Thought for the Day – The Memorial of Saint Anthony of Padua OFM (1195-1231) Doctor of the Church, 13 June
Actions Speak Louder than Words
Saint Anthony of Padua
Priest and Doctor of the Church
An excerpt from Sermon, I #226
The man who is filled with the Holy Spirit speaks in different languages. These different languages are different ways of witnessing to Christ, such as humility, poverty, patience and obedience, we speak in those languages, when we reveal in ourselves, these virtues to others. Actions speak louder than words, let your words teach and your actions speak. We are full of words but empty of actions and, therefore, are cursed by the Lord, since He Himself cursed the fig tree when He found no fruit but only leaves. Gregory says: “A law is laid upon the preacher to practice what he preaches.” It is useless for a man to flaunt his knowledge of the law, if he undermines its teaching by his actions.
But the apostles spoke as the Spirit gave them the gift of speech. Happy the man, whose words issue from the Holy Spirit and not from himself! ,,For some men speak as their own character dictates but steal the words of others and present them as their own and claim the credit for them. The Lord refers to such men and others like them in Jeremiah – So, then, I have a quarrel with the prophets that steal my words from each other. I have a quarrel with the prophets, says the Lord, who have only to move their tongues to utter oracles. I have a quarrel with the prophets who make prophecies out of lying dreams, who recount them and lead my people astray with their lies and their pretensions. I certainly never sent them or commissioned them and they serve no good purpose for this people, says the Lord.
We should speak, then, as the Holy Spirit gives us the gift of speech. Our humble and sincere request to the Spirit for ourselves, should be that we may bring the day of Pentecost to fulfilment, insofar, as He infuses us with His grace, by using our bodily senses in a perfect manner and by keeping the commandments. Likewise, we shall request, that we may be filled with a keen sense of sorrow and with fiery tongues for confessing the faith, so that our deserved reward may be to stand in the blazing splendour of the saints and to look upon the triune God.
Saint of the Day – 13 June – St Anthony of Padua OFM (1195-1231) Doctor of the Church
The gospel call, to leave everything and follow Christ, was the rule of Saint Anthony of Padua’s life. Over and over again, God called him to something new in his plan. Every time, Anthony responded with renewed zeal and self-sacrificing to serve his Lord Jesus more completely.
His journey as the servant of God began as a very young man when he decided to join the Augustinians in Lisbon, giving up a future of wealth and power, to be a servant of God. Later, when the bodies of the first Franciscan martyrs went through the Portuguese city where he was stationed, he was again filled with an intense longing to be one of those closest to Jesus Himself: those who die for the Good News.
So Anthony entered the Franciscan Order and set out to preach to the Moors. But an illness prevented him from achieving that goal. He went to Italy and was stationed in a small hermitage where he spent most of his time praying, reading the Scriptures and doing menial tasks.
The call of God came again at an general chapter where no one was prepared to speak. The humble and obedient Anthon,y hesitantly accepted the task. The years of searching for Jesus in prayer, of reading sacred Scripture and of serving Him in poverty, chastity and obedience, had prepared Anthony to allow the Spirit to use his talents. Anthony’s sermon was astounding to those who expected an unprepared speech and knew not the Spirit’s power to give people words.
Recognised as a great man of prayer and a great Scripture and theology scholar, Anthony became the first friar to teach theology to the other friars. Soon he was called from that post to preach to the Albigensians in France, using his profound knowledge of Scripture and theology, to convert and reassure those, who had been misled by their denial of Christ’s divinity and of the sacraments..
After he led the friars in northern Italy for three years, he made his headquarters in the city of Padua. He resumed his preaching and began writing sermon notes to help other preachers. In the spring of 1231, Anthony withdrew to a friary at Camposampiero, where he had a sort of treehouse built as a hermitage. There he prayed and prepared for death.
On 13 June, he became very ill and asked to be taken back to Padua, where he died after receiving the last sacraments. Anthony was Canonised less than a year later and named a Doctor of the Church in 1946.
