John Mary Vianney was born into a farmer’s family in the
small town of Dardilly in France on 8 May 1786. His family was materially poor
but rich in humanity and in faith. Baptized on the day of his birth, as was the
good custom in those days, he spent most of his childhood and adolescence years
working in the fields and tending the flocks that even at the age of 17 he was
still illiterate. St. John Mary Vianney’s mother was a woman of great
piety and who led her son into the faith at an early age. He once remarked; and I quote “I owe a debt
to my mother. Virtues go easily into the hearts of their children”.
He was a man with a vision who
overcame the numerous obstacles in Pastoral Ministry and performed deeds that
seemed impossible. The first place he
visited on his appointment to Ars was
the parish church which was in an absolute dilapidated condition and which
saddened him greatly; he also noticed that the lamp in the sanctuary not
burning and the tabernacle was empty. In
the face of such grim reality, he never gave up hope; instead he firmly
resolved to ensure that the house of God should always be opened to all.
His pastoral zeal brought about
radical spiritual transformation in the community due to his exemplary saintly
life. He knew that he had to live by
example. His neighbours often noticed
him walking to the church through the cemetery with a lantern in his hand, long
before daybreak to pray in the church.
He combined prayer with action, visited his parishioners’ and understood
their problems and hardships and tried to solve them.
He instilled in his parishioners
the value of prayer especially the gift of the HOLY MASS. He instructed them
using simple language, the events of daily life through enduring faith and
special love of God, this was his principle throughout his life. By day or at night he was always available to
his parishioners. Through his selfless
life he brought about a spiritual renewal that touched the lives of people of
his parishioners. He often told his
parishioners’, “You have less to suffer in following the cross than serving the
world and its pleasures.”
His work as a confessor was his
most remarkable accomplishment. The
great miracle of the Cure d’ Ars, “was his confessional, besieged day and
night.” It can be said with equal truth
that his greatest miracle was the conversion of sinners. Once, a hardened sinner approached him for
confession “How long is it since your last confession?” “Forty years” the man replied. “Forty years!” exclaimed the saint. After the man had made a hasty calculation he
replied “Yes it is true”. Later through the long hours of confession the man
was converted. St. John Mary Vianney
possessed the gift of being able to understand the troubling soul of people
instantly and to feel at once their spiritual trouble afflicting them; it is
through such times of confessions that he was able to draw people from their
sins and drawn into becoming faithful Christians.
St. John Mary Vianney gave God,
the permission to use him as a vehicle for thousands of conversions. He is for the priests today an example of how
God works wonderfully to those who dedicate their lives to Him and seek to do
his will. He was a man devoted to his
vision of a priestly vocation. Today the
Catholic Church looks up to him as one of its greatest saints simply because he
was faithful to his duties and to the flock of Christ. Through his pastoral approach, he brought
about a spiritual renewal that touched the people of the whole of France.
To live the vision of St John Mary Vianney, Archdiocese of Calcutta, under the guidance
of Archbishop Thomas D’Souza, in collaboration with Archdiocesan pastoral core
team members (APPCoT) has been regularly planning and executing the pastoral
plan for last two and half years so as to bring renewal and
make our parishes participatory, vibrant and a communion of communities . In
this process of evolving the pastoral plan more effectively, we have recently
completed the zonal –wise pastoral plan animation programme of the 12 concerns
at all the four deaneries by July 2015.
In this regard, Inauguration of the Archdiocesan Pastoral Plan in the Parishes –
the last, crucial and imperative phase of the plan - will be on 9th August, 2015.
Parish
involvement and facilitation is the one and only way to make this Pastoral
initiative meaningful, action-oriented and
successful. As we celebrate the feast day of St John Mary Vianney
with great rreverence, joy and happiness, let us also reflect today on the
challenges that confront our churches and parishes with the vision and
foresight of Saint John Vianney.
- Fr. Dominic Gomes ( Vicar
General)
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