Praise to be Jesus Christ.
St. Nicholas of Myra, whose feast we celebrate today, is certainly both a sterling model
and powerful intercessor for pastors of souls, for bishops and priests, their co-workers.
Even though a thorough biography was written only several centuries after his death by
St. Methodius, St. Nicholas is one of the most venerated saints in the Church, both
in the East and in the West.
He is popularly known as a wonder worker.
The story of his hidden philanthropy to save three young daughters of a poor father from
a life of prostitution.
It is recalled by the classic symbol of St. Nicholas, the three bags of gold by which
he rescued the young virgins from a life of grave sin.
St. Nicholas truly embodied the pastoral charity characteristic of priestly spirituality about
which we have been reflecting and praying.
A talented and most devout young Catholic man.
He had been richly endowed both spiritually and materially by his parents, who died when
he was quite young.
Like the prophet Isaiah, he heard the call of the Lord, who in his immeasurable and unceasing
love of man, symbolized by the glorious vision which accompanied his call, sought a prophet
to bring to man.
St. Nicholas of Myra, the son of St. Nicholas, the son of St. Nicholas, the son of St. Nicholas,
the son of St. Nicholas, the son of St. Nicholas, the son of St. Nicholas.
His saving word.
The Lord, speaking in the plural of the Blessed Trinity, asked,
Whom shall I send?
Who will go for us?
Without hesitation, Isaiah, whose lips had been cleansed by the touch of an ember taken
from the altar by an angel, responded without hesitation,
Here I am.
Send me.
This cleansing of the lips of Isaiah for the mission is fittingly recalled in the prayer
of the priest before proclaiming the gospel in the rite of the Holy Mass, according to
the extraordinary form.
In a similar manner, when the clergy and other faithful of the diocese of Myra understood
that Nicholas should be their bishop.
He generously accepted.
He took up his ministry, announcing the truths of the faith with wisdom and courage, and
providing the sacraments to all of the faithful in a tireless manner.
His preaching and his ministration of the sacraments required a particular courage,
for he assumed the office of bishop during a time of intense persecution of the church
by the Roman emperor.
In fact, he was soon arrested, tortured, shackled with chains, and thrown into prison.
It was only with the accession to the imperial throne by Constantine that he was released
from prison.
The response of St. Nicholas to the call of Christ to act in his person as a true shepherd,
feeding the lamb, and the lamb of God.
The call of Jesus, the shepherd, the lamb of God, of lambs and sheep, embodies the pastoral
charity to which we as priests are called.
Our Lord Jesus Christ, seated in glory at the right hand of the Father, never ceases
to pour out from his glorious pierced heart the immeasurable graces of eternal salvation.
The priest is the chosen instrument of his care.
the church, of his mystical body and all her members, of which he remains always and in
every place, the head and the shepherd.
When he sent out the 72 disciples, he said to them, the harvest is abundant, but the
laborers are few.
So ask the master of the harvest to send out laborers for his harvests.
Go on your way.
Behold, I am sending you like lambs among wolves.
Called to the priesthood, the priest is at once deeply conscious of the need to pray
for and work for more young men to join Christ and him in proclaiming to the people the kingdom
of God.
The kingdom of God.
The kingdom of God is at hand for you.
At the same time, the priest is deeply conscious that he himself is being sent like a lamb
among wolves.
And therefore, he must pray daily for his own fidelity and integrity in carrying out
the apostolic mission.
And he should not hesitate.
In fact, he should.
He should make it his practice to ask the prayers of all the faithful for him and for his
mission.
The priest understands that nothing is more important to the flock than that they recognize
Christ alive in their midst in the church.
Thus, the priest gives his whole heart to Christ so that in his love of the flock, they will know
first and foremost.
The love of Christ, their head and shepherd.
Having suffered persecution from outside the church, St. Nicholas also had to face persecution
from within the church because of his staunch defense of the orthodox faith against the
powerful Aryan heresy.
Thanks to St. Nicholas.
The Aryan heresy, which threatened to overcome the church in so many places, was unable even
to establish itself at all in the diocese of Myra.
He was also a tireless teacher of the faith in the face of a pervasive paganism.
Like a true spiritual father, he protected the flock against the evils of heresy and pagan
practices.
Even as he continued to be known for his material care of the poor and of those in trouble.
One of the best-tested stories of St. Nicholas the Wonder Worker involves the condemnation
of three innocent young men to death.
St. Nicholas went to the governor and secured their release.
Three imperial officers who were present on the occasion were also present.
St. Nicholas was the first to be released.
He was also later falsely arrested because of the jealousy of the prefect, Ablavius.
Let us listen briefly to the account of their miraculous release through the intercession
of St. Nicholas of Myra.
When the officers heard that the prefect had obtained the order of their death from the
emperor Constantine, they remembered the example they had witnessed of the powerful love of the prefect.
They remembered the example they had witnessed of the powerful love of the prefect.
They remembered the example they had witnessed of the powerful love of justice of the bishop of Myra.
And they prayed to God that through his merits and by his instrumentality, they might yet be saved.
That night, St. Nicholas appeared in a dream to Constantine and told him with threats to release
the three innocent men.
And Ablavius experienced the same thing.
In the morning, the emperor and the prefect were in the same room.
The emperor and the prefect compared notes, and the condemned men were sent for and questioned.
When he heard that they had called on the name of the Nicholas of Myra who had appeared to him,
Constantine set them free and sent them to the bishop with a letter asking him not to threaten him anymore.
But to pray for the peace of the world.
When we consider how the faithful today are being denied the freedom of conscience and the freedom of religious practice
in a society which becomes ever more pagan, ever more secularized, ever more godless,
the example of St. Nicholas inspires us as priests.
To seek an ever greater wisdom and to plea for an ever greater courage
in defending the flock as true spiritual fathers.
In defending the fundamental right of conscience and of religious practice
for those whom Christ has entrusted into our care, even in the face of persecution
and other forms.
of threatened suffering.
Let us pray today in the words of the psalm
that we may imitate the pastoral charity
of St. Nicholas of Myra,
that we may give our priestly hearts,
one with the Immaculate Heart of Mary,
pure and selfless love,
evermore completely to our Lord and Master.
Recognizing that doing the will of the Lord,
following his written, his law written upon our hearts
is the only source of lasting joy and peace for us.
May we be able to pray with the psalmist
at the end of each day.
Your justice I kept not hid within my heart.
Your faithfulness and your salvation I have spoken of.
I have made no secret of your kindness and your truth
in the vast assembly.
Let us pray always with a priestly heart,
a heart imprinted with and fortified
by the pastoral charity of Christ,
with which was imprinted the heroic priestly heart
of St. Nicholas of Myra.
Let us pray.
Let us now lift up our poor, doubtful, and fearful hearts,
one with the Immaculate Heart of Mary
to the glorious, pierced heart of Jesus,
his Eucharistic heart.
In his heart, open for us in the Eucharistic sacrifice,
our hearts will be purified of sin,
of our poverty, of our doubt, and of our fear,
and will be inflamed with divine love,
for the mission which is ours,
unworthy though we may be,
the mission to bring glad tidings to the poor
and to proclaim liberty to captives.
Heart of Jesus, of whose fullness we have all received,
have mercy on us.
Our Lady of Guadalupe, Mother of America,
and star of the new evangelization,
Amen.
Amen.
Amen.
Amen.
Amen.
Amen.
Amen.
Amen.
Amen.
Amen.
Amen.
Amen.
and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit.
Amen.
In the name of the Father, and of the Son,
and of the Holy Spirit.
Amen.