July 18 2023 - St. Camillus de Lellis, priest - The Con Man's Conversion

 The saint we honor today had, what we might call, a troubled childhood. St. Camillus’ mother died when he was very young, and his father was a mercenary soldier who often left the boy to fend for himself. So the young boy Camillus developed many bad habits. He got into fights with neighborhood boys, he skipped school. One biographer wrote that, in Camillus’ youth, “there were no signs of sanctity”. We might know children like Camillus…some of us might have been children like Camillus.

At the age of 19, followed in his father’s footsteps and became a soldier, and he quickly picked up a lot of the vices of the military camp—swearing, drinking, and visiting prostitutes.  He and his father, Giovanni, even teamed up as a father and son con artists, swindling their fellow soldiers.  Because of his violent habits, after four years, Camillus was discharged from military service and found himself destitute. 

Camillus picked up odd jobs here and there until a wealthy gentleman gave him a job doing menial construction work in the Italian village of Manfredonia.  The construction crew was employed to construct a new Franciscan monastery, and while working Camillus began to acquire two virtues he had never tried to cultivate before: self-discipline and responsibility.  His faith was kindled when one of the Friars at the monastery began to share the faith with him.  

When his construction job was done he set out for Rome to work at the famous Hospital of San Giacomo where he fell in love with caring for the sick.   

In Rome, Camillus sought the spiritual direction of St. Philip Neri who encouraged Camillus to study for the priesthood. So at the age of 32, Camillus entered seminary. After his ordination he founded a religious order called the “Servants of the Sick” who were devoted for caring for the destitute sick. 

What a beautiful conversion! At many points in his life, it seemed unlikely that Camillus would come to such great holiness.  So we must be patient with the people in our lives who are struggling to find the right path. God’s grace has the power to convert even the most hardened sinners. And look how God worked through the generosity of an employer, the simple faith sharing of a humble Friar, and the counsel of a holy spiritual director.  People who seem to be oblivious to the need of putting their life in order, might experience great conversion when a simple Catholic shares the faith with them.

St. Camillus is a saint because Catholics saw beyond the violent, philandering con man, and showed him dignity by providing opportunities for Camillus to practice virtue.  

God is at work in the life of every human soul. As corrupt or lost they may seem, God is at work to bring about what we might deem as the most unlikely of converts. And instead of having knee-jerk reactions, turning away from people who aren’t living righteous lives by our standards, we do well to consider what we might do to help them, for the glory of God and salvation of souls.

 

That the Holy Spirit may help us to be instruments of grace and conversion, to hardened sinners, fallen away Catholics and to the faithless.  

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.

That the love of Christ, the divine physician, may bring healing to the sick and comfort to all the suffering. 

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

O God, who know that our life in this present age is subject to suffering and need, hear the prayers of those who cry to you and receive the prayers of those who believe in you. Through Christ our Lord.

3rd Sunday of Easter 2018 - Instruments of Hope

In today’s First Reading from the Book of Acts, St. Peter courageously preaches the Gospel to the same Jewish leaders and residents of Jerusalem—the very same group of people who had conspired to condemn Jesus to death by crucifixion. Peter doesn’t sugar-coat his message; bluntly he says, “You have put to death, the author of life.”

But he doesn’t dwell on this fact for long, he moves on from their sin and weakness and ignorance to the more important truth. He tells them that God has brought forth something inestimably good from Christ’s suffering and death.  God has turned the death of the Messiah into the definitive victory over death, evil, and suffering. “God raised him from the dead; of this we are witnesses” Peter says.  “We are witnesses”.  Certainly he was thinking about those times, as we heard in today’s Gospel, where the disciples witness the Risen Christ, appearing to them, eating with them, letting them see and touch his wounds, proving the he was not a ghost or illusion.

Christ has risen, and this changes everything. It is a new beginning for the human race. Whether you were one of the people who were calling for his crucifixion, or like Peter, you denied him. A new beginning has come.

