27 September 2023 –Homily for Wednesday of the 25th week of ordinary time – St Vincent de Paul – Ezra 9:5-9

     Ezra was a scribe and priest at the time the Jews returned from the Babylonian exile in the 6th century BC. In our first readings this week, we have two readings from the Book of Ezra before we move on to readings from other prophets. Ezra is very upset about how the people of Israel had sinned and turned their backs on God. Being in exile was a dramatic and horrific experience for them, but they had intermarried with the local people and had abandoned their faith and religious traditions for different pagan religions. Ezra called the people to return to God’s law, but he was angry at how slowly the people were responding. Ezra displays a simple humility in the way he approaches God in our reading today. 

     This same sense of humility is displayed in the saint we celebrate today: St. Vincent de Paul, a French priest who died in in the middle of 17th century, but whose influence is still felt strongly in our world today. De Paul founded two influential religious orders in his lifetime: the Vincentians and the Daughters of Charity. His compassion and humility in serving the poor served as the inspiration for the Society of St. Vincent de Paul, which was founded by Frederic Ozanam and his companions at the University of Paris in 1835.  This Society is known throughout the world for the way it serves the poor as an expression of our Catholic spirituality. When I served as Associate Pastor of St Richard parish in Jackson, I had the privilege of being on the ground floor of forming a conference of the Society of St. Vincent de Paul at that parish, where it has become an important presence in serving the poor in northeast Jackson area. I have seen a lot of parishioners have their lives changed dramatically through their ministry with the St. Vincent de Paul Society, as I have also seen the ways this society has changed the lives of those who have received help.

      St. Vincent de Paul taught that true charity does not only consist of distributing alms and giving financial assistance, but also in helping the poor feel the fullness of their human dignity. He taught that our good works should not be separated from our faith, but rather flow out of our faith. He counseled that to be men and women of action and good works, we must also be men and women of prayer and deep spirituality. He advises us: “You must have an inner life, everything must tend in that direction. If you lack this, you lack everything.”

        May we give thanks to the Lord for the way his holy word interacts with our lives, for the many ways that God’s word indeed is with us.