In our first reading today, the prophet Joel calls the people to repent for their sins. He first calls repentance for the priests and for those who serve the Temple. He calls them out for their failure at their liturgical services. He then calls all the ordinary people to come to the Temple. They are called to repentance in prayer in the midst of community. Joel shows how important community is in our life of faith. There is a need for inward conversion for repentance by each individual, but there is a need to repent as a community as well.
As we hear the call to repentance today, I want to recognize a saint who died on this day back in 1853, although his feast day is officially commemorated tomorrow on September 9. Frederic Ozanam was a student at the University of Paris in the early 19th century. In the decades after the French revolution, the Church had allied itself with wealthy conservatives in society. Many in the working class and in academic circles felt alienated and separated from the mission of the Church. As a student in Paris, Ozanam felt moved by the extreme poverty he saw in the slums of that city. When other students challenged him regarding what actions the Christians were taking to help the poor, Ozanam and some friends organized what would become the Society of St Vincent de Paul, naming their group after the French priest who lived two centuries earlier and who had a great love for the poor. Ozanam later became a professor himself in Paris. He died at the young age of 40. Yet the Society of St Vincent de Paul is very well-known today for its outreach to the poor and the needy. May Blessed Frederic Ozanam be an inspiration to all of us.
No comments:
Post a Comment