Via Fr. Z, “
The Curé of Blackfen riffs The Curé of Ars: ‘If only your soul was as beautiful as your iPad!’
” (WDTPRS, July 7, 2012), Fr. Tim Finigan (“the mighty P.P. of Blackfen, the Dean of Bexley, His Hermeneuticalness”)
on the occasion of English people being given the opportunity to venerate the heart of St. John Vianney:
There are various videos and texts related to the visit at the website of the Diocese of Shrewsbury. Bishop Davies is a great devotee of St John Vianney and knows his life and work in depth. In his sermon at the Cathedral of Christ the King in Liverpool for a National Day of Prayer for the renewal of parish life and vocations, he recalled an amusing story:
St. John Vianney never set out to ‘please people’ responding to demands like a tin can blown about on the piazza outside. [Great image.]color=red> Rather he proceeded purposefully in seeking to please God. This led him very close to all his people and especially close throughout his life to the most difficult and confused of his people – the types of people we might naturally be inclined to avoid. Yet there was nothing of a ‘people pleaser’ in this. The stories are legion of his remarks and sayings which might appeal to Lancastrian plain-speaking. Yet it is hard to know how they were first received such as when he told his congregation that in their dealings with each other most of them were probably thieves! Or that man who brought his fine dog for the Curé to see, who was told with a sigh ‘If only your soul was as beautiful as your dog!’.”There’s no need to use this quote to have a dig at people with dogs. That gentle jibe of the holy Curé could be applied to our cars, our iPads, our gardens or anything else that we take more care of than our souls. [emphasis and comment Fr. Z's]
[Hat tip to J.M.]
