Aug 4, 2010: St. Jean Vianney

The following homily was given on the feast day of St. Jean Vianney at St. Jean Vianney Catholic Church for their teachers and faculty as they begin their school year next week. (Above right is the incorrupt body of St. Jean Vianney in Ars, France who died in 1859) Click to learn more about him.

In October last year, a few young priests from Baton Rouge went to Ars, France to attend the International Priest Retreat sponsored by Vatican. Among many speakers who spoke about the heart of St. Jean Vianney and his love  for the Lord, a young religious sister got up to give us her stories of evangelization on the beaches to young people in France. It was really touching, so I want to share it with you on this feast of St. Jean Vianney.

Has anyone been to France? Any French beach, like Nice? So I want you to imagine this scene. It’s 2AM in the morning. There is a night club blaring out techno music near the sea shore. On a sandy shore there sitting on benches and on sand are about a hundred or so young people like yourselves. Some are drinking, and the bottles are strewn here and there. Some are smoking. Some are buying and trying drugs like Ecstasy. And some are pairing off to go off to some private places. And off to the side, away from the beach are a group of eight people, watching all this activity with curiosity, yet with hesitation. In this group of eight, there were 5 young people like yourselves, one young priest, and two nuns in their white and brown habits. This was the first night Sr. Catherine was out doing evangelization. She was quite nervous. What should I say to them? God is the last thing that they want to hear about, she thought. She asked the other sister, “What should I do when I meet them?” And the sister replied, “Love them. Listen to them. Be present to them. Listen to their questions and reflections. Listen for where their hurts are.” Sr. Catherine thought, ‘Honestly, walking over to a group of young people who were out for a good time and to talk to them about God was not something she had in mind, especially at 2 in the morning.’ Yet, St. Catherine was haunted by the call of God, “Whom should I send? Whom should I send to let these young people know about Me?” And Sr. Catherine reluctantly said to God in silence, “Oh, okay. Send me.” As the sisters and the team approached the young people, few of them turned around and with amusement said, “Hey look! Nuns.” And the dialogue began.

Sr. Catherine began to talk with a 22 yr. old young man named Steffen. He had plenty of piercings on his face. Steffen told the sister that he has been frequenting this night club area since the age of 16. He said one of only joys in his life is to go on Raves (large techno parties). Sr. Catherine began to tell him about her personal encounter with Jesus. Steffen asked, "Did you take something, Sister?" he meant did you take Ecstasy? No, she said. They talked a little bit. Without question, he accepted her request if she could pray together. And she asked him, what would you like to ask Jesus? "I want to be happy." So sitting there with Steffen, Sr. Catherine addressed herself to Jesus with very simple words. A very sweet peace immersed both of them. And he asked the sister, “What is this thing filling my heart? I have a feeling that it's going to explode. I even want to cry. But I never cry. Is this the love of God?” So she asked him smiling, "Did you take something?" "No." As they were finishing up the prayer, he ran up to the young priest and said, "Are you a priest, a real priest? Can you do that thing where we tell you the bad things that we've done and you forgive us?" He meant the Sacrament of Reconciliation. The last time he had gone was when he was a child. Right there on the sand, with the musical background of the techno just a few feet away, he received the forgiveness of God. Sr. Catherine said, “From that moment I said, ‘What a joy to be an instrument of God.’”