20180613
FINDING THE LOST
SOULS
13 JUNE,
2018, Wednesday, St Anthony of Padua
1 The Spirit of the Lord GOD is upon me,
because
the Lord has anointed me
to bring
good tidings to the afflicted;
he has
sent me to bind up the brokenhearted,
to
proclaim liberty to the captives,
and the
opening of the prison to those who are bound;
2 to proclaim the year of the Lord’s
favor,
and the
day of vengeance of our God;
to
comfort all who mourn;
3 to grant to those who mourn in Zion—
to give
them a garland instead of ashes,
the oil
of gladness instead of mourning,
the
mantle of praise instead of a faint spirit;
that
they may be called oaks of righteousness,
the
planting of the Lord, that he may be glorified.
1 The Spirit of the Lord GOD is upon me,
because
the Lord has anointed me
to bring
good tidings to the afflicted;m
he has
sent me to bind up the brokenhearted,
to
proclaim liberty to the captives,
and the
opening of the prisonn to those
who are bound;
2 to proclaim the year of the Lord’s
favor,
and the
day of vengeance of our God;
to
comfort all who mourn;
3 to grant to those who mourn in Zion—
to give
them a garland instead of ashes,
the oil
of gladness instead of mourning,
the
mantle of praise instead of a faint spirit;
that
they may be called oaks of righteousness,
the planting of the Lord, that
he may be glorified.
Psalms 89: 2-5
2 For thy steadfast love was established for ever,
thy
faithfulness is firm as the heavens.
3 Thou hast said, “I have made a covenant with my chosen one,
I
have sworn to David my servant:
4 ‘I will establish your descendants for ever,
and
build your throne for all generations.’ ” [Selah]
5 Let the heavens praise thy wonders, O Lord,
thy
faithfulness in the assembly of the holy ones!
2 Cor 1:18-22
18 As
surely as God is faithful, our word to you has not been Yes and No. 19 For the Son of God, Jesus Christ, whom we
preached among you, Silvanus and Timothy and I, was not Yes and No; but in him
it is always Yes. 20 For all
the promises of God find their Yes in him. That is why we utter the Amen
through him, to the glory of God. 21 But it is
God who establishes us with you in Christ, and has commissioned us; 22 he has put his seal upon us and given us his
Spirit in our hearts as a guarantee.
Lk 10:1-9
1 After this the Lord
appointed seventy* others, and sent them on ahead of him, two
by two, into every town and place where he himself was about to come. 2 And
he said to them, “The harvest is plentiful, but the laborers are few; pray
therefore the Lord of the harvest to send out laborers into his harvest. 3 Go
your way; behold, I send you out as lambs in the midst of wolves. 4 Carry
no purse, no bag, no sandals; and salute no one on the road. 5 Whatever
house you enter, first say, ‘Peace be to this house!’ 6 And
if a son of peace is there, your peace shall rest upon him; but if not, it
shall return to you. 7 And remain in the same house, eating and
drinking what they provide, for the laborer deserves his wages; do not go from
house to house. 8 Whenever you enter a town and they receive
you, eat what is set before you; 9 heal the sick in it and say to them, ‘The
kingdom of God has come near to you.’
FINDING THE LOST SOULS
SCRIPTURE
READINGS: [ Isa 61:1-3; Ps 89:2-5, 27, 29; 2 Cor 1:18-22; Lk 10:1-9 ]
Most of us turn to St Anthony only when we lose our things.
He is often seen as the patron for lost things. Indeed, we have many
testimonies of people, including myself, praying to St Anthony when we cannot
find our things either because we misplaced them or lost them. But if our
devotion to St Anthony is confined to this alone, we are not giving full
appreciation to this feast that we are celebrating. St Anthony is seen to
be the patron for lost items only because he, like Jesus, came for the lost
souls. St Anthony was consumed with the desire to save
souls. So more than just turning to him in prayer when we lose our
things, we should first and foremost turn to him to save our souls and those
souls who are lost. Finding lost souls is far more important to finding
our lost things. If we are to have a true devotion to St Anthony, we must
also seek to find the lost souls and not just our lost things. What can
we learn from this great saint in finding lost souls?
Firstly, if we are to find lost souls, we must first lose ourselves in
Him. Indeed, St Anthony who came from a rich
family left everything to join the Augustinian order in Lisbon. We must
be ready to give up our riches and worldly pursuits for Jesus and for the joy
of bringing Jesus to people. But we cannot do that unless we are people
of prayer and filled with the Holy Spirit. We read that because of an
illness which prevented him from fulfilling his desire to be a missionary in
Morocco, he sailed to Sicily and landed in Italy. There he founded a
small hermitage where he spent his time in prayer, reading the scriptures and
doing menial tasks. It was at this place that he deepened his prayer life, his
knowledge of the scriptures and of his understanding of God. Through a
time of solitude and a life of simplicity, he came to discover the truth of the
Word of God and the deeper meaning of the gospel.
Secondly, we need people to inspire us to offer our lives for the
salvation of others. We need good models and mentors.
If today we lack zealous Catholics who are willing to sacrifice their lives for
the salvation of others, it is because we lack good role models.
Fortunately, St Anthony had good role models that inspired him to give up his
life for Jesus and for the mission. We read that what truly inspired him
to join the Franciscans when he was already an Augustinian monk was because one
day, he saw a procession of five bodies of Franciscans who were martyred for
Christ. This inspired him to do more for the Lord and to give his life
entirely to Him as the Franciscans did. As a consequence, he joined the
Franciscan Order. He hoped to follow the Franciscans who died whilst preaching
in Morocco, Africa. He too wanted to spread the gospel.
