Readings of the day: 2 Corinthians 1:18-22; Psalm 119:129, 130, 131, 132, 133, 135; Matthew 5:13-16
Tuesday of the 10th week in Ordinary Time
Have any of us ever wondered how saints become associated with particular causes, such as finding lost items in the case of St. Anthony of Padua?
There are so many stories and legends, sayings and sermons connected with St. Anthony, so that I think it would be quite reasonable for us to wonder how he became the go-to saint when we have lost something. Of course, St. Anthony is rightly the patron of many other causes, too. He is called the “Evangelical Doctor”; of the thirty-six recognized “doctors” or master teachers by their writings and example in our Church’s history, St. Anthony is renowned as an evangelist, somebody who spread our faith by his preaching and gentle, humble presence that echoed the presence of Christ to the people. For his legendary efforts at preaching to fish (I hope to try this next time I go fishing!), St. Anthony is the patron of many things marine and water-related. He is the patron of his native Portugal and of Brazil. But St. Anthony is connected, far more often it seems than with other causes, to lost people or objects, and is the patron of objects that become easily lost, like mail (and mail carriers).
But why is St. Anthony most often recognized as the patron of lost objects? It all started with a Franciscan novice stealing his prayer book, with all the notes St. Anthony was using to teach the novices in his care. Those novices… I was once a novice, although I never stole my novice director’s prayer book! St. Anthony prayed, and so the novice was moved to return his prayer book.
I am not complaining about St. Anthony being too exclusively associated with lost objects. Yesterday, St. Anthony came to the aid of this absent-minded professor who thought, when leaving the house, that I would leave all my keys I did not need on the corner of my desk at the rectory so I would not lose them. Indeed, I did leave my keys on the corner of my desk… in the office I am using at our St. Cecilia Church site, not at the rectory. I think “it is right and just,” as we say, then, that I (and we together) celebrate St. Anthony. If St. Peter were given the power of the keys, St. Anthony has the gift of finding those keys when we lose them!
But may we also pray through St. Anthony as the one who not only helps to find lost objects, but to find us when we become lost, in error or sin; when we fail to be, in the words of our Gospel today, “salt of the earth, [like] a city set on a mountain,” or a lamp “set on a lampstand”; when instead our lamps become hidden, dim, or, worse yet, lost. St. Anthony of Padua, you are a beloved example of gentle evangelization; of calling the lost to the fullest practice of our faith. Find us when we are lost, place our lamps on lampstands; make us again “salt of the earth and light of the world.” Guide us toward “our heavenly Father,” whose glory you and we serve, and help us to light the way for one another, as you did, humbly and faithfully, through Christ our Lord.
There are so many stories and legends, sayings and sermons connected with St. Anthony, so that I think it would be quite reasonable for us to wonder how he became the go-to saint when we have lost something. Of course, St. Anthony is rightly the patron of many other causes, too. He is called the “Evangelical Doctor”; of the thirty-six recognized “doctors” or master teachers by their writings and example in our Church’s history, St. Anthony is renowned as an evangelist, somebody who spread our faith by his preaching and gentle, humble presence that echoed the presence of Christ to the people. For his legendary efforts at preaching to fish (I hope to try this next time I go fishing!), St. Anthony is the patron of many things marine and water-related. He is the patron of his native Portugal and of Brazil. But St. Anthony is connected, far more often it seems than with other causes, to lost people or objects, and is the patron of objects that become easily lost, like mail (and mail carriers).
But why is St. Anthony most often recognized as the patron of lost objects? It all started with a Franciscan novice stealing his prayer book, with all the notes St. Anthony was using to teach the novices in his care. Those novices… I was once a novice, although I never stole my novice director’s prayer book! St. Anthony prayed, and so the novice was moved to return his prayer book.
I am not complaining about St. Anthony being too exclusively associated with lost objects. Yesterday, St. Anthony came to the aid of this absent-minded professor who thought, when leaving the house, that I would leave all my keys I did not need on the corner of my desk at the rectory so I would not lose them. Indeed, I did leave my keys on the corner of my desk… in the office I am using at our St. Cecilia Church site, not at the rectory. I think “it is right and just,” as we say, then, that I (and we together) celebrate St. Anthony. If St. Peter were given the power of the keys, St. Anthony has the gift of finding those keys when we lose them!
But may we also pray through St. Anthony as the one who not only helps to find lost objects, but to find us when we become lost, in error or sin; when we fail to be, in the words of our Gospel today, “salt of the earth, [like] a city set on a mountain,” or a lamp “set on a lampstand”; when instead our lamps become hidden, dim, or, worse yet, lost. St. Anthony of Padua, you are a beloved example of gentle evangelization; of calling the lost to the fullest practice of our faith. Find us when we are lost, place our lamps on lampstands; make us again “salt of the earth and light of the world.” Guide us toward “our heavenly Father,” whose glory you and we serve, and help us to light the way for one another, as you did, humbly and faithfully, through Christ our Lord.
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