18 October 1991
Belletanche, France

My dear Sisters,

Of the four Gospels, it is that of St. Matthew which St. Vincent in his conferences would seem to have quoted most frequently. However, I think the evangelist who most resembles St. Vincent in his temperament and in his thought is St. Luke, whose feast we are celebrating today.

St. Luke presents Our Lord as one who has a special interest in and love for the poor. It is St. Luke who throws most into relief the mercy of God and the concern which Jesus had for those who were considered sinners and marginals in society. It is St. Luke who brings out the prominent place which women played in the saving work of Jesus Christ. Is it not one of St. Vincent's great achievements that he discovered or rediscovered the important role women could play in mediating the tenderness of Christ to the needy and the sick and the handicapped people of his time? The present Pope wrote an encyclical on women in the Church today, and he gave the encyclical the title, Mulieris Dignitatem or The Dignity of Women. St. Vincent and St. Louise succeeded in giving to the women of their time a new sense of their dignity, a new appreciation of their capabilities of helping the poor to regain their self-respect, thus enabling them to live in a manner worthy of persons who had become adopted children of a heavenly Father.

The woman, who of all generations has received the greatest dignity from God, is the Virgin Mary of Nazareth. It is thanks to St. Luke that we know something of Mary's spiritual outlook. It is St. Luke who has given us the description of the five joyful mysteries of our rosary, and it is St. Luke who has given us Mary's Te Deum for the Incarnation, the hymn of her Magnificat.

Jesus Christ and His Mother were gentle persons. When he wrote his Gospel, St. Luke emphasized for us the gentleness of Jesus Christ. He did so in such a way that three hundred years later St. Jerome, a Father of the Church, said that St. Luke was "the scribe or the evangelist of the gentleness of Christ." Our age needs to be reminded of the gentleness of Christ. People protest strongly about many things today. No doubt there are at times good reasons to do so. Jesus Christ also protested against social abuses. Still we must not forget that He asked us to learn gentleness and humility from Him. St. Vincent cultivated gentleness and humility in his own life, in order that he might resemble Jesus Christ and thus be of greater service to the poor.

It is not always easy to be gentle. As the years advance and our bodily pains increase, we can become impatient easily with people and especially with those who live in community with us. We feel the pain of being more limited in what we can do, and we can seek relief sometimes from the pain of limitations by showing annoyance with the imperfections and limitations of other people. When we pray that lovely hymn, Ave Maris Stella, we ask Mary to make us "gentle and chaste." Yes, I think the person who is really gentle will be chaste, and the person who is really chaste will be gentle.

The Gospel of St. Luke is the Gospel of prayer. It is the evangelist, St. Luke, who makes most references to the fact that Jesus used to spend much time in prayer. He moved from prayer on the mountain to the work of teaching and healing the poor and suffering. Here in Belletanche I know that you give much time to prayer, my dear Sisters. I have no doubt that through your prayers and sacrifices you are winning many graces for our Vincentian family throughout the world. At times you may feel discouraged that your prayers do not bring more vocations to our Provinces, particularly here in Europe. You must be like St. Peter and keep launching out into the deep, even if you have worked all night and taken nothing. Your prayers and your sacrifices are like incense in God's sight. Because of them, the mercy of God is daily descending on your Company and making you pleasing in His sight.