To have received the Catholic faith and to have been baptized is to be blessed with the gifts of grace that Christ showers upon us. Original sin and any other sins that we have committed are forgiven in baptism. We are made members of the Church, God’s family. And we are called by God to fulfill our mission.

 

God has for each of a us a role in His plan of salvation. He does not need us, strictly speaking. God could carry out His plan by His own power. But just as Jesus took on human nature in order to show us the Father and to die for us, so God has chosen to make use of humanity to extend His kingdom in this world.

 

The Gospel of Matthew records the final words of Jesus to His disciples. Before ascending to His Father, He told them and us, “Go, therefore, and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you.” (Mt. 28: 19-20.) That great commission is received by all the baptized.

 

Our Lord further specified elements of our task by His description of the last judgment. He says to those who have merited the reward of heaven, “I was hungry and you gave me food, I was thirsty and you gave me drink, a stranger and you welcomed me, naked and you clothed me, ill and you cared for me, in prison and you visited me. (Mt. 25, 35-36). 

 

In short, our Lord demonstrates that each of us must accept and believe His teaching and then imitate Him by our care for the poor and the needy. Faith and charity must be together. To have one but not the other is simply inadequate.

 

Next Wednesday on Sept. 27, we will celebrate the feast of St. Vincent de Paul. In him we find a saint who, even to this day, reminds us of the vast number of ways we can live out the calling God has given us through charity. And he shows how we do so motivated by faith.

 

St. Vincent de Paul was born of peasant parents in France in the late 1500’s. Notwithstanding that humble beginning, Vincent completed studies and was ordained a priest. Five years later, he was kidnapped by pirates and sold into slavery.

 

He later escaped and, subsequently he began offering assistance to the poor of France and to convicts assigned to galleys. His care for the needy soon expanded throughout and beyond France.

 

But Vincent also recognized the need for a holy and strong clergy. To that end he engaged in the work of forming the faith of candidates for the priesthood.

 

The point is that St. Vincent could not have known in his dark days of captivity the extent of God’s calling for him, nor of the gifts of grace that he would receive. Still, God had a plan for him.

 

So too, we must seek out in faith the role that God intends for us in this life. Like St. Vincent we will be called, in different ways, to be in service to the truth and to Christ in the needy. We too may be called to service beyond what seems to be possible. But with every calling, God gives the grace to see through the mission entrusted to us.

 

Throughout the Diocese of Rockford, the model of St. Vincent lives on in the work of chapters of the St. Vincent de Paul Society. Through those local chapters, the faithful seek to, “grow spiritually by offering person-to-person service to those who are needy and suffering in the tradition of its founder, Blessed Frédéric Ozanam, and patron, St. Vincent de Paul.”

 

There are 44 parish conferences in the Diocese of Rockford. If you are thinking of deepening your faith and serving those is need, why not visit them or give them a call at the contact numbers found https://www.svdprockfordcouncil.org/request-assistance.html

 

The work of charity through the St. Vincent De Paul Society is spiritually good for the workers and for the needy they serve. Please consider helping or joining your nearest chapter. This is a great way to live the fullness of our Catholic faith.