I have often lamented the inscrutable nature of my own memory. I have found that I can remember very detailed, specific conversations, and huge swaths of dialogue from movies with almost verbatim recall. However, when it comes to about 90 percent of what I read in seminary, it’s lost to the ages. I still remember all the lyrics to songs that were popular in the 90’s, but I will almost always forget to show up to important events if they aren’t prominently displayed on my calendar. One of the truly unfortunate things about all this is that I remember great stories, but I often have no recollection of the people with whom I have shared them, so I often repeat myself. I live in terror of being that guy that everyone listens to while internally dying of boredom from hearing my “funny story” for the seventeenth time.
 
This bleeds into my daily Mass homilies in major fashion. Working through the same parables, stories, and lessons from Jesus’ life and ministry on Earth will sometimes mean that people have to hear my same old moralizing and tales from the past. In order to mitigate some of this however, I often love to preach on the lives of the saints as a way to break up the frequency of Gospel reflections, as well as because people in every age need role models and examples of heroic virtue. This weekend’s readings dovetail nicely with the great saint we celebrate on Thursday, St. Vincent de Paul. Jesus exhorts his disciples to learn the necessary lesson of humility by placing a child in their midst. He wants them to take a step back from looking at power and greatness in strictly human terms and learn to embrace the weakness of the vulnerable and the childlike; for as St. Paul tells us, it is in our weakness that we are strong in the Lord. St. Vincent built his immensely successful ministry, which has now continued for centuries, upon the foundation of humility.

St. Vincent de Paul dedicated his life and ministry to serving God by serving the poor. As one can imagine, it was difficult, gritty work, and he often had to work through great resistance, sometimes even by those whom he was trying to serve. Our parishes still participate in the work of St. Vincent and his companions, and they assist our region in carrying out Jesus’ call to serve our brothers and sisters in need. I know that many of you are supportive of them in giving to them financially, but there are two other important things we can do to support them in their work. First of all, we can pray for them; we pray that God continues to support them and help them to meet not only the material needs of the poor, but also to help them to see and understand God’s love for each of them, through their outreach. Additionally, conferences of the St. Vincent de Paul society can always use more people to assist them in their work of connecting with the poor and serving their needs.
 
Please prayerfully consider how you can assist our brothers and sisters with this ministry, and if you have any questions, don’t hesitate to reach out to them. May God stir up in our hearts a spirit of generosity so that we are willing to serve Him and His holy people with great zeal.
 
Prayers always,
Fr. McCullough