August 4 is the Memorial Feast of St. Jean-Marie
Vianney.
St. Jean-Marie Vianney (1786 -1859) is known as the “Cure d'Ars”, which means the “pastor of
Ars”.
During the time of Jean Vianney in the 19th
century, the laïcité (secularism) was
aggressively sweeping France upon the French Revolution of 1789. In this social
context, the Catholic Church was persecuted by the newly formed secular civil
government as an enemy of people (λεώς /leos)
from which the word, laïcité, is
derived. Because of this, many priests of the Church were killed and deported.
Some apostatized. So the Church was in crisis, and people of the Church were
like the “sheep without a shepherd”(Matthew
9:35). And it was the reality that God sent Jean Vianney as a “cure” to the village of Ars, France.
Given the above-described social and historical
context, the situation in which Jean Vianney served as the “Cure d'Ars” was like the situation of
villages and towns where Jesus kept himself busy in peaching in their synagogues,
proclaiming the gospel of the kingdom, and curing every disease and illness
(Matthew 9:35). As Jesus was moved with
compassion (ἐσπλαγχνίσθη/ esplanchnisthe)
for Galileans who were like sheep without a shepherd (Matthew 9:36), so was
Jean Vianney, the “Cure d'Ars” for people
in the village of Ars and beyond.
Because there was a severe shortage of priests but pastoral needs were
high, Jean Vianney worked tirelessly with extraordinary love which manifested
also in his patience (i.e. 1 Corinthians 13:1), and endurance (i.e. 1
Corinthians 13:7).
As in the case of Jesus, Jean Vianney was deeply moved
with compassion and acted out of love for those in need, as Jesus was, he
established an orphanage, La Providence,
in 1824, and taught catechism for the orphans. He also is known to have spent
12 hours a day hearing confession of his people, caring for their souls. And
those who sought him out for confession and pastoral counseling mounted up to
as many as 20,000 a year. How many priest today do you know to serve in such an
astonishing pastoral capacity as Jean Vianney did?
Another character of Jean Vianney is that he set
himself apart from the Church’s hierarchy. So he turned down when he was called
for an ecclesiastical promotion in order to stay closer to his “sheep” so that
they would never be like “sheep without a sheep” again. And this aspect of him
is reflected in Ezekiel, who was called to serve as a sentinel (watchman) for
the House of Israel during a difficult time of the Babylonian Exile, as both
priest and prophet for the Israelites, as reflected in the First Reading
(Ezekiel 3:17-21). Unlike Temple priests in Jerusalem, Ezekiel’s role as a
priest and a prophet for the House of Israel was mainly in exile in Babylon.
The original Temple was completely destroyed by Babylonians during the Siege of
Jerusalem in 587 BC. Many priests were killed. Because of this, Israelites who
survived the Babylonian attack of Jerusalem and were put in exile in Babylon
were like “sheep without a shepherd”. So, God sent Ezekiel for them.
Out of his compassion, Jesus figuratively said on the greater
pastoral needs of Galileans who were like sheep without a shepherd, “The harvest is abundant but the laborers are
few; so ask the master of the harvest to send out laborers for his harvest”
(Matthew 9:37-38). And this was what Ezekiel faced as the “cure” for the House of Israel in exile and what St. Jean-Marie
Vianney responded to in Ars, France, during the post-revolution period of aggressive
secularization in order to watch out and care for the souls of the faithful.
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