A good pastor

     When I was a kid growing up in Uniontown, somewhere in my early high school years, I entered the Third Order Secular of the Franciscans at the Friary located in town.  I remember choosing the name Jean Marie in honor of Saint Jean-Baptiste Marie (John the Baptist Mary) Vianney, the Cure of Ars.  His story facinated me.

     As I went to the seminary, I related to his struggles with academics, especially his difficulty with Latin, which in his time was essential but in my time was fading.  So much did he struggle, that special permission had to be sought for him to be ordained, and it was because of his devoutness rather than his academic achievement or promise.  But ordained he was in 1815.  My language skills left much to be desired, only to be surpassed in challenge by my philosophy skills (thank God for theology).

     But where to put Pere (Father) Vianney so that he could do little harm?  The bishop sent him to the small villiage of Ars-en-Dombes as the pastor or cure.  Ars was some distance from Lyons in France, and had a reputation of sparce attendance at Mass and large attendance at the bars.  The cure's of the past had litle effect.

     He was a good priest.  He was prayerful and holy, a noted preacher and a remarkable confessor.  God blessed him with insight into his penitents' souls and their futures, and his reputation began to spread.  It got so that he would spend up to eighteen hours a day in the confessional, and people from the village, from the taverns, from the countryside, from all over France and Europe came to Ars to meet the man and be reconciled.  He died there, still pastor in Ars, in 1859.  Before his death, he was recognized by the French State with the medal of the Legion of Honor in 1848, which he sold, giving the money to the poor.  He is the patron of parish priests, for obvious reasons.  I am glad that I chose him as a spiritual example long ago, and he still stands as an inspiration to me as a priest.

     Today, August 4th, is his feast.  Thank God for this shing star, and pray for your priests.