St. Anthony

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Thursday, 13 June 2013 : 10th Week of Ordinary Time, Memorial of St. Anthony of Padua, Priest and Doctor of the Church (Scripture Reflection)

Brothers and sisters, today we are reminded, as we should, on the importance of love and harmony in our relationship with one another. We are brothers and sisters to one another, as all of us are the same children of God. Before God, we are all the same, regardless of where we came from, our wealth, our possessions, our race, and other things that seems to divide us, and differentiate us.

That is why brothers and sisters, we must build a harmonious relationship between one another, and base that relationship in love and peace. But too often, we place ourselves and our greed before that, and we do not look at our brothers and sisters with love, not even those who are family to us, and therefore, less still those who are unknown to us.

Today we celebrate the feast day of St. Anthony of Padua, a well-known saint, a Franciscan friar. He was a great teacher of the faith, and a humble man, but even more importantly, he was a man of peace, just as St. Francis, the founder of his order was. St. Anthony was committed to love and peace between individuals and reflected that in his life, which he gave into the service of mankind.

Like all the saints and other holy people of God, St. Anthony reflect the true life and offering that God wants from all of us. Yes, brothers and sisters, God wants our love, and He does not want the offerings that we place on the altar, like that of Israel of old. What He wants from us is the love from our hearts, a pure offering in His eyes, and that we live in perfect love and peace with one another, as we are brothers and sisters, all created by Him, our Creator.

That is what our faith is truly about, that we should reflect in ourselves the light of Christ, the light of love, hope, faith, and peace, that everyone who sees us, and all the things that we do will know that we are the children of God, because we practice what God has taught us through Christ, that is both to love Him with all our hearts, our minds, and our souls, and also to do the same to our neighbours, our brethren.

Sadly though, many of us in our world no longer preach the Gospel of love and peace through our deeds and our actions. We have been blinded by the evils of this world, that is hatred, jealousy, and greed, so that we no longer love our fellow brothers and sisters, but instead incite violence, anger, and hatred between one another. War, injustice, oppression, and vengeance are just some of the fruits of these evils, which today we know, brothers and sisters, are all around us.

I want to bring to your attention, the sufferings of our brothers and sisters in Syria, who had been in turmoil for many years, and whose people had been subjected to a civil war between competing politicians and the powerful ones, for their own purposes and objectives, but which cause immense suffering for the people. Brothers no longer look upon each other as brothers, and neither do sisters. Families and friendships are divided and devastated. Truly, our Lord would certainly be sad to look at all these.

Injustice is also rampant in our society today, brothers and sisters, how we often treat people unequally, favouring some while treating others unfairly and badly, just because of certain objectives and desires that we possess within us. Some because of greed, some because of lust, and some because of other desires and evils. Even I am sure, brothers and sisters, that some of us had often encountered these, and even be part of these in our own lives!

If we continue to walk down this path of evil and destruction, our God will not look kindly upon us, for He is a friend of the poor, the lonely, the unloved, and the hated ones, the least ones whom we often exploit and hate, but to the Lord they are beloved. Therefore, dear brothers and sisters, let us reflect on our lives, on our actions, whether we have lived true to the Gospel of our Lord, and His call for us to be filled with love and peace.

May we follow in the footsteps of St. Anthony of Padua and the holy saints, that we can be transformed, from beings of evil, hatred, prejudice, and violence, into beings of love, justice, and peace. How wonderful will our world become, if only everyone dedicate themselves to the cause of peace and love. God bless us all. Amen.

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Thursday, 13 June 2013 : 10th Week of Ordinary Time, Memorial of St. Anthony of Padua, Priest and Doctor of the Church (Gospel Reading)

Matthew 5 : 20-26

I tell you then, if you are not righteous in a much broader way than the teachers of the Law and the Pharisees, you cannot enter the kingdom of heaven. You have heard that it was said to our people in the past : ‘Do not commit murder; anyone who does kill will have to face trial.’ But now I tell you : whoever gets angry with a brother or sister will have to face trial.

Whoever insults a brother or sister deserves to be brought before the council. Whoever calls a brother or a sister, “Fool!” deserves to be thrown into the fire of hell. So, if you are about to offer your gift at the altar, and you remember that your brother has something against you, leave your gift there in front of the altar, go at once and make peace with him, and then come back and offer your gift to God.

Do not forget this : be reconciled with your opponent quickly when you are together on the way to court. Otherwise he will turn you over to the judge, who will hand you over to the police, who will put you in jail. There you will stay, until you have paid the last penny.

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Thursday, 13 June 2013 : 10th Week of Ordinary Time, Memorial of St. Anthony of Padua, Priest and Doctor of the Church (Psalm)

Psalm 84 : 9ab-10, 11-12, 13-14

Would that I hear God’s proclamation, that He promise peace to His people, His saints. Yet His salvation is near to those who fear Him, and His Glory will dwell in our land.

Love and faithfulness have met; righteousness and peace have embraced. Faithfulness will reach up from the earth while justice bends down from heaven.

The Lord will give what is good, and our land will yield its fruit. Justice will go before Him, and peace will follow along His path.

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Thursday, 13 June 2013 : 10th Week of Ordinary Time, Memorial of St. Anthony of Padua, Priest and Doctor of the Church (First Reading)

2 Corinthians 3 : 15 – 2 Corinthians 4 : 1, 3-6

Up to this very day, whenever they read Moses, the veil remains over their understanding, but, for whoever turns to the Lord, the veil shall be removed. The Lord is Spirit, and where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is freedom.

So, with unveiled faces, we all reflect the Glory of the Lord, while we are transformed into His likeness and experience His Glory more and more by the action of the Lord who is Spirit.

