St.

Anthony the Abbot

Feastday: January 17
Gospel: Mk 2:23-28
As Jesus was passing through a field of grain on the sabbath, his disciples began to make a path
while picking the heads of grain. At this the Pharisees said to him, Look, why are they doing
what is unlawful on the sabbath? He said to them, Have you never read what David did when
he was in need and he and his companions were hungry? How he went into the house of God
when Abiathar was high priest and ate the bread of offering that only the priests could lawfully
eat, and shared it with his companions? Then he said to them, The sabbath was made for man,
not man for the sabbath. That is why the Son of Man is lord even of the sabbath.
Today we commemorate Saint Anthony, the Abbot. He was Egyptian. And we remember him as
the father of the monastic life. He wasnt the first man who fled into the desert in order to serve
God. But he made it with all his soul, and attracted thousands of men and women with his
example. At that point that ancient writers used to say in his times the Desert was a crowded city.
His parents died when he was eighteen and he inherited a considerable fortune and the
responsibility for a young sister. One day in church, he heard the words of the Gospel: "If you
wish to be perfect, go, sell your possessions, and give the money to the poor, and you will have
treasure in heaven; then come, follow me." After that he gave away all his property except what
he and his sister needed to live on. But a few days later, on hearing these others words, "So do
not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will bring worries of its own. Today's trouble is enough
for today," he gave away everything else, entrusted his sister to a convent, and went outside the
village to live a life of praying, fasting, and manual labor. It wasn't enough to listen to words, he
had to become what Jesus said.
The secret of his sanctity was not a secret: to live in solitude, to accomplish every word of the
Gospel, to imitate the facts of every holy person he knew.
Anthony died when he was one hundred and five years old, after a long life of solitude, fasting,
and manual labor in the service of God. And he never stopped challenging himself to go one step
beyond in his faith.
Saint Athanasius, who knew Anthony and wrote his biography, said, "Anthony was not known
for his writings nor for his worldly wisdom, nor for any art, but simply for his reverence toward
God." We can imitate Anthony by living a life of radical faith and complete commitment to God.
Saint Anthony spoke of the importance of persevering in our faith and our practice. May he helps
us to wake up each day with new zeal for the Christian life and a true desire for sanctity.