The saint we celebrate today is Philip Neri, who was born in Florence, Italy more than 500 years ago. It amazes me to hear about the great saints who lived in the tumultuous time of the Protestant Reformation, those who were contemporaries of Philip Neri, such as John of Avila, Frances de Sales, Ignatius of Loyola, Teresa of Avila, Frances Xavier, and John of the Cross. It struck me one year when I was serving as pastor of St James parish in Tupelo, three of the youth chose Philip Neri as their confirmation saint, primarily because they saw him as the patron saint of joy. It is important to feel joy in our lives, particularly in our life of faith, isn’t it? One priest described Philip Neri in this way: “Philip radiated joy. If we had encountered him on the street, we could see it coming a mile away. He had a ready laugh, a great sense of humor and profound holiness." Leaving Florence at 18 years old to go to Rome, on fire with the joy of the Gospel, he engaged people he met with the Word of God and the teachings of the Church. After founding a group of lay people who welcomed pilgrims to Rome, Philip became a priest himself and then founded an order of priests called the Congregation of the Oratory. Philip Neri’s model of engaging people in the Gospel message is something we can use in our modern era when we are called to a new evangelization. Through the reality of our lives, through sharing our faith and witnessing to others, may we also radiate this Gospel joy.
We hear Jesus ask Peter three times in the Gospel today if he loved him. When Peter affirmed that he did love Jesus, he was instructed to feed Christ’s lambs, to tend his sheep, and to feed his sheep. Indeed, if we love Christ, we will radiate that love through service to our neighbor. We have such great examples of this in the example of Philip Neri and many of the other saints. May our love of Christ be shown in our words and our actions each day.
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