A Reflection on Saint Vincenzo Romano – Canonized October 14, 2018 скачать в хорошем качестве

A Reflection on Saint Vincenzo Romano – Canonized October 14, 2018

The disaster movie is a popular genre. Probably because disasters can make for pretty epic stories. Like in Armageddon. Saving the world from a giant asteroid. Or Independence Day with its apocalyptic alien invasion. Or The Perfect Storm. Or Twister. Or Volcano, which if you don’t know is about… well, a volcano. But as dramatic and exciting as these movies can be, there’s often a certain weakness. The characters run around, live through a crazy disaster, and then, it’s done. Everyone’s happy. They’ve survived. It’s great. But then the credits roll, the story’s over, and we have no idea what comes next. But certainly something comes next. The world almost ended. People barely survived. Buildings, roads, all sorts of things were destroyed. Somebody’s gotta fix all that. Somebody has to help people put their lives back together. It’s not overly exciting or dramatic. But it’s important, critical work. And in 1794, it’s work that had to be done in Italy. That year, Mt. Vesuvius erupted, and though that volcano is often linked more to Pompeii, there’s a town even closer called Torre del Greco. When the volcano blew, it destroyed nearly everything there, including Santa Croce Parish, run by Fr. Vincenzo Romano. Fr. Vincenzo survived, but he didn’t then just smile and let the credits roll. Because for him, it wasn’t the end. He saw the destruction and decided to get to work. He devoted countless hours to rebuilding and wasn’t shy about getting in the thick of it, often clearing rubble with his own two hands. Fr. Vincenzo faced opposition in lots of the things he did, but he stayed resilient, cleaning up the mess while also evangelizing the people and educating the children along the way. Through both his actions and his simple but powerful words, he clearly portrayed the message of the Gospel. Though just a normal parish priest, Fr. Vincenzo served people exceptionally. When they didn’t know God, he helped them with that. When the volcano shattered their lives, he helped them with that. Whatever was needed, he was ready and get in there and do it. As he’s canonized a saint on October 14th, I think that’s a reminder of what it takes to live a holy and saintly life. Struggles, difficulty, even destruction happen. And when they do, we’re asked to get our hands dirty and help in whatever ways we can. As part of this Christian family we’re asked, like Fr. Vincenzo, to be ready. To share our love, and God’s, by getting out there and doing it. Whatever that “it” might be.