Since this is our ministry mercifully given to us, we do not weaken. In fact if the Gospel we proclaim remains obscure, it is obscure only for those who go to their own destruction. The god of this world has blinded the minds of these unbelievers lest they see the radiance of the glorious Gospel of Christ, who is God’s image.

It is not ourselves we preach, but Christ Jesus as Lord; and for Jesus’ sake we are your servants. God who said, “Let the light shine out of darkness”, has also made the light shine in our hearts to radiate and to make known the Glory of God, as it shines in the face of Christ.

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Happy St. Anthony’s Day! (17 January 2013)

http://www.romereports.com/palio/animals-pay-a-visit-to-st-peters-square-for-celebration-of-their-patron-saint-anthony-english-8769.html

Today is the celebration day of St. Anthony the abbot, celebrated in Rome with the blessing of animals. St. Anthony the abbot or St. Anthony the Great is a third century AD monk who was noted for his great holiness and perseverance through numerous attacks and temptations by the devil.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Anthony_the_Great

St. Anthony, pray for us!

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Thursday, 17 January 2013 : 1st Week of Ordinary Time, Memorial of St. Anthony the abbot (Scripture Reflection)

In today’s readings, we clearly see that God work His power through miracles, as shown in the First Reading where Paul mentioned that God worked miracles through the forty years of Israel’s wandering in the desert after leaving Egypt and after their disobedience which caused God to make them to wonder for forty years to atone for their sins, and in the Gospel, where Jesus cured the leper and made him clean.

However, we can note that despite all of the miracles and deeds that the Lord had done, despite all the manna the people of Israel had eaten, and the other numerous miracles through the forty years, the people’s hearts remain distant from God, and they even frequently rebelled against Him by worshipping foreign gods of the Midians and the nations around them.

Compare this with the attitude of the people and the leper in the Gospel, where the leper believed in Jesus and through his faith, he was cured of his leprosy. Despite being told not to spread the word of Jesus’ miracle, the man spread the news to all, who began to come to Jesus in the wilderness. Jesus is God, but as it was not yet His time to reveal His divinity, He wanted to keep His ministry secret in a low-profile manner, and not to boast of His great power. But the people’s reactions is the complete opposite of the people in the First Reading, where they instead of rebelling against the Lord, they came to the Lord and they sought the Lord.

Paul warned the people to always stay close to God, especially in their hearts, and to encourage one another in their goal to stay close to God, and to always keep hope in Christ and not to fall into the traps of sin and evil. The people in the first reading represent the old self, who despite of God’s grace and blessing, hardened their hearts and their soul against the love of God. God is loving and merciful, but He also hates sin and disobedience, just as He showed when Adam and Eve disobeyed Him in the Garden of Eden. We, as humans, have pride in our hearts, and we tend to stay in our sinful ways and avoid God, too proud to humble ourselves to seek God in our daily lives, and content to be carried astray by the pleasures of this world.

However, the Gospel brought about the second type of people, the ones we should aspire to become, a people who are humble, who are willing to seek God even beyond their comfort, to go the extra mile ‘into the wilderness’ to seek God, to seek His forgiveness, and to bask in His love and mercy. The leper represents us, we who are healed by God of our afflictions, both through Baptism, and through the grace and blessings of God. Just as Paul mentioned, the leper, who represents us, should spread the news of the love of God to all, to those who are yet to hear the Good News, and in particular to those whose hearts are hardened against the Lord in their pride. In our daily lives, in our homes, in our families, and with our friends, with every simple things that we do, we should reflect this by living our faith through our good deeds and actions, so that everyone can see the Lord and His love through us. If we are able to do so, God will bless us, and we will be with Christ until the end, and when we go to His Kingdom, He will open the door and welcome you with the words, “Welcome friend, I know you, and through your humility and charity, and your ceaseless support of one another for My sake, you have merited eternal life.”

May God bless all of us, and may He grant us strength and humility, that we can indeed seek the Lord for forgiveness of our sins, and open ourselves to His love, and not to forget to spread this love to all around us, that all of us together, will be with Christ, and in Christ, we are saved. Amen.

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Thursday, 17 January 2013 : 1st Week of Ordinary Time, Memorial of St. Anthony the abbot (Gospel Reading)

Mark 1 : 40-45

A leper came to Jesus and begged Him, “If you want to, you can make me clean.” Moved with pity, Jesus stretched out His hand and touched him, saying, “I do want to; be clean.” The leprosy left the man at once and he was made clean. As Jesus sent the man away, He sternly warned him, “Don’t tell anyone about this, but go and show yourself to the priest, and for the cleansing bring the offering ordered by Moses; in this way you will give to them your testimony.”

However, as soon as the man went out, he began spreading the news everywhere, so that Jesus could no longer openly enter any town. But even though He stayed in the rural areas, people came to Him from everywhere.

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Thursday, 17 January 2013 : 1st Week of Ordinary Time, Memorial of St. Anthony the abbot (First Reading)

Hebrew 3 : 7-14

Listen to what the Holy Spirit says : If only you would hear God’s voice today! Do not be stubborn, as they were in the place called Rebellion, when your ancestors challenged Me in the desert, although they had seen My deeds for forty years. That is why I was angry with those people and said : Their hearts are always going astray and they do not understand my ways. I was angry and made a solemn vow : They will never enter my rest.

So, brothers, be careful lest some of you come to have an evil and unbelieving heart that falls away from the living God. Encourage one another, day by day, as long as it is called today. Let no one become hardened in the deceitful way of sin. We are associated with Christ provided we hold steadfastly to our initial hope until the end.