Tuesday 4 August 2009

The Holy Cure of Ars 1859 - 4 August - 2009

Today is the feast day of St John Mary Vianney, the Patron Saint of Priests. He stands in front of us as a model of priestly holiness in the daily and quiet faithfulness of priestly ministry. By this holiness he reflects in a sublime way the Light of Christ to each one of us. His dedication to the Master is an example for our own dedication to Him in the daily consecration which stems from our baptism and for some of us from our ordination. St John Vianney’s love for Christ encourages us to enter deeper into the relationship that Christ wants us to have with Him; for Vianney Christ was the centre of every moment of the day, following this example only leads us to have a Christ centred life that fills us with joy and turns us into ministers of joy. His devotion during Mass and his commitment towards the Sacrament of Reconciliation enable us to re-discover every time we celebrate these sacraments to live in full our union with Christ who nourishes us and heals us.
May St John Mary intercede for us so that like him we may live our calling to the full in the freedom of being children of God united in the Mystery of the living Body of Christ.
I had the joy to offer the Holy Sacrifice here in Malta in front of the relic of the Holy Cure at the same time that the same sacrifice was offered in Sevenoaks by Canon Herbert. After Mass a group of people led by Mary prayed the Holy Rosary. In church we have a lovely image of the Cure. (Photo above)
Graham has been working hard in the choir vestry and he has just sanded and polished the wooden floor. The amazing result you can see in the photo below. Thanks Graham, it looks great! Both photos were supplied by Frances – thanks!

2 comments:

graham@stjohns said...

I must point out that the floor sanding was a joint effort. Richard Wilson must receive equal credit!

Fr Ivan D Aquilina said...

Sorry about this I did not receive this information - thanks to Graham and Richard!