The story of St. Vincent the Deacon, brings us to a timely meditation on suffering.
Newsroom (26/01/2023 4:52 PM, Gaudium Press) — The other day I read a criticism of the Catholic Church saying that it takes advantage of human suffering by nailing the cross, an instrument of torture, and by turning the eyes of the faithful heavenward, allowing people to be exploited on this earth without revolting.
When I finished reading, I remembered St. Vincent and how cruel they were to him. While the deacon suffered every lash, every insult, his response was only a sigh, a consideration that Heaven was waiting for him.
Tormented, Saint Vincent the Deacon never lost his peace
Vincent endured the rack, where a person’s limbs were stretched until their joints broke; he endured the grill, where he was beaten while one side, his face or his back, was cooked by the flames.
The chronicle tells that the torturers would go to rest and divide their beatings into shifts because they were too tired from the long hours of punishment and flogging. Can you think of anything more absurd and terrible?
Vincent Deacon was not discouraged, he always remembered how much Christ had suffered for him, and that it was a duty of gratitude, a grace, this chance to also carry his cross and be worthy of his beloved Messiah.
I turned to criticism. Indeed, Church doctrine soothes the wounds of those who transit the earth by promising them an eternal reward. I would agree with the critic if only one thing were true: if suffering did not exist.
Isn’t our only certainty on this earth death? And isn’t that already a reason for extreme suffering? The uncertainty, the insecurity, the expectation, isn’t that already enough to make a human being’s days miserable? Why blame the medicine for existing if the disease already exists before it?
Of course, the preaching of the Holy Church would be different if we were in paradise on earth. Of course, the Mission and the coming of Jesus would have been different if we were all faithful, but this is not the reality. Life is full of executioners, torturers, emperors and floggings.
There is no third way
What is our choice, then? Whether we will be Vicente’s or not. Whether we will be martyrs of Jesus, not as the holy deacon was, but martyrs of our routine, of our duties as Christians, or not.
Make no mistake, dear readers; destiny is the same! Whether we are Vincentians or not. In a month’s time, we will begin Lent, and its first celebration reminds us of what we are: dust. “Remember, man, you are dust, and to dust, you shall return. Let us already recognize that nothing remains to us of what we have achieved here on earth, except the consequence of our intentions, of our deeds.
What would I say, therefore, to our esteemed critic? That he gives an alternative that the Holy Church has not already given. Charity to the poor? The Church is the first to remember that. Stop oppressing the marginalized and make inclusion. “And there shall be one flock, under one shepherd.” Stop judging others? That’s what every priest reminds you of in every sermon, God is the only one who reads the heart, and if that’s not enough to make you rethink life, nothing else will.
Well, then set up institutions to instruct the people.” Under what aegis were the world’s greatest universities founded? The Holy Church.
“Stop preaching resignation”
Didn’t we just see what sufferings there are? If there is no easy cure, no practicable cure, why not at least bring consolation?
I closed the computer. Today would not be the day to respond to criticism. Unfortunately, logic and good arguments have gone out of fashion. And, in front of the executioners, no answer is enough. St. Vincent knew this. That is why he concentrated his efforts on consoling, even though wounded, the Christians who came secretly to visit him.
May St. Vincent the Deacon, from Heaven where he intercedes for us today, bring strength and confidence to those who walk the roads of life.
Compiled by Donna Smolders