And the same goes for us: if there were times in our life when we disregarded certain commandments or in our weakness found them too difficult to follow, if there were times when we didn’t stand up for the faith as we should have, if there were times, perhaps, when we struggled with atheism, or perhaps we committed a really shameful sin, like abortion or helping someone procure an abortion, Easter is a new beginning. The Resurrection means a new beginning in which we can truly leave behind the chains of sin and selfishness in all their forms. The Resurrection puts all good things within reach: wisdom, patience, joy, fortitude, self-control—in short, it makes holiness and lasting happiness possible for each of us.

That is what Peter is telling the crowds, and that is what the Church is telling us: let Easter be a new beginning, do not despair, hope in Christ, leave everything aside to follow him, and he will work wonders in your life.

Archbishop Timothy Dolan, Archbishop of New York, tells a story about his visit to a prison to celebrate Mass for the prisoners there. While he was being escorted by the prison warden into the room where they were going to gather for the celebration of Mass, the Archbishop thanked the warden for allowing him the opportunity.

And the warden said, “No, Archbishop, thank you.  We are glad when chaplains come.  The most dangerous man in the prison is a desperate man.”  And that word ‘desperate’ was carefully chosen.  The word desperate comes from the Latin – de, spes –without hope.

“The most dangerous person in jail is a desperate man—a man without hope—that man will do anything.  But if a prisoner has hope, and it might just be a natural hope to get out, or to have certain privileges restored, or it might be a noble hope, to discover his inner dignity—to discover the image of God deep down and to make his peace with the Lord.  Once a prisoner has hope, that prisoner comes alive, that prisoner can be reformed, that prisoner becomes a blessing to our community.  We can do a lot of things in jail, but we cannot give hope.  It is good that you men of faith come, because our men need hope.”

It is our Easter Task to proclaim that no matter your past, no matter your sins, there is hope! The task isn’t just for prison chaplains, it’s the task of every Christian!

How can we better embody the hope that comes from the Resurrection of Christ? I’d like to focus on three points.

First, as St Peter stressed in the First Reading, we must "repent, and be converted."

If we are constantly fighting with our siblings, or engaging in physical relations outside of marriage, or if we are a constant source of negativity, gossip, sarcasm, or resentment. We have some repenting to do, some conversion is needed, to open ourselves to be people of mercy.

A nightly examination of conscience before bed can help us identify attitudes, habits, and behaviors that need to be converted. Repentance is where transformation begins. Failing to repent is like trying to inflate a tire with a hole in it, or putting water in a broken cup.

So, if there are any serious sins that we have not repented of, we need to bring them to the sacrament of confession. For only those who have encountered mercy can be instruments of mercy.

Secondly, as today’s Psalm reminds us, we must turn to God in prayer: "Know that the LORD does wonders for his faithful one; the LORD will hear me when I call upon him." Daily "calling upon the Lord" is not just for Lent. Lent was to help us put into practice disciplines we should practice all year round.

Developing a deep prayer life means learning to spend quality time with the Lord in silence, encountering him in the daily reading of scripture, the writings of the saints.

This week, Pope Francis issued a wonderful new apostolic exhortation called: “Gaudete et Exsultate: “Rejoice and Be Glad: On the Call to Holiness in the Contemporary World.” Our own Bishop, Bishop Perez has recommended that we all read and reflect upon this new exhortation.

In addition to the second lesson, the need to pray, the Holy Father says, “we shouldn’t “think that holiness is only for those who can withdraw from ordinary affairs to spend much time in prayer... We are all called to be holy by living our lives with love and by bearing witness in everything we do, wherever we find ourselves. Are you called to the consecrated life? Be holy by living out your commitment with joy. Are you married? Be holy by loving and caring for your husband or wife, as Christ does for the Church. Do you work for a living? Be holy by labouring with integrity and skill in the service of your brothers and sisters. Are you a parent or grandparent? Be holy by patiently teaching the little ones how to follow Jesus. Are you in a position of authority? Be holy by working for the common good and renouncing personal gain”

So the third Lesson, is to strive to witness in our day to day activities by practicing Gospel values always. And that becomes all the more possible when we’ve rightly repented of sins, and encountered the Risen Lord in prayer, in word and sacrament.

Repent, pray, bring Christ into your day-to-day activities. By this may we continue to open ourselves, this easter season, to the transforming hope that comes from the Resurrection, that we may be transformed into instruments of hope for the glory of God and salvation of souls.