11 November 1991
Siena, Italy

The saint whom the Church is honoring today may seem a long way from us in time, but not so far in distance, for as a young boy he spent some time in Pavia. St. Martin lived towards the end of the fourth century, and the scene of his apostolic labors was for the most part in France. Let me introduce him to you. Martin is a young soldier, a conscript doing his military service. He is not baptized. One night in a dream he sees Jesus Christ, dressed in half the cloak which he had given to a poor man. He hears a voice saying: "Martin has covered Me with his cloak."

Martin spent ten years as a monk in the desert. Then one day, moving into the city, he found the people were looking for a Bishop and they tried to persuade Martin to accept the office. He refused. Then the people played a trick on him. They called him out to see a sick person. Martin went and the crowd swept him along to the Cathedral where the Bishops of the Province were gathered to choose a new Bishop for the city of Tours. When the Bishops saw Martin, they were not impressed by the people's choice. His hair was unkempt and he was poorly dressed. The priests and people insisted and their wishes prevailed. Martin became Bishop of Tours. We, like the Bishops of St. Martin's day, tend to judge by appearances. We meet people in fine clothes and discover that they are in reality poor persons, while we meet people clad in very poor clothes and discover them to be very fine and rich persons. Martin proved to be a very good Bishop. By boat, by donkey, by foot, he visited the most remote areas of his diocese. He encountered many difficulties. When his health failed him and he was near death, the people gathered round and said to him: "Martin, do not leave us." Martin's prayer was: "Lord, if I am still needed for your people, I do not refuse the work and may Your Will be done." Martin died on the 8 November 397.

St. Martin's prayer is a very sensible one. Often we meet elderly people who ask: "Why does God leave me in life, when I am becoming such a burden to myself and to other people?" The only answer that we can give is to be found in St. Martin's prayer: "Lord, if I can be of service to You...." God leaves us in life only as long as we can be of service to Him, not a moment more, not a moment less. We tend to judge by appearances, and we can be so mistaken at times. When we are young, strong and active, we seem to accomplish much. People may speak in admiration of what we achieve. All appearances seem to indicate that we are rendering much service to God and to His Church. When we are old, all appearances seem to indicate that we are largely useless to God and to His Church. We could be wrong in thinking that we are offering God little service when we are suffering from what Father Teilhard de Chardin calls "the diminishments of sickness and old age."

At the end of his life St. Vincent reflected much on the mercy of God, and on the importance of showing mercy and compassion to each other in our weaknesses. In both St. Vincent and St. Martin love and mercy shone out in their characters and, as with so many saintly people, the older they grew, the more tender they became.