Memorial of Saint Anthony, abbott
It’s always nice to receive a positive compliment about your work, your appearance, your family, or whatever makes you proud. And we all probably have a tendency to think of these compliments as something we earned by something we did. In other words, we tend to think that we deserve the compliments, and we may even be offended when we do something remarkable and nobody seems to notice. Today’s saint, St. Anthony the Abbot, is a good model for us in this. Known as one of the desert fathers, Anthony was an early Christian saint who fled the city because he felt that it encouraged self-indulgence and self-glorification. In the desert he sought to glorify God instead, and his decision to seek solitude became a model for the custom of monasticism, leaving the world and its temptations in order to better glorify God in daily life. Though we may not leave the world in the way that St. Anthony did, nonetheless, we hope that each day can be an occasion to give greater glory to God.
Today’s readings, however, draw our attention to the importance of glorifying God rather than ourselves. We know this even from the example of Jesus’ own life, as described by St. Paul in today’s passage from the letter to the Hebrews. When we think of Jesus – God incarnate – we could imagine that he might have wanted to seek attention, to glorify himself by using his divine power for his own fame. I had a professor who used to say that if he were God and he came to earth, he’d want to make a grand entrance, perhaps on a float at the Rose Bowl Parade, so that everyone would look in awe at the amazing God made flesh. In contrast to this self-glorification, our God came to us as a baby, born in a humble stable to a lowly virgin married to a simple carpenter.
St. Paul writes about Jesus as a high priest, noting that Jesus did not take this honor upon himself. Jesus did not seek to glorify himself, using his divine power for his own fame. Rather, Jesus came to earth in order to serve human beings and to make the ultimate sacrifice with his own death. St. Paul uses the fascinating phrase “he learned obedience from what he suffered” (Heb 5:10). We see that Jesus did not seek to avoid his suffering, but rather used it for the good of all mankind, and hence glorifying God the Trinity in this act of love.
When we consider the gospel reading from Mark, we can also see this theme of glorifying God. Whereas the Pharisees prescribed to the custom of fasting in order to glorify themselves and earn respect from others, Jesus’ disciples did not fast in order that they could glorify God in their midst. In Jesus’ words, the disciples recognized that Jesus was “the bridegroom,” and after his death, they would embrace this discipline of fasting. But while God was with them as Jesus, the disciples glorified God in celebrating with him and honoring his presence with them.
As we go about our ordinary lives in this brief patch of Ordinary Time, it is crucial for us to remember that our lives are not meant to be a testament to the glory of ourselves, but a witness to the glory of God. Hence when we receive those little compliments, we should be able to say “thank you,” with a smile, while simultaneously thanking God for all that we have been given. In other words, let God take the credit for our successes, and let us take the blame for our failures. All that we do that is good, we do through God and with God, and God deserves the glory.
- Maria Morrow