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Gospel: Luke 9: 46-50
An argument arose among the disciples
about which of them was the greatest.
Jesus realized the intention of their hearts and took a child
and placed it by his side and said to them,
“Whoever receives this child in my name receives me,
and whoever receives me receives the one who sent me.
For the one who is least among all of you
is the one who is the greatest.”
Then John said in reply,
“Master, we saw someone casting out demons in your name
and we tried to prevent him
because he does not follow in our company.”
Jesus said to him,
“Do not prevent him, for whoever is not against you is for you.”
The Gospel of the Lord.
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Two weeks ago, this was also our Sunday Gospel. “The greatest among you must be your servant,” Jesus says.
The lowly is exalted; the poorest becomes the greatest.
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I began that homily with the story of Cinderella, which has a surprisingly Christian twist: Cinderella, the lowly house servant wins the prince’s heart, becoming a princess.
Today we celebrate a real-life Cinderella story, as it were. Saint Vincent de Paul spent his life serving the poorest of the poor. Now he’s been given the greatest gift of all: eternal life.
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Vincent came from very humble means, born into a peasant family in the French countryside in the 16th century. As a young man, he was even kidnapped at sea, spending two years of his life as a slave.
After evading his captors, Vincent returned to France, where he was ordained a priest and began his mission of providing for the poor. The demands for his charity became so great that he started a religious order for both men and women.
Today the Society of Saint Vincent de Paul has grown to 800,000 active members – both lay and religious – in over 150 countries.
They continue the work Vincent began: serving in soup kitchens, offering disaster relief, job training, medical services, prisoner re-entry programs, and so on.
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In doing this work, each member follows the path of Vincent (and even Cinderella), a path that leads from poverty to greatness; from service to eternal life.
How might we follow their example and be of service to others today?
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Image credits: (1) St. Vincent de Paul, Positive Living (2) Jesus Washing Peter’s Feet, Ford Madox Brown (3) St. Vincent de Paul Society