A Holy Sacrifice of Action

HOMILY, JANUARY 17, 2012 Memorial of Saint Anthony, Abbott

A Holy Sacrifice of Action


"How long will you grieve for Saul, whom I have rejected as king of Israel? Fill your horn with oil, and be on your way.”

“Go to Jesse of Bethlehem” God tells Samuel, "Take a heifer along and say, 'I have come to sacrifice to the LORD.' Invite Jesse to the sacrifice, and I myself will tell you what to do; you are to anoint for me the one I point out to you." I myself will tell you what to do. You see actions speak louder than words—and also louder than thoughts.

We have a great example of that in St. Anthony, the father of monasticism. He is variously known as Anthony the Abbot, Anthony of Egypt, Anthony of the Desert, Anthony the Anchorite, Abba Antonius and Father of All Monks.

Two Greek philosophers ventured out into the Egyptian desert to the mountain where Anthony lived. When they got there, Anthony asked them why they had come to talk to such a foolish man? He had reason to say that -- they saw before them a man who wore a skin, who refused to bathe, who lived on bread and water. They were Greek, the world's most admired civilization, and Anthony was Egyptian, a member of a conquered nation. They were philosophers, educated in languages and rhetoric. Anthony had not even attended school as a boy and he needed an interpreter to speak to them. In their eyes, he would have seemed very foolish.

But St Paul reminds us: “Where is the wise man? Where is the scholar? Where is the philosopher of this age? Has not God made foolish the wisdom of the world? (I Cor. 1:20)

The Greek philosophers had heard the stories of Anthony. They had heard how disciples came from all over to learn from him, how his intercession had brought about miraculous healings, how his words comforted the suffering. They assured him that they had come to him because he was a wise man.

Anthony guessed what they wanted. They lived by words and arguments. They wanted to hear his words and his arguments on the truth of Christianity and the value of ascetism. But he refused to play their game. He told them "If you think me wise, become what I am, for we ought to imitate the good. Had I gone to you, I should have imitated you, but, since you have come to me, become what I am, for I am a Christian."

Anthony's whole life was not one of observing, but of doing—acting and becoming. “Go and say, 'I have come to sacrifice to the LORD.'” Anthony knew how to make a sacrifice to the Lord. Not a heifer, but a sacrifice of himself.
Sacrifice is defined as "a giving up of something for the sake of something or someone else."

We Catholics are used to making sacrifices, but do we make our whole life "a living sacrifice," as Jesus would have us do? St. Paul challenged the Church in Rome and he challenges us:

“Therefore, I urge you, brothers and sisters, in view of God’s mercy, to offer your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and pleasing to God—this is your true and proper worship.” (Rom. 12:1) God says, “show me—don’t tell me.”

May the intercession of St. Anthony help us to do just that.