Today we hear the heart-wrenching cries of Job from the midst of his suffering: “Why did I not perish at birth, come forth from the womb and expire? … Why is light given to the toilers, and life to the bitter of spirit?” (Job 3, 1-23) Vincent de Paul heard this same cry of despair in his heart whenever he saw the eyes of human suffering begging him for help. This same cry we ourselves hear all around us every day, most recently coming from the criminal attack upon innocent Ukrainians.
But, rather than allow himself to be dragged down by despondency in the face of such senseless horrors, or perhaps even entertain doubts about the existence of a good and merciful God, Vincent de Paul saw in the distress of others the vocation of his own life. He allowed himself, first, to be invaded by the fire of God’s love, and then he became a channel for the love and compassion of God in this world.
And what about us? Would not the greatest tragedy of all be
for us to partake at this altar of the very substance of Jesus, God’s embodied
Compassion, and then go away unchanged?
Meditation by Father Simeon.