Homily - Miraculous Medal Prayer Service (Joe Agostino, CM)
On that night filled with grace, the 27th of November 1830, St. Catherine Laboure experienced in Paris the appearance of Our Lady of the Miraculous Medal. She described herself at that moment as someone “immersed in delight.” So powerful was Mary’s presence to this young woman, just beginning the journey of her own life, that she said she did not even know if she still existed or not! (from the writings of St. Catherine Laboure, CMLH 77 -78)
213 years earlier, in remote French villages south of Paris, a young man, just beginning his life’s journey, had his own spiritual experience. Through the confession of a dying peasant and the need of a family ravaged by sickness and hunger, St. Vincent encountered the face of Christ in the poor. So inexplicable were the events that unfolded in his life, he felt that all that I see is a dream. (SVP:XI:326; CED:XII:7; CCD:XII:6).
400 years later, this 12th of October 2017, we, gather here in Rome immersed in delight, to celebrate the work that God has done in us and in his Church. God has turned Vincent’s dream into a testimony of God’s great love for those living in poverty as well as for those who care for them.
It is right to begin these three days together in prayer. It is here where we are rooted to the Gospel we proclaim – Jesus, risen and present in our midst – revealed to us in Word, in sacrament, and in the least of our brothers and sisters in the eyes of the world.
It is right that we also begin by honoring Mary. Vincent had a great affection for her maternal care, and a special devotion to her Immaculate Conception. We ask that Mary, our Lady of the Miraculous Medal, shower us with graces so that these days together may be a blessed beginning to the next stage of our Vincentian journey together.
We are here in Rome to give thanks to God for 400 years of a rich Vincentian legacy of evangelization and service to the poor. Over 100 branches and 2 million people claim as their own the fire of Vincent’s vision of Jesus Christ. And we are here to be renewed and inspired so that this same fire will spread even further.
We do not rest on the past – we build on it. We do not long for yesterday – we hope for tomorrow. We are not satisfied with accomplishments – we set out to make all things new. We are not locked in tired rhetoric – we raise prophetic voices that do not allow the poor to be forgotten. We are not mired in politics – we are lifted up by the Spirit which enables us to reverence the dignity of every human being.
We are Vincentians. We are blessed by God. We are under the mantle of the Miraculous Medal. And we are the disciples of Vincent, who bring the Good News of Jesus to the poorest of the poor, at the furthest ends of the earth. May God bring to completion the good work that has been(?) begun in us through Christ, our Lord. Amen.