On June 24, it will be 190 years since the Venerable Peter Joseph Triest passed away. It’s a time to remember him and to offer him our intentions, that he may be for us, brothers and sisters, his most direct disciples, and for the Vincentian Family Worldwide, a sure guide so that we can continue to live out the charism of charity in a radical way. We offer you some words of Father Triest as reflection for this day. Venerable Peter Joseph Triest, pray for us.

The love of God became the great reality of Father Triest’s life. He was overwhelmed by this love. And so, he saw the hand of God in everything. It is good that we thoroughly reflect on the place of God in our lives, just as he did. Can we be joyfully amazed at the life that we have received from God’s hand? Can we still be grateful when we awake in the morning and receive life again as a gift for a new day? And do we experience his living presence in the Eucharist? Is every Communion a true encounter with God for us? There are so many moments and events in life in which we may experience God’s presence, but it is up to us to be open to them.

Heavenly Father, thank you for the life that you grant us every day. Thank you for the many signs of your love that we perceive in our lives. Thank you for the environment in which we live, for the clean water that quenches our thirst, for the daily bread that feeds us. Thank you for the love of neighbour around us. Thank you for allowing us to call you our Father, for creating us, and for allowing us to come home to You one day. Amen.

The first reason why we should be grateful to God and we should love Him is that He created us and gave us life. God did not only create us and give us life, but also he keeps us alive continually. Another reason why we should love God is that He became man for us and saved us. We must love God because He has adopted us as his children. But what should move us to love God most of all is that he instituted for us the most Blessed Sacrament of the Altar by which He gives himself totally to us as food and drink so that He might pour out his whole Spirit in our soul and grant immortality to our body.

(Undated sermon)