A not-unknown Frenchman in the Catholic listing of saints is the 16th century Vincent de Paul. As soon as one hears his name, the thoughts of service to those in need come to mind ... or they should.
For all the men and women he aided, this Vincent saw as an image of God. This was a driving force in all the works of charity that he did or initiated.
The President of Creighton University wrote his thoughts that came about in reflecting on dePaul. He used the responsorial psalm of today's readings as a way of reflecting on this saints perception of God's love for people: "The Lord takes delight in his people." What a wonderful way to begin thinking about why we would take time from our lives to help others, especially the needy and the poor.
Consider these thoughts that Fr. Schlagel, SJ offers in considering those words.
1) From Genesis we learn that God made people in His image;
2) St Irenaeus wrote "That the glory of God is a man/woman fully alive;
3) Jesuit poet Gerard Manley Hopkins wrote "... for Christ plays in ten thousand places, lovely in limbs and lovely in eyes not His to the Father through the features of men's faces;
4) In the Psalms we read "God, you made me in my mother's womb";
5) Again in the Psalms we read "I have called you by name, you are mine";
6) "The Lord takes delight in his people."
Have you lately stopped you busy life to ask "Why does God take delight in me?" What is there about you that would make God want to love you? Can you recall actions you have done that would make God laugh? What are the reasons God would be pleased and proud that he has created you?
If you can find such goodness in yourself, turn that same kind of investigation toward others, as St Vincent dePaul did. What realities in your life would bring you to a stronger love of God and others?
What are the circumstances or situations that make God most present to you?
These thoughts prompted by St. Vincent might help you to share God's graces that bring you to a more reaffirming experience of God's love for yourself and then taking genuine delight in that reality. I often wonder how many times in a day there are opportunities for us to "take delight" in the fact that God loves us so very much. Do you, honestly now, do you take any time each day to take delight in God's love for you?
