Saturday, January 17, 2009

Homily – January 17, 2009 – St. Anthony of Egypt

Today we have the feast of St. Anthony of Egypt (St. Anthony of the Desert) b 250. The readings for Mass are especially geared towards this celebration. Anthony knew exactly the two great powers that inhabit the earth: the power of Good, the power of God; and the power of Evil, the power of the Devil himself. And Anthony knew that the absolute best armor against the wiles and the powers of the Evil One was "prayer in the spirit": not just "prayers", but allowing the Holy Spirit of God himself – by being quiet enough and still enough – the room in us to pray to God the Father even more directly and successfully for our safety and for our true needs than we could ever do on our own!

Anthony also took to heart the injunction of Jesus – regarding being as open as possible to the action of God in our lives – to be as literally poor as one could be, so that God could provide all that is truly needed in one's life, and in the lives of others. So combining this desire to "pray in the Spirit" for the welfare of himself and humanity as a whole, and the action of "becoming truly poor": distributing his own personal wealth and living entirely for God: Anthony went out into the desert and lived a monastic life: he is in fact the Father of Monks, the Father of Monasticism as we know it.

Others came to join him, and he built the first monastery – a collection of single living quarters or cells surrounding a chapel. In addition to doing this he gave support to believing Christians during the persecution of Diocletian and he assisted St. Athanasius against the Arians. He died in 356.

You are our inheritance, O Lord. You will show us the path to life, fullness of joys in your presence, the delights at your right hand forever!

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