We give thanks to the Saints of France

Today was a travel day from France to Italy, a journey of about 6 hours

Morning Prayer 

1 Timothy 1:3-11

I thank my God whenever I think of you; and every time I pray for all of you, I pray with joy, remembering how you have helped spread the Good News from the day you first heard it right up to the present.  I am quite certain that the One who began this good work in you will see that it is finished when the Day of Christ Jesus comes.  It is only natural that I should feel like this towards you all, since you have shared the privileges which have been mine: both my chains and my work defending and establishing the gospel.  You have a permanent place in my heart, and God knows how much I miss you all. loving you as Christ Jesus loves you.  My prayer is that your love for each other may increase more and more and never stop improving your knowledge and deepening your perception so that you can always recognise what is best.  This will help you to become pure and blameless, and prepare you for the Day of Christ, when you will reach the perfect goodness which Christ Jesus produces in us for the glory and praise of God.

Reflection

As we leave France today we can paraphrase the words of St Paul to Timothy to the holy men and women of France, our ancestors in faith, who we have journeyed with in our days here... Marcellin Champagnat and his brothers, Jean-Baptiste Pompallier and the first Marists, Suzanne Aubert, John Vianney and Peter Chancel... We think of the seeds of faith that say sowed in the founding of the Church in New Zealand.

I thank my God whenever I think of them, and every time I think of  all of them, I pray with joy, remembering how they helped spread the Good News and how it is continues to be spread because of them right up to the present.  

I am quite certain that the One who began this good work in you will see that it is finished when the Day of Christ Jesus comes as we recognised we are part of the great of faith hope and love from the seeds they have sown and who find their origin in Christ Jesus. 

You have a permanent place in our hearts, loving you as Christ Jesus loves you.  

My way together with you become pure and blameless, as continue prepare for the Day of Christ on our pilgrim journey, with you and all the saints we will reach the perfect goodness which Christ Jesus produces in us for the glory and praise of God.

Mass today 

Mass today was again in Cuet where we had the readings and prayers of St John Vianney... It was wonderful to be joined by some of the locals and to have Fr Pierre-Yves pray the concelebrants part of the Eucharistic Prayer in French... With some prayers and hymns in Māori it was a great expression of the catholicity of the Church and the connection of the Church in France and the Church in New Zealand over the years...

Ezekiel 3:17-21

The word of the Lord was addressed to me as follows, ‘Son of man, I have appointed you as sentry to the House of Israel. Whenever you hear a word from me, warn them in my Name. If I say to the wicked, “You are to die,” and you do not warn them; if you do not speak and warn them to renounce their evil ways and so live, then they shall die for their sins, but I will hold you responsible for their death. If, however, you do warn the wicked and they do not renounce their wickedness and their evil ways, then they shall die for their sin, but you yourself will have saved your life. 

When the upright renounce their integrity to do evil and I set a trap for them, they too shall die; since you failed to warn them, they shall die for their sin and the integrity they practised will no longer be remembered; but I will hold you responsible for their death. If, however, you warn the upright not to sin and they abstain from sinning, they shall live, thanks to your warning, and you too will have saved your life.’

O praise the Lord, all you nations,
acclaim him all you peoples!

Strong is his love for us;
he is faithful for ever.

Matthew 9:35-10:1

Jesus made a tour through all the towns and villages, teaching in their synagogues, proclaiming the Good News of the kingdom and curing all kinds of diseases and sickness.

And when he saw the crowds he felt sorry for them because they were harassed and dejected, like sheep without a shepherd. Then he said to his disciples, ‘The harvest is rich but the labourers are few, so ask the Lord of the harvest to send labourers to his harvest.’

He summoned his twelve disciples, and gave them authority over unclean spirits with power to cast them out and to cure all kinds of diseases and sickness.

Reflection

Jesus made a tour through all the towns and villages, just as we have been touring the towns and villages and he himself has been teaching us as we hear of how the Good News of the kingdom was proclaimed and he raised up shepherds, men and women, who felt sorry for crowds because they were harassed and dejected, like sheep without a shepherd. 

And that is the story of John Vianney who could see how harrassed and dejected the people of his time were. John Vianney took sin seriously... as Jesus did... He knew sin was a power of death and destruction in us that had to be conquered. That is the message of the cross, but the power of the cross is greater than any sin and death itself, it the power of love and mercy that reaches out to all generations 

John Vianney knew the love of God and his love for us was the treasure beyond all treasures. And so he spent hours each day in the confessional so that the power of Christ crucified and risen might free us from our sin. He was not afraid to call out sin.

And nor must we... That is the message of Ezekiel in the first reading. But we don't call out sin in the way of division and anger and bitterness that is boiling in our world at present for so much of our modern rhetoric is becoming entangled with the Evil One, the Divider. 

We look to the way Christ spoke with sinners, to the way he loved them, and didn't give up on them even to death. We see the same attitude in the Cure of Ars. And we are reminded that we too as pilgrims have to help each other, calling out sin, not in a way that destroys but that leads to a change in hearts... and we are reminded that we too need to listen when people call fault in us. And all of this asks of us a humble heart, a heart that recognises we are but pilgrims together on the way to perfect love, and that God wishes the salvation of us all.

A pictorial reflection

In the light of this the stations of the cross from the Church of St Niziers, Suzanne Aubert's parish church, offer us a powerful reflection between our lives in our modern word and Christ's timeless sacrifice. Who is the Christ figure in the stations? Is he the people I beat up? Or is it perhaps a reflection of me when I feel beat up and crucified by others? And what about the other figures, those who sit in judgement, who are indifferent, or those who are compassionate. Where am I?