The Memorial of St Anthony of Egypt

The Memorial of St Anthony of Egypt

By REV. FR. SAMUEL FREDERICK

1 Sam. 15:16-23, Mk 2:18-22. Today's first reading presents the disobedience of king Saul. Saul was told by God to put under a ban all which was taken after a victory and be destroyed. When Saul captured the best of oxen and sheep from the Amalekites, it was with the noble intention of sacrificing them to the Lord in thanksgiving, but as Samuel points out, obedience is far greater and nobler than sacrifice. Saul thought that the sacrifice would be better than totally destroying everything. Samuel chastises Saul, not for making a sacrifice, but for disobedience, not doing what God had explicitly told Saul to do. The Psalmist also supports the fact that obedience to God’s command is better than offering sacrifices. Saul presumes that he knew what God wants. Today's Gospel resonates with similar insight: Neither fasting nor feasting has any merit of its own; they carry relevance only in reference to God.

The first reason the disciples of Jesus acted differently from the followers of John the Baptist or the followers of the Pharisees, was that while He remained with His disciples, His disciples should be able to live lives of joy and celebration, for soon Jesus would be gone and they could then be more reserved in their lifestyles. The second section of today’s Gospel, continues with the idea that things are different with Jesus. Jesus uses the analogies of clothing and wineskins. Clothing that is old cannot be patched with new, un-shrunken material. When the clothing is washed and the new material shrinks, it will pull the patch from the old material. In a similar way, the new wine in old wineskins will cause the old wineskins to burst, the old skins and the new wine will both be lost. This is to teach us that once we build ourselves in the new life, we cannot continue to fix to the old way of living but be transformed into the new image of God. We need to look at our life and change anything which is not part of our relationship with God. We need to empty ourselves of anything that clutters up our desire to follow Christ and spend more time with God, free of distractions, so that we can focus on what God is asking of us and respond appropriately. We have many good role models to follow in that endeavour. St Anthony of Egypt whose memorial celebrate, was one of the earliest Christian monks and one of the pioneers of monasticism in Christendom, dedicating his life to the service of God by withdrawing to the wilderness of Egypt. He left everything he had and dedicated himself to God wholeheartedly. Anthony spent many years in this state of spiritual journey and purification, while it was told that the devil often sent other demons and fallen angels to strike at him. He endured it all with faith and grace.

May the Lord help us to be open to God’s plan, so that we can be instrumental in bringing the Goodnews to others! Amen!! Good morning, have a successful and fulfilled working week!!!

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