St. Anthony of Padua epitomizes the spirit of the scripture readings of his memorial feast: Isaiah 61:1-3d and Luke 10:1-9, for being an efficacious evangelizer on his apostolic mission. As reflected in the First Reading (Isaiah 61:1-3d), St. Anthony of Padua was anointed with the Holy Spirit, endowed with many graces. And he recognized this during his childhood. This is why he entered an Augustinian abbey to become a priest, though his family wanted him to pursue a civil career of nobility, for he hailed from an aristocratic family. Knowing the anointment, young Anthony devoted himself to his priestly formation, including rigorous study. He was much into the teaching of the Church Fathers. It was also important for him not to let worldly affairs distract him as his eyes were firmly fixed on Christ and his ears are on the will of God. This, indeed, reflect these words from St. Paul’s teaching:
I urge you therefore, brothers, by the
mercies of God, to offer your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and pleasing
to God, your spiritual worship.
Do not conform yourselves to this age but
be transformed by the renewal of your mind, that you may discern what is the
will of God, what is good and pleasing and perfect
(Romans 12:1-2).
Anthony excelled in his studies and was ordained as an
Augustinian priest in 1220. However, given his disposition to keep his mind
free from worldly influence, he wanted to minimize time and energy in dealing
with worldly matters. Then, during that year, the relics of the five Franciscan
martyrs were brought back, and this deeply moved Anthony, and he decided to
offer himself for Christ’s mission in Morocco, where the five Franciscans were
martyred. However, upon his arrival in Morocco, Anthony fell sick and had to
leave. The ship that he was on was hit by a storm and this resulted to land in
Sicily, where he made a full recovery from the illness.
Then, in May, 1221, Anthony was in Assisi, listened to
St. Francis of Assisi preaching. Upon this, he seriously began to consider
joining the Franciscan order. Besides his encounter with St. Francis, what drew
St. Anthony into the Franciscans was the fact that a Franciscan monastery models
after the monastery established by St. Anthony of the Desert. Anthony saw it as
an idealistic life style for him to stay unconfirmed to the world. In fact, he
took the name, “Anthony” from St. Anthony of the Desert. His birth name was
Fernando. And he became a Franciscan friar.
St. Anthony’s preference to a monastic lifestyle not
to be bothered by secular noises does not mean that he withdrew himself to a monastery.
Though a monastic life, as established by St. Anthony of the Desert, was
essential to him, Anthony went out and reached out to people, the rich and the
poor, especially those who are in need of Christ and his grace. Before St.
Ignatius of Loyola would practice for himself and teach his fellow Jesuits in
the 16th century, St. Anthony of Padua strived to keep a fine
balance between contemplation and action – balancing monastic contemplation
with pastoral activity. This lifestyle of Anthony is echoed in Pope Francis’ command
to all priests: to proclaim the Gospel of joy and to serve as shepherds with
the smell of their sheep and anoint those whom they serve with the oil of joy
and serve the Lord with gratitude.
So everyday, St. Anthony of Padua stepped out of his
Franciscan monastery to serve as shepherd with the smell of sheep, proclaiming
the Good News of Christ and his Kingdom with joy and gratitude. His sheep are
both rich and poor, both the learned and the illiterate. He preached as the
rubber meets the road to people from all walks of life. His preaching was very
effective in finding “lost sheep” and bringing them back to the Church. For
this, Anthony is Evangelical Doctor of the Church. His homiletics serves as a
good model to all priests.
St. Anthony willingly volunteered to go to Morocco, upon the martyrdom of the five Franciscans there. It was because he was willing to be sent like a sheep among the wolves (Luke 10:16). To bring the good tidings of loving God, the Good News of Christ, for the Kingdom to be established on earth as it is in heaven, St. Anthony went and reached out to anyone whom God willed. And he drew energy from his monastic life, modeled after St. Anthony of the Desert, from whom he took his name.
St. Anthony of Padua is known for his powerful intercession when we need to find what is lost. This is because he had his book returned upon his prayers, after a monk took the book with him when he left the monastery to leave a religious life. Affected by Anthony’s prayer, however, he repented his sin of stealing Anthony’s book and converted. So he not only brought back Anthony’s book but also returned himself to the religious life. Both his pastoral outreach and his prayer have power on finding what is lost and bring it back. We need both the Bayesian mathematical model and St. Anthony of Padua's intercession to find what is lost. But in terms of what is lost spiritually, the Bayesian model is of no use, while an intercession of St. Anthony of Padua is efficacious especially when it comes to spiritual recovery.
No comments:
Post a Comment