known for his humility, compassion, and generosity, he was widely loved and admired by the people of his times.
Frederic Ozanam was a French scholar, journalist, and equal rights advocate. While at university, he gathered with his fellow students each week to debate various topics. One week, the conversation turned to the Catholic Church. Some began to argue that while the church had once been a source of good, it no longer was. One student issued the challenge that would forever change Frederic's life and the lives of millions of men and women around the world. This was his challenge, "What is your church doing now? What is she doing for the poor of Paris? Show us your works and we will believe you." Frederic reflected on the angry student's words and could not find fault with what he had said. At that moment, he decided a major theme of his life would be serving the poorest people in Paris. But he had no idea how to begin. He knew where to find the city's poor, but he didn't know how to approach them, what they needed most, or how best to help them.
His reading led him to be inspired by a priest who had lived in France 200 years earlier, Vincent de Paul. Further reading led him to discover that one of Vincent's followers, Sister Rosalie Rendu, was currently serving the poor in the slums of Paris. Friedrich approached Sister Rendu and asked her to help him and his fellow students develop a method to serve the poor that could easily be taught to more and more students over time. The other students did come, inspired by Frederick's appeal to them. Sister Rendu mentored them and helped them develop a method to serve the poor. This would become the method that the St. Vincent de Paul Society uses even to this day in dozens of countries around the world. It focuses on visiting the poor in their homes, assessing their real and present needs, and discerning how the society can best help each person or family. Frederick Osenham ultimately founded the St. Vincent de Paul Society. He did it out of humility and a deep sense of gratitude to both the man who inspired him to believe it was possible to effectively serve the poor and the woman who mentored him and his friends into practical realities of that work. Saint Vincent de Paul and Sister Rosalie Rendu. Matt Talbot was an Irish dock worker and an alcoholic from the age of 12. When he was 28 years old, he pledged never to drink alcohol ever again. And he kept that pledge for the next 40 years until the day he died. He spent those 40 years working hard, paying back his debts, giving everything he had to the poor, sleeping on nothing but a wooden plank, and praying for several hours a day. After his death, Talbot became an icon of Ireland's temperance movement and his story spread around the world. He is quoted as saying, "Never be too hard on the man who can't give up drink. It's as hard to give up the drink as it is to raise the dead to life again. But both are possible and even easy for our Lord. We have only to depend on Him." Today, one of Dublin's bridges bears his name, as do many addiction clinics and homeless shelters around the world, from Warsaw to Nebraska, to Sydney.
And that is how, at 17 years of age, I found myself feeding the poor and talking to a group of homeless men on a Friday night. I didn't know it at the time, but I was being taught one of the most difficult yet essential lessons of the Christian life. We are called to have a relationship with the poor. Do you have a relationship with the poor? If we want to have a personal relationship with God, a personal relationship with the poor is vital. The good we do is never lost. It never dies. The good we do lives on in other people, in other places, and in other times. We saw that with John Newton and his role in the abolition of slavery. And we see a similar ripple effect in the life of St. Vincent de Paul. Nearly 500 years ago, he set out to serve the poor in his own place and time. His goodness has been echoing in the lives of other men and women ever since, including my own. No act of mercy can ever be considered small. No act of love is insignificant. Each act of love and mercy has historic implications. Everything God created in the universe and beyond is connected. Our holy moments let out a holy ripple effect around the world. And our holy moments reverberate around the world in ways we cannot imagine. There are plenty of reasons to feel discouraged, overwhelmed, powerless, and frustrated in today's world. But no amount of darkness can overcome the light. Vincent de Paul, Frédéric Ozanam, Sister Rosalie Rendu, and Matt Talbot all faced tremendous discouragement at times. It would have been so easy for them to give up, to retreat into a comfortable life, but they didn't. They pressed on, persevering in humble service. And the good they did lives on today. Saint Vincent de Paul, pray for us. Trust, surrender, believe, receive.
Did you know there are 57 amazing moments of engagement during the Mass? Did you know each and every one of them connects with your daily life and teaches us something about the genius of Catholicism? Did you know this year, we will finish our extraordinary program about the mass so that everyone can learn about these 57 moments of engagement in the mass? If you are a Dynamic Catholic Ambassador, thank you. And this is what we are spending your money on this year. If you are not, I invite you today to become a Dynamic Catholic Ambassador, choose your welcome gift, and help us eradicate mass is boring from the Catholic vernacular. Click the button below and remember, Be Bold, Be Catholic.
Eternal God.
In whom mercy is endless.
And the treasury of compassion inexhaustible.
Look kindly upon us.
And increase your mercy in us.
That in difficult moments, we might not despair.
Nor become despondent.
But with great confidence.
Submit ourselves to your holy will.
Which is love and mercy itself.
Amen.
Amen.
Amen.
See you tomorrow.
Thank you, Ambassadors.
You are changing the world. Have a great day.
Have a great day.
Have a great day!
Hey, Walter. One of the best ways to be a pilgrim of mercy is to collaborate with God to create holy moments. So I figured, while we have a couple of moments, you could inspire the audience a little bit. So let me ask you, what is the holy moment challenge for today?
Do something active
