St. Vincent de Paul
One
Today we celebrate the feast of St. Vincent DePaul.
His life is a striking example of trust in Divine Providence. Vincent lived from 1576-1660. He was ordained in 1600 but did not finish his studies until October 1604. When he graduated, he was saddled with a large student loan. Nothing changes! In 1605 good news came that a family friend had died and left him some money to pay for his debt. To retrieve it he had to travel by ship to and from Marseilles through the Mediterranean. As he was returning, with the money in hand, their ship was overtaken by Muslim pirates and Vincent was captured and taken to Tunis as a slave. I wonder if that was a good enough reason to defer his loan?
At Tunis, Vincent was auctioned off. His first owner was a fisherman, but Vincent was always sea-sick, so he was sold. His next master, an alchemist and inventor soon died and he was sold a third time. This owner happened to be a former Franciscan priest from Nice, France, who himself had been captured and made a slave. But he converted to Islam to gain his freedom, moved to the mountains and was living with his three wives. The second wife, a Muslim by birth, was captivated by the peace she experienced around Vincent so she visited him often as Vincent worked in the fields especially when she heard Vincent singing the Salve Regina. She asked him many questions about his faith and through this good conversation she became convinced Jesus was God and Catholicism was the true religion. She admonished her husband for renouncing Christianity. Her husband became remorseful that he decided to go back to France and take Vincent with him. But it was not easy to leave Islam without being killed. They waited ten months, but finally they secretly boarded a small boat and crossed the Mediterranean, landing in France in June 1607, after more than two years of slavery for Vincent.
Two
Return to France
Upon returning to France, Vincent became a Parish Priest, preaching a mission to the rural peasants, who in those days were basically slaves to the landowners, reminded him of his own harsh captivity and he was inspired to direct all his efforts to the care of the poor.
He began to ask the wealthy of Paris to donate money for the care of the poor. With these funds, Vincent ran many missionary projects, founded hospitals, took care of victims of war, and ransomed 1,200 galley slaves from North Africa.
The efforts of St. Vincent DePaul have ultimately developed into 268 charitable organizations in 132 countries, serving hundreds of millions of people each year.
But let me ask you this, without his own experience of slavery, do you think he would have taken the path he did in his ministry?
In what appears to us the worst possible circumstances, God our Almighty Father is working behind the scene to guide the drama of our life in the most amazing way, if we trust him.
Three
What Governs the World?
I was speaking to a large gathering of young adults and I asked them, “What governs the world?” They said, “Nothing!” The world came from nothing, and the world will end in nothing. So nothing governs the world except random chaos.” What a sad way to look at life. This false idea, which could be called Nihilism has a long history.
Friedrich Nietzsche is perhaps the most famous proponent of the belief that life has no inherent meaning or value. Nihilist’s like him have misinterpreted developments in physics and cosmology, such as the Big Bang theory and quantum mechanics, to present a picture of the universe where random processes are behind everything.
But something cannot come from nothing, and the order and beauty of the universe cannot arise from chaos. Therefore, the universe must have been created and directed by an intelligent being—God. Since being is good and God is the source of all being, then God must be all good. That is the only reasonable way to look at the world and isn’t that a much better way!
The correct way to look at the world and life is this: A good God created a good world, and he made you very good and He is guiding everything toward the greatest conclusion. That is the way St. Vincent DePaul saw his life.
Even though God permitted Vincent to be captured and enslaved for two years, God allowed it to bring about an even greater good, that Vincent would be moved by this experience to serve countless poor and slaves and to inspire 400 years of charitable work in his wake.
Four
How will we respond to the trials and suffering of life?
Divine Providence means God is so All-Powerful and Good that He can work all things to our greatest good. Even our sinful and stupid decisions if we turn back to him. However, we can ruin God’s Providence in our lives if we don’t trust him, take matters into our own hands and do sinful things and never turn back.
Think about it. If Vincent DePaul hadn’t trusted in God’s Providence, he might have responded to his enslavement by renouncing Christianity, becoming Muslim to gain his freedom, taking three wives and living the easy life. But Vincent responded with faith, with trust, with hope and love for God which carried him through the suffering and inspired him to go on to do great things for God and for others.
So, how will we respond to the suffering and trials of life?
Five
The Ultimate Purpose
When the storms of life rage, how will we respond? Our anchor is to know that nothing can happen to us unless God wills directly or allows. If God allows something painful or difficult, then it can only be that He is doing so for a greater good.
We must keep the ultimate purpose of life in mind. God created you for transforming union with him, so that you would be like God and live like God forever. This transforming union can only come about once we are stripped of all the earthly things we cling to for our identity, happiness and safety.
So, if you are going through a storm, remember this, God is allowing it to purify and strengthen you to be transformed to share in His divine life and be like Him. On top of that, if you let him, then He will be able to use you for even greater good in this life and for the good of many people.
So, no matter what, trust God because, as St. Catherine of Siena said, “Everything comes from love, all is ordained to the salvation of man, God does nothing without this goal in mind.”