Anthony should be the patron of those, who find their lives completely uprooted and set in a new and unexpected direction. Like all saints, he is a perfect example of turning one’s life completely over to Christ. God did with Anthony as God pleased—and what God pleased was a life of spiritual power and brilliance that still attracts admiration today heaping miracle upon miracle during Anthony’s lifetime. He whom popular devotion has nominated as finder of lost objects, found himself by losing himself totally, to the providence of God.
St Anthony writes: “Christ, who is your life, is hanging before you, so that you may look at the Cross, as in a mirror. There you will be able to know, how mortal were your wounds, that no medicine other, than the Blood of the Son of God, could heal. If you look closely, you will be able to realise, how great your human dignity and your value are…. Nowhere other than looking at himself, in the mirror of the Cross, can man better understand how much he is worth”(Sermones Dominicales et Festivi III, pp. 213-214).
In meditating on these words we are better able to understand the importance of the image of the Crucified One for our culture, for our humanity that is born from the Christian faith. Precisely by looking at the Crucified One we see, as St Anthony says, how great are the dignity and worth of the human being. At no other point can we understand how much the human person is worth, precisely because, God makes us so important, considers us so important that, in His opinion, we are worthy of His suffering, thus, all human dignity appears in the mirror of the Crucified One and our gazing upon Him is ever a source of acknowledgement of human dignity…..Pope Benedict XVI (General Audience – February 10, 2010)
St Anthony of Padua, pray for us!
Wonderful St Anthony the miracle worker: https://anastpaul.com/2018/06/13/saint-of-the-day-13-june-st-anthony-of-padua-o-f-m-evangelical-doctor-hammer-of-heretics-professor-of-miracles-wonder-worker-ark-of-the-tes/
Celebrating St Anthony: https://anastpaul.com/2017/06/13/celebrating-the-life-and-miracles-of-st-anthony-of-padua-on-his-memorial-today-13-june/
O God, send forth Your Holy Spirit By St Anthony of Padua (1195-1231) Doctor of the Church
O God,
send forth Your Holy Spirit
into my heart
that I may perceive,
into my mind,
that I may remember,
and into my soul,
that I may meditate.
Inspire me to speak
with piety,
holiness,
tenderness
and mercy.
Teach, guide and direct my thoughts
and senses, from beginning to end.
May Your grace,
ever help and correct me,
and may I be strengthened now
with wisdom from on high,
for the sake of Your infinite mercy.
Amen
Our Morning Offering – 21 May – ‘Mary’s Month’ – Tuesday of the Fifth Week of Easter, C
Mary, our Queen By St Anthony of Padua (1195-1231)
Mary, our Queen,
Holy Mother of God,
we beg you to hear our prayer.
Make our hearts overflow with divine grace
and resplendent with heavenly wisdom.
Render them strong with your might
and rich in virtue.
Pour down upon us the gift of mercy
so that we may obtain the pardon of our sins.
Help us to live in such a way
as to merit the glory and bliss of heaven.
May this be granted us by your Son Jesus
who has exalted you above the angels,
has crowned you as Queen,
and has seated you with Him
forever on his refulgent throne.
Amen
Quote/s of the Day – 1 November – The Solemnity of All the Saints
“All saints give testimony to the truth, that without real effort, no one ever wins the crown.”
St Thomas à Becket (1118-1170)
“A ray of light enables us to see the dust that is in the air. In the same way, the lives of the Saints show up our defects. If we fail to see our faults, it is because we have not looked at the lives of holy men and women.”
St Anthony of Padua (1195-1231) Doctor of the Church
“God creates out of nothing. Wonderful you say. Yes, to be sure but He does. what is still more wonderful, He makes saints out of sinners.”
Soren Kierkegaard (1813-1855)
“In heaven, we shall not meet with indifferent glances, because all the elect will discover that they owe to each other, the graces that merited the crown for them.”
St Thérèse of the Child Jesus (1873-1897) Doctor of the Church
“Life holds only one tragedy, ultimately, not to have been a saint.”
Charles Péguy (1873-1914)
“A saint takes his hands off the steering wheel of his life and lets God steer.”
