His Word Today: Saint Anthony of the Desert

Painting of Saint Anthony by Piero di Cosimo
(1480 AD)

Good morning everyone,

Today, the Church celebrates the Liturgical Memorial of Saint Anthony (sometimes spelled Antony) of the Desert.  Born in Coma (Lower Egypt) in AD 251, Anthony's parents were wealthy landowners, but they both died when he was 18 years old, leaving him to care for his unmarried sister.  Not long after that, he decided to follow the advice of Jesus: If you want to be perfect, go, sell what you have and give to the poor; you will have treasure in heaven (Mt 19:21).  He gave away some of his family's lands to neighbours, sold the remaining property and donated the proceeds to the poor.  He then placed his sister in the care of some Christian virgins and set out in search of an ascetic life.

There were monks at the time, most of them living on the outskirts of cities, so for the first fifteen years or so following the death of his parents, Anthony lived as a disciple of one of these, but he broke new ground when he decided to actually move out of town and into the desert.  Saint Athanasius speaks of the trials Anthony endured, yet despite these trials, he managed to emerge from relative isolation after more than 20 years.  After that time, many thought that he would have been physically wasted away, but apparently this was not the case.  He survived and was found healthy, serene and enlightened, much to the surprise of those who thought that he would not have been able to endure the rigours of such a lonely existence.

Saint Anthony's quest to find God in the solitary life of a monk - an effort which won him the moniker of the Father of all monks, was not unlike Jesus' insistence on spending time in prayer.  The discipline of prayer was always the focus of Jesus' life and it has continued to be the focus of the life of faith that is experienced by all of his disciples.  Jesus' life of prayer made it possible for him to possess a level of God-given wisdom and grace that still draws people to listen to his words.  Today's gospel (Mk 3:1-6) points out for us the fact that Jesus was not afraid to allow others to see his faith in action.  We too must constantly pray for guidance and for the strength of our faith so that we can continue growing in our ability to stand up for our faith and to help others to encounter the beating heart of Jesus.  From that heart, we learn the gift of divine mercy and compassion.

Today, let us ask Saint Anthony to pray with and for us so that we will experience a renewed willingness to be his disciples in the world.  Let us also ask Jesus to give us the grace to be able to draw ever closer to his loving heart so that we can learn every day how to be more and more joyful witnesses of his merciful love.

Have a great day.