13 September 1985
Concepcion, Panama

My dear Brothers and Sisters in Jesus Christ,

How happy I am to be celebrating Mass here in what is a very Vincentian group. We have present here this evening members of St. Vincent's two Communities. We have also members of the Society of St. Vincent de Paul, that Society which through Frederic Ozanam takes its inspiration from the life and work of St. Vincent de Paul. We all have a special love for Mary, the Mother of God and our Mother. That reminds us of the rue du Bac in Paris, for it was there in the Mother House of the Daughters of Charity that Our Lady appeared and gave to the world the medal which God's people have called miraculous. Certainly during his lifetime, St. Vincent could not have envisaged such a representative gathering as this. In a film of his life that was made three decades ago, there is a marvelous scene towards the end, where Queen Anne of Austria is talking to St. Vincent. St. Vincent is now an old man and the Queen is reminding him of all that he achieved during his lifetime. St. Vincent keeps shaking his head and saying that he has done nothing. The Queen insists further and St. Vincent repeats again: "l have done nothing." Finally the Queen gets somewhat impatient with the Saint and says to him: "If you say you have done nothing in your lifetime for God, what must we do?" St. Vincent's eyes light up and he turns to the Queen and speaks one word: "More."

St. Vincent's name will always be associated with charity. Those of us who have had the privilege of reading and reflecting on his life, can see that there is much more to the man than a very competent organizer of relief for the poor. Perhaps he would say that after his devotion to the Person of Jesus Christ and His Mother, what was most important for him was humility. He believed that if a person was truly humble before God and man, God would do great things through him or her. It is interesting to note that on one occasion when St. Vincent was talking about humility to his close collaborators, he quoted a remark of the Saint whom the Church is honoring today, St. John Chrysostom. He said: "God has sent us to serve and evangelize the poor...in a humble, gentle and familiar way. That is why we can apply to ourselves what St. John Chrysostom said in one of his homilies that as long as we remain sheep by a true and genuine humility, not only will we not be devoured by wolves but we will even convert them into sheep. On the contrary, once we abandon this humility and simplicity... we will lose the grace which is attached to it." (Coste XI, Fr, ed., pp. 61-62).

Hundreds of years separate St. Vincent de Paul from St. John Chrysostom, but both of them read the same Gospels, celebrated the same Mass, recited the same Creed, and both of them had a burning love for the poor. Listen to St. John Chrysostom as he preached one day to his people:

Would you honor the body of Christ? Do not despise His nakedness. Do not honor Him here in Church, clothed in silk vestments, and then pass Him by unclothed and frozen outside. Remember that He Who said, `This is My Body' and made good His words, also said, `You saw Me hungry and gave Me no food' and insofar as you did it not to one of these, you did it not to Me. God has no need of golden vessels but of golden hearts. I am not saying that you should not give golden altar vessels and so on, but I am insisting that nothing can take the place of almsgiving....Consider that Christ is that tramp who comes in need of a night's lodging. You turn him away and then start laying rugs on the floor and draping the walls, hanging lamps on silver chains on the columns. Meanwhile the tramp is locked up in prison and you never give him a glance. Well, again, I am not condemning munificence in these matters. Make your house beautiful, by all means, but also look after the poor, or rather, look after the poor first.... Adorn your house, if you will, but do not forget your brother in distress. He is a temple of infinitely greater value. (Homily Brev., Sat., Week 21, Office of Readings).

Of the two saints, Vincent de Paul and John Chrysostom, St. John Chrysostom was called upon to suffer more for the faith. Twice as Bishop, plots were made against him and his enemies forced him into exile. On the first occasion it was the Empress at the time who was responsible. Shortly after she had succeeded in banishing him to a remote place, an earthquake took place. She took fright, seeing it as a sign of God's anger, and she called John Chrysostom back, to the delight of all the people. However, other enemies plotted against him, and he was abducted and brought to an even more remote place. The rigors of the winter weakened his health and he told his captors that he was going to die. He requested the Sacraments and then asked to be clothed in priestly vestments. When that had been done, he continued to pray. His final words were: "Glory be to God for all things."