Thirdly, He must have heard the Lord saying to His disciples, “The
harvest is rich but the labourers are few, so ask the Lord of the harvest to
send labourers to his harvest.” He felt the urgency
of the call of the Lord to proclaim the gospel to all of humanity. “Start
off now, but remember, I am sending you out like lambs among wolves. Carry no
purse, no haversack, no sandals. Salute no one on the road.” Like the Suffering
Servant, he felt the call to spread the good news and to be a blessing to those
who were poor, broken and lost. “The spirit of the Lord has been given to
me, for the Lord has anointed me. He has sent me to bring good news to the
poor, to bind up hearts that are broken; to proclaim liberty to captives, freedom
to those in prison; to proclaim a year of favour from the Lord, a day of
vengeance for our God, to comfort all those who mourn and to give them for
ashes a garland; for mourning robe the oil of gladness, for despondency,
praise.”
How, then, can we bring in lost souls for Christ? Firstly, our
lives must be one of praise to God. We must sing praises to God not only
with our lips but with our lives. St Anthony lived a
humble life in poverty like the poor Franciscans in those days. With the
psalmist, we say, “I will sing for ever of your love, O Lord; through all ages
my mouth will proclaim your truth. Of this I am sure, that your love lasts for
ever, that your truth is firmly established as the heavens.” There is no
better way than making our lives a song of praise to God in all that we say and
do.
Secondly, St Anthony was a man who was clear about the gospel of what is
right and wrong. He was firmly established in the gospel.
Like St Paul in the second reading, he was one who could say, “I swear by God’s
truth, there is no Yes and No about what we say to you. The Son of God, the
Christ Jesus that we proclaimed among you – I mean Silvanus and Timothy and I –
was never Yes and No: with him it was always Yes, and however many the promises
God made, the Yes to them all is in him.” The real problem why we
lack the zeal to spread the gospel is because of relativism. Today, we
lack clarity and conviction of what we believe and not just who we
believe. We are not convinced of the gospel and especially of Christ as
our saviour, much less what He has taught us in the scriptures. St
Anthony read the scriptures and made the Word of God his own.
Thirdly, he was a man who was sincere in reaching out to sinners and
heretics. He wanted to bring sinners into realization
of the need for repentance. He was an outstanding preacher and the first
Franciscan theologian. Whilst his sermons were preached with gentleness and
compassion, he did not mince his words when it came to reprimanding the wicked,
the complacent clergy and those who practiced injustice. As St Paul urged
Timothy, “proclaim the message; be persistent whether the time is favorable or
unfavorable; convince, rebuke, and encourage, with the utmost patience in
teaching. For the time is coming when people will not put up with sound
doctrine, but having itching ears, they will accumulate for themselves teachers
to suit their own desires, and will turn away from listening to the truth and
wander away to myths.” (2 Tim 4:2-4)
Fourthly, he preached in the power of the Spirit. Indeed,
the years spent in prayer, contemplation of the sacred Scripture and serving
Him in poverty, chastity, and obedience disposed St Anthony to allow the Holy Spirit
to use his talents. Because of his availability to the Holy Spirit, St
Anthony’s sermons were impactful to those who heard him preach, as the Spirit
led him without preparation. The people knew it was the Spirit that gave
him the power to preach in such an anointed manner. This was the same
experience of St Paul when he wrote, “That is why it is ‘through him’ that we
answer Amen to the praise of God. Remember it is God himself who assures us
all, and you, of our standing in Christ, and has anointed us, marking us with
his seal and giving us the pledge, the Spirit, that we carry in our hearts.”
Finally, he surrendered his life and mission into the hands of God,
believing that God knows what is best. He did not impose his plans on
God. In fact, in his life, he was always receptive
to God’s will for him. He did not insist on doing what he wanted but he
was always open to changes in his life. His desire was to go to Morocco
to convert the Muslims but he became sick and had to go to Italy to recuperate.
Instead of becoming a missionary, he became a contemplative and a hermit.
He accepted God’s plan for him that he was not wanted to evangelize the
Moors. And then when he was called to preach against the Albigensians and
correct their heresies, he was ever ready to do so. He went wherever the
Lord sent him. Isn’t this was what the Lord asks of us in the
gospel? He told His disciples, “Whatever house you go into, let
your first words be, ‘Peace to this house!’ And if a man of peace lives there,
your peace will go and rest on him; if not, it will come back to you. Stay in
the same house, taking what food and drink they have to offer, for the labourer
deserves his wages; do not move from house to house. Whenever you go into a
town where they make you welcome, eat what is set before you. Cure those in it
who are sick, and say, “The kingdom of God is very near to you.”’
Truly, God was faithful to St Anthony and the Church made him a patron
for lost things because he lost himself in God. God
said to David, “I have made a covenant with my chosen one; I have sworn to
David my servant: I will establish your dynasty for ever and set up your throne
through all ages. He will say to me: ‘You are my father, my God, the rock who
saves me.’ I will keep my love for him always; with him my covenant shall
last.” So too, God remained faithful to St Anthony because he did not
become an obstacle for God’s power to work in and through him.
Written by The Most Rev William Goh,
Roman Catholic Archbishop of Singapore © All Rights Reserved
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