Homily: May 26 2016 - St. Philip Neri - Saint of Joy

Apostle of Rome, the Reformer of the eternal city, and the Saint of Joy.  These are titles given to Saint Philip Neri, priest in Rome in the 16th century.

The Saint of Joy.  Pope Francis would have loved this guy. Philip Neri would often work with those who were on the fringes of religion: the youth, artists, shopkeepers, people in trouble with the law, and he would try to impress upon them the truth, the beauty, and the importance of our Catholic faith…if there was ever a Roman priest who smelled like the sheep, it was Philip Neri.

Antonio Gallonio, his first biographer tells us: "It was habitual with Philip to pray each day to the Holy Spirit, and with great humility to ask Him for His gifts and graces." If you would like more joy in your life, today’s saint has the secret.  Pray to the Holy Spirit daily and bring the Gospel to those who are weak in the faith.  The first two fruits of the holy spirit are love and joy.  A joyful life is a sign of God's presence.  It’s perhaps the greatest gift we can share with one another, the joy of our faith.

Mother Theresa would say the surest sign of God’s presence is a Christian filled with joy.  The atheist Nietzsche once said, "If those Christians want us to believe in their Redeemer, why don't they act more redeemed?" Nietzsche, never met Mother Theresa or Philip Neri.  But what do we have to say for ourselves? Are we witnessing to non-believers the joy of the Gospel?

Saint Philip Neri would often go down into the catacombs of Rome to pray.  It was there in the catacombs, his biographer tells us, that while he was praying, "he suddenly felt himself divinely filled with the power of the Spirit with such force that his heart began to palpitate within his body and to be inflamed with such love” that he almost couldn’t stand it.

Each day we do well to go down into the catacombs, to a place, silent as a tomb, where we can pray to the Holy Spirit. A place free as possible from worldly distractions, to recall the saints and martyrs who have gone before us, giving the witness of their lives, and to pray for the holy spirit to fill us with his seven-fold gifts for the building up of the church and spreading of the Gospel, for the glory of God and salvation of souls.