Happy St. John Vianney Day to all in our parish! Today is a very special day indeed, in fact a “solemnity” in our parish, granted by our Bishop and the Church to us in honor of our holy patron, the parish priest of Ars, France, Saint Jean-Baptiste-Marie Vianney (which, being quite a mouthful - and in a French accent - we shortened to John Vianney in English…)

Fr. Vianney was famous in his own time, but not at first. In fact it’s hard to imagine anyone guessing that he would become universally known and an admired parish pastor. He was born poor and during a time when it was a death-sentence to be a priest in France. Not unlike the Cristiada in Mexico in the 1920’s, the years after the so-called “enlightenment” of the French revolution were full of terror and bloodshed. Yet, the pious young John secretly received his First Communion and Confirmation and when the government lifted some restrictions on the Catholic faith he became a priest and was sent to an unimportant and non-religious little village. For the next 41 years he administered sacraments and prayed. Interestingly he didn’t found any movements or engage in political revolutions. He “just” lived the life of a parish pastor with extraordinary love and zeal. And it seemed to convert half of France to Christ!

Pope Benedict XVI gave a beautiful reflection on St. John Vianney in 2009 in which he reflected on what made this saint such an effective pastor:

“Only if he is in love with Christ will the priest be able to teach his union, this intimate friendship with the divine Teacher to all, and be able to move people's hearts and open them to the Lord's merciful love. Only in this way, consequently, will he be able to instill enthusiasm and spiritual vitality in the communities the Lord entrusts to him.”

This is what we priests must do - and please pray for us! All priests look to St. John Vianney as a hero. Parish priests in particular are entrusted to him under his patronage - may we learn from his example, abide by his teaching, and receive help through his intercession. I am grateful to know how many of our faithful pray for me, for Fr. Brian, Fr. Andrew and Fr. Tom. We keep Jesus Christ front-and-center in our ministry and hope you will share Jesus’ Good News to everyone you know. Invite them to SJV for Mass, confessions, or one of our prayer events. Goodyear and Avondale may be quite a bit bigger than Ars, but we too can bring lots of souls to Christ like our patron St. John Vianney!

This Tuesday our school students return to classes - our faculty and staff have been doing an amazing job getting classrooms and lesson plans ready! It’s going to be a busy first month! Bishop Dolan encouraged all the new teachers of the Diocese last week to remember to avoid the dual temptations of only-work (and no quiet time to pray) and only-prayer (and never getting to work). Of course, it’s wise advice for all of us. We can tend toward activism that isn’t based in Jesus and not spending time with Him in prayer. We can also tend toward contemplation and devotions that never put into practice the charity Our Savior commanded. So, let’s keep it balanced - work and pray! I know our students will be!...

Have a great week, pray as a family, St. John Vianney pray for us all!

Fr. David

BACK TO LIST BACK