July 18 2017 - St. Camillus - The conversion of the hard-hearted

When Jesus began his proclamation of the Gospel around the age of 30, he chose as his early headquarters, Capernaum, on the northern coast of the Sea of Galilee. There he stayed in the home of St. Peter. We read in the early chapters of the Gospels how he worked many miracles there and in surrounding towns, places like Chorazin and Bethsaida.

In the Gospel today, Jesus rebukes these towns for their failure to repent and believe in the Gospel.  Jesus even says, that Tyre, Sidon, and Sodom, some of the most wicked cities in history, would have converted in response to the same miracles.

Yesterday, too, we reflected upon the need to choose, the need to respond to Jesus’ invitation to believe. Why did so many people harden their hearts in the face of the undeniable presence of God? The miracles were undeniable. Jesus spoke with an authority and performed works that nobody had ever witnessed.

Jesus condemns spiritual hard-heartedness throughout the Gospels, which seems to be the primary reason the Pharisees and the unrepentant choose to disbelieve and conspire against him. Spiritual hard-heartedness, sklerocardia. Sklerocardia, though it sounds like a physical illness, is really a spiritual illness. It is when we choose over and over again not to listen to anyone but ourselves, not to seek wisdom, not to see the value of humility, it is the attitude of pride which sees oneself as more important even than God.

I believe the Lord gives the hard-hearted every chance he can, to open their hearts to him. Today’s saint was a man who lived many years with hard-heart. At the age of seventeen, Camillus joined a group of mercenary soldiers, and he quickly picked up a lot of the vices of the military camp—swearing, drinking, visiting prostitutes.  He and his father, Giovanni, even teamed up as a father and son con artists, swindling their fellow soldiers

They went from war to war when Camillus’ father fell seriously ill.  Giovanni sent his son to fetch a priest, and after Giovanni made a good confession, repenting from all his sins and crimes, he received Holy Communion for the last time and died.

This was a turning point in Camillus’ life. His father, a life time gambler, cutthroat, and conman called for a priest in order to die in a state of grace. And this shattered Camillus’ own hardness. Camillus went on to found a religious order caring for the sick and destitute of Rome.

God is at work, even now, working to shatter the hard hearts of our fallen-away family members and non-believers, and to do that, he often utilizes us, our faithfulness, our repentance, our willingness to undergo sufferings and penances for the conversion of sinners. May the Lord, in his mercy shatter the lasting vestiges of our own hard-heartedness, and may we be faithful in being instruments of that same mercy, for the glory of God and salvation of souls.

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That our bishops and clergy may be zealous and clear in preaching and teaching the truth of the Gospel.

For our Holy Father’s prayer intention for the month of July: that our brothers and sisters who have strayed from the faith, through our prayer and witness to the Gospel, may rediscover the merciful closeness of the Lord and the beauty of the Christian life.

That our young people on summer vacation may be kept safe from the poisonous errors of our culture, and that their families may be places where the faith is practiced and cherished.

For all the needs of the sick and the suffering, the homebound, those in nursing homes and hospitals, the underemployed and unemployed, victims of natural disaster, war, and terrorism, for all those who grieve the loss of a loved one, and those who will die today, for their comfort, and the consolation of their families.

For the repose of the souls of our beloved dead, for all of the poor souls in purgatory, for the deceased members of our families, friends, and parish, for the deceased priests and religious, and for those who have fought and died for our freedom.

Grant, we pray, O Lord, that your people may turn to you with all their heart, so that whatever they dare to ask in fitting prayer they may receive by your mercy. Through Christ our Lord.