Memorial of St. John Baptiste-Marie Vianney (Part 1 of 2)

Excerpts from the Homily of Most Rev. Romulo Valles, D.D., Archbishop of Davao, during the Memorial of St. John Baptiste-Marie Vianney, August 4, 2020.

We have this special mass. I have requested that I celebrate this mass because as I indicated at the start of this liturgy, today the whole church celebrates the Memorial, the fiesta of St. John Marie Vianney. As I also indicated, all of us know that St. John Marie Vianney o St. John Vianney is considered (is put up)… is there for us to behold as the patron of priests, of your priests, of us priests. So, today is a double celebration in a sense that it is a special day for priests not only as they ask the prayers of our patron St. John Marie Vianney but also for you my dear people to join us in prayer so that our priests in the simplest terms will follow the model and the life of St. John Marie Vianney today. Together, we praise and thank God.

I’d like to continue by citing a letter written by the Holy Father Pope Francis for all priests on the anniversary of the death of St. John Marie Vianney. I was struck when Pope Francis said, “I would like to address myself to priests who are faithfully struggling every day in the trenches, in the forefront, in urban parishes… priests who would like to make the day like 31 hours with only 24 hours really, priests who are struggling to be holy and faithful in the trenches.” It’s like a picture of a struggle…a war, and the priests are in the forefront… in the trenches.

I would suggest that as we pray for all priests, we also pray for those who are hidden from the news…those who work silently, obediently, patiently and humbly in the trenches. In this holy sacrifice of the Mass, we remember them.

We go back to our model, St. John Marie Vianney. If I may say what made him exude…what made him stand during his time…it was the smell of Christ. You can sense the presence of Christ in his ministry. Popular stories are said that hundreds of people would come every day to his little parish to attend mass and to confess their sins in the Sacrament of Penance – the Sacrament of Confession. Why would be that so? I don’t think he has a degree in theology. I am not so sure. Would you think he had a very nice church with stained-glass windows? No, from what I know it was a simple parish church but what made him so attractive to hundreds… to thousands of people? I think it is no doubt that people sense the presence of Jesus in his very person. That is a very important lesson for all priests… for us to cultivate, to allow, to grow in us the presence of Jesus.