8/4/2016 – Friday of 17th week in Ordinary Time - St John Vianney - Matthew 13: 54-58

        Sometimes, we can be hemmed in and limited by our expectations.  The people of Jesus’ native town of Nazareth have expectations of him. They know him as the son of Mary and Joseph, as a boy and youth who grew up as a member of their community.  They didn’t expect him to enter the synagogue, teaching them in wisdom and with authority.  

         Sometimes we have expectations of ourselves that we need to overcome. Sometimes we don’t push ourselves and don’t expect ourselves to adhere to God’s laws and commandments. Sometimes we limit ourselves to the devotions and prayer styles that we have done for years.  Perhaps we don’t think it is necessary to grow and branch out in different ways in our faith..  Or perhaps we are being pulled away by other things, such as by the lure of the values of our secular world. 

         Many of the people of Ancient Israel rejected Jesus and teachings.  He was put to a violent death, the most humiliating kind of death in the Ancient Mediterranean World.  We also have the choice to accept or reject Christ’s teachings and message each day of our lives.  But, we need to remember, that we don’t have to travel on our faith journey by ourselves.  We have so many others around us on our journey to encourage us, to guide us, and to help us.  

           I thought of the saint we celebrate today - St John Vianney, who was born in France near the end of the 18th century.  He is known as the Cure of Ars from the name of the French village where he lived most of his life as a priest.  He was a student during the era of the French Revolution, a time in which the Catholic faith was being oppressed in France.  Vianney was known as the least capable student in his seminary.  He was ordained to the priesthood, even though he failed his final oral exam.  He was sent to a small French village where it was thought that he would do the least harm.  He led a very strict, devout life as a priest, with his example of faith speaking very loudly to his parishioners.  He became well-known for his preaching, for his compassion as a confessor, and for his spiritual direction.   He really touched the lives of the people.  As his reputation grew by word of mouth, Vianney had more then 300 people visiting him each day from different parts of France to hear him preach and to go to confession with him.  John Vianney is the patron saint of diocesan priests – he is certainly a great example for us, of someone who defied the expectation people had of him.   I will leave with a quote from John Vianney on a homily he did on happiness.  It contains a good message for us to take away from his spirituality: “My God, I give you my heart, and since you are so good as to give me another day, give me the grace that everything I do will be for your honor and for the salvation of my soul.”