Thou art a priest forever” Heb 5:6.
The writer Antonio Sicari writes in his book Portraits of the Saints that the life of a holy parish priest is so full of innocence and miracles that one is tempted to tell it as a fairy tale. And a fairy tale would sound like this: “There once lived in France a Christian village boy, John, who from his earliest childhood loved solitude and the Lord God. And as the lords in Paris provoked a revolution and prevented the people from praying, the child and his parents went to mass in the corner of a granary. The priests were hiding in those days, and when they were caught, they beheaded them. That is why John dreamed of becoming a priest. Although he knew how to pray, he lacked education. He guarded sheep and worked in the fields.
He entered the seminary very late and failed all the exams. But professions were very rare at that time, so they finally let him graduate. He was appointed parish priest in Ars and remained there until his death. He was a parish priest in the most remote village in France. But he was a pastor through and through, and that doesn’t happen often. He was so great that the most remote village in France could boast the most distinguished French parish priest. All of France took to the road to see him.
He took over all who came after him, and if he had not died, he would have converted all of France. He healed souls and bodies. He read in their hearts as from a book. The devil tempted him, but still, he could not prevent him from becoming a holy man. He became a canon, then a knight of the Legion of Honor, then a saint. But while he lived, he never understood why. And that was the finest proof that he truly deserved the glory. In Paradise, where the true worth of men is revealed, the events of the 19th century are called the century of the Parson of Ars, but France has no idea of it.”
In this story, we feel the hand of an artist who, in a few short strokes, has succeeded in sketching almost the entire profile of a saint, the patron saint of priests. But suddenly the author stops and realizes that behind this innocence lies the deep, authentic drama of a man who faithfully served God and his fellow man. His consummate devotion to his vocation is an encouragement and invitation to us, for the Church is not made up of people who are better than others, but of people who want to become better than they are.
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