September 27, 2004 - Monday, 26th Week in Ordinary Time
ST. VINCENT DE PAUL, Priest

LIKE CHILDREN

Readings:
Job 1:6-22; Ps 17:1bcd, 2–3, 6–7; Lk 9:46-50

Introduction

We commemorate today St Vincent de Paul, a man with a heart. All his life he was a friend of the poor and the suffering. To evangelize rural areas, he founded the Congregation of the Mission or Lazarists and for the benefit of the proletarian masses the Daughters of Charity, to whom he gave as their convents the streets of the city, the houses of the poor and the rooms of hospitals. He did also much for improving the education of future priests in the seminaries. The Church of France owes very much to this man of vision for its revival in the 17th century. He is the patron saint of works of for the poor.

Opening Prayer

Lord our God,
in a man of vision, St. Vincent de Paul,
we see your deep concern for the poor
and for the needs of the Church of his time.
Make us too poor and free,
let us weep with those who mourn,
hunger and thirst with those
who seek what is right and just,
that we may understand deeply
the needs of those who are in need.
Grant us this through Christ our Lord.

Liturgy of the Word

First Reading Introduction:
       Today we hear the beginning to the book of Job. Job is not historical but a reflection, mostly in a poetic form, on the existence of evil, particularly as it comes to good, innocent and God-fearing people. For his answer, because he lacks the perspective of eternal life, the author cannot go beyond this: God is wise, we are too small to understand him. God knows. Leave everything to him. Be patient and trust him.

First Reading: Jb 1:6–22

One day, when the angels of God came to present themselves
before the LORD, Satan also came among them. And the LORD
said to Satan, “Whence do you come?” Then Satan answered
the LORD and said, “From roaming the earth and patrolling it.”
And the LORD said to Satan, “Have you noticed my servant
Job, and that there is no one on earth like him, blameless and
upright, fearing God and avoiding evil?” But Satan answered
the LORD and said, “Is it for nothing that Job is God-fearing?
Have you not surrounded him and his family and all that he
has with your protection? You have blessed the work of his
hands, and his livestock are spread over the land.
But now put forth your hand and touch anything that he has, and surely he
will blaspheme you to your face.” And the LORD said to Satan,
“Behold, all that he has is in your power; only do not lay a
hand upon his person.” So Satan went forth from the presence
of the LORD.
And so one day, while his sons and his daughters were eating
and drinking wine in the house of their eldest brother, a
messenger came to Job and said, “The oxen were ploughing
and the asses grazing beside them, and the Sabeans carried
them off in a raid. They put the herdsmen to the sword, and I
alone have escaped to tell you.” While he was yet speaking,
another came and said, “Lightning has fallen from heaven and
struck the sheep and their shepherds and consumed them; and
I alone have escaped to tell you.” While he was yet speaking,
another messenger came and said, “The Chaldeans formed three
columns, seized the camels, carried them off, and put those
tending them to the sword, and I alone have escaped to tell
you.” While he was yet speaking, another came and said, “Your
sons and daughters were eating and drinking wine in the house
of their eldest brother, when suddenly a great wind came across
the desert and smote the four corners of the house. It fell upon
the young people and they are dead; and I alone have escaped
to tell you.” Then Job began to tear his cloak and cut off his
hair. He cast himself prostrate upon the ground, and said,
“Naked I came forth from my mother’s womb,
and naked shall I go back again.
The LORD gave and the LORD has taken away;
blessed be the name of the LORD!”
In all this Job did not sin, nor did he say anything disrespectful
of God.

Responsorial Psalm: Ps 17:1bcd, 2–3, 6–7

R. Incline your ear to me and hear my word.

Hear, O LORD, a just suit;
attend to my outcry;
hearken to my prayer from lips without deceit.
R. Incline your ear to me and hear my word.

From you let my judgment come;
your eyes behold what is right.
Though you test my heart, searching it in the night,
though you try me with fire, you shall find no malice in me.
R. Incline your ear to me and hear my word.

I call upon you, for you will answer me, O God;
incline your ear to me; hear my word.
Show your wondrous mercies,
O savior of those who flee
from their foes to refuge at your right hand.
R. Incline your ear to me and hear my word.

Gospel Introduction:
       Childlike, but not childish... We are God's children, yet not infants. We have to grow up constantly to the maturity of Christ, to remake with the help of the Spirit, our unity, the center of ourselves.

Gospel Reading: Lk 9:46-50

One day the disciples were arguing about which of them was the most important. But Jesus knew their thoughts, so he took a little child and stood him by his side. Then he said to them, "Whoever welcomes this little child in my name welcomes me; and whoever welcomes me, welcomes the one who sent me. And listen: the one who is found to be the least among you all, is the one who is the greatest."

Then John spoke up, "Master, we saw someone who drove out demons by calling upon your name, and we tried to forbid him because he doesn't follow you with us." But Jesus said, "Don't forbid him. He who is not against you is for you."

Commentary

SOMEONE said that a neurosis is a secret you don't know you're keeping. There must exist somewhere deep in us the mother of all neuroses (otherwise where would the little ones come from?). This would be the one to get to know. It has been given a name: it is the ego.

It's not me, it's the idea I have of me. That makes two of me. The first me (let's call me that) is dependent for life on an astronomical number of other creatures. There are more living beings (with their own DNA, different from mine) living in my body than there are people in the world! I am their planet, I am their mountains and rivers. They depend on me and I depend on them; if I sprayed them all to death (were that possible) I would die instantly.

This is not good news for the ego (that's the other me). This "me" thinks he's basically alone in the world, and that anything he gets (apart from what he got for nothing from his mother a long time ago) is due to his own efforts. He's a lonely competitor for just about everything, and he has his story to tell (which forgets to mention the many billions of creatures inside and outside his skin). So it's very important for him to be reassured that he's doing well. Or rather (since he doesn't really know who or what he is), that he's doing better than someone else.

The disciples of Jesus, like all of us, had the same problem. They were "arguing about which of them was the most important." Jesus took a child and said, You must become like children. Children were not romanticized in those days: a child was a nobody. You must become nobody, then there will be room in you for you-and for all the others.

General Intercessions

- For those who are the greatest in the Church, that they may serve with great dedication and without looking down on them the weakest, the poorest, those wounded in life, we pray:

- For the mighty of this earth, that they may care about the rights, the dignity and the well-being of especially the lowliest under their charge, we pray:

- For those who work in lowly jobs shunned by others, for those who have unhealthy and dangerous tasks, for those who care for the old and the handicapped, that we may appreciate them and that the Lord may reward them, we pray:

Prayer over the Gifts

Our God and Father,
here are bread and wine,
simple food and the drink of joy.
By this gesture of offering
we assume our responsibility for the poor.
With your Son, let us never remain indifferent
to the human and spiritual misery
of our brothers and sisters in need.
Accept the poverty of our hearts
and be our lasting riches,
through Jesus Christ our Lord.

Prayer after Communion

God, Father of the poor,
your Son has been here among us
and he has knocked at the doors of our hearts.
We have welcomed him,
but it was he who gave us to eat.
May we keep receiving him
and making him feel comfortable
every time someone begs for help
or, when in need, is too timid
to express where it hurts.
We ask you for this sensitivity
through Jesus Christ our Lord.

Blessing

"Whoever welcomes a child in my name welcomes me, says Jesus." Let us love children and learn from them; forget the ridiculous competition to be the greatest. May almighty God bless you, the Father, and the Son, and the Holy Spirit.

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