Memorial of Saint Vincent de Paul, Priest
Luke 9: 43-45
Pointed towards the Cross

The Gospel today shows us the contrast between the mountain-top and the valley. Jesus had just come down from the Transfiguration, where his glory was revealed. But immediately, he faces human suffering: a father’s desperate plea for his son, a boy tormented and thrown down, disciples who could not help, and a crowd filled with confusion. Into this scene of disorder, Jesus entered with calm authority, healing the child and restoring him to his father.
The lesson is clear. We cannot stay forever on the mountaintop. Moments of prayer and intimacy with God are given to us not as escapes, but as strength for the struggles of daily life. Like Elijah who was fed by the angel in the desert to walk forty days in God’s strength, so too must we carry the grace of prayer back into the battles of ordinary living.

This is also the lesson of St. Vincent de Paul. He was a man deeply rooted in prayer, yet his faith did not keep him apart from the world—it sent him into the valleys where the poor, the sick, and the abandoned lived. In them he saw Christ Himself. His calm and steadfast charity brought order, dignity, and hope where there had been only misery and confusion.

Finally, Jesus points His disciples to the Cross. Just as he refused the easy path of glory, St. Vincent de Paul also knew that true love requires sacrifice. To serve Christ in the poor is to take up the Cross with Him. It is not about popularity or success, but about faithfulness to God’s will and love without counting the cost.

Today, let us ask: Do we allow our prayer to strengthen us for service? Do we bring the calm of Christ into the chaos of life? Do we choose the Cross when it means loving the poor, the forgotten, and the difficult?

May St. Vincent de Paul intercede for us, that we too may find Christ in the little ones of this world, and serve him with love, rooted in prayer and expressed in action.

© Claretian Publications, Hong Kong, China
Cum Approbatione Ecclesiastica 2025