One Minute Reflection – 31 August – Friday of the Twenty-first week in Ordinary Time, Year B – Today’s Gospel: Matthew 25:1–13 and the memorial of St Aidan of Lindisfarne
But at midnight there was a cry, ‘Behold, the bridegroom! Come out to meet him.’ … Matthew 25:6
REFLECTION – “The souls’ husband is the Holy Spirit, by His grace. When His interior inspiration calls the soul to repentance, then every enticement of vice is in vain. The pride that wants command, the greed and lust that consumes everything: this was the master that used to control and ravage the soul. Their very names have been removed from the repentant sinner’s mouth… When grace is poured into the soul and gives it light, God makes a covenant with sinners. He is reconciled with them… Then is celebrated the wedding of the bridegroom with His bride in the peace of a pure conscience.”…St Anthony of Padua (1195-1231) Doctor of the Church
“You have been created for the glory of God and your own eternal salvation…..This is your goal! This is the centre of your life; this is the treasure of your heart. If you reach your goal you will find happiness. If you fail to reach it, you will find misery.”……St Robert Bellarmine (1542-1621) Doctor of the Church
PRAYER – My Lord and my God, help me eternal Father, to stay awake! Teach me to be constantly on guard against my own weakness, to constantly keep watch for temptation and to live constantly in prayer, that Your Son will lead me to safety. Grant that by the prayers of your holy servant, St Aidan of Lindisfarne, who always remained prayerful and awake, waiting for the Lord, we may be ready to meet the bridegroom. Through Jesus our Lord, with the Holy Spirit, one God forever,amen.
One Minute Reflection – 25 August – Saturday of the Twentieth week in Ordinary Time, Year B, Today’s Gospel: Matthew 23:1–12 – The Memorials of Sts Louis IX, (1214-1270) King of France and St Joseph Calasanz (1557-1648) Founder
“….so practice and observe whatever they tell you, but not what they do; for they preach but do not practice.”...Matthew 23:3
REFLECTION – “Someone who is filled with the Holy Spirit speaks different languages (Acts 2:4). These different languages are differing testimonies to Christ, such as humility, poverty, patience and obedience. We speak them when, in practising them ourselves, we show them to others. The word is alive when it is our actions that speak. Please, I beg you, let words be silenced and actions speak! We are full of words but empty of deeds and because of this the Lord curses us just as he cursed the fig tree on which he found no fruit but only leaves (Mk 11:13f.). Saint Gregory says that: “The Law has been made known to the preacher so that he might practice what he preaches.” A person who spoils his teaching by his deeds is wasting his time spreading knowledge of the law.
But the apostles spoke according to the Spirit’s gift. Happy are those who speak according to the Spirit’s gift and not according to their own feelings… So let us speak as the Spirit gives us utterance. Let us humbly and devoutly ask Him to shed His grace within us.”..St Anthony of Padua (1195-1231) Doctor of the Church (Sermons)
“All who undertake to teach must be endowed with deep love, the greatest of patience and, most of all, profound humility. They must perform their work with earnest zeal. Then, through their humble prayers, the Lord will find them worthy to become fellow workers with Him in the cause of truth.”…St Joseph Calasanz
PRAYER – God our Father, help us to teach others about You by our example as well as our words. Grant that we may spread Your truth and Your light wherever we go. St Louis, this is exactly what you sought to do, constantly serving God in penitence and prayer, ever mindful of His people. You lived the greatest commandment and strove always to be an example to your people through your great love for our Lord and for His Church. You gave St Joseph of Calasanz, remarkable gifts of priestly charity and patience. Grant that while we honour him as a master of wisdom, we may imitate him, by teaching the truth by our way of life. St Louis, St Joseph, please pray for our Priests and for us all! Amen
Our Morning Offering – 22 August – Memorial of The Queenship of Mary
Mary our Queen, Holy Mother of God By St Anthony of Padua (1195-1231) Evangelical Doctor
Mary, our Queen,
Holy Mother of God,
we beg you to hear our prayer.
Make our hearts overflow with divine grace
and resplendent with heavenly wisdom.
Render them strong with your might
and rich in virtue.
Pour down upon us the gift of mercy
so that we may obtain the pardon of our sins.
Help us to live in such a way
as to merit the glory and bliss of heaven.
May this be granted us by your Son Jesus
who has exalted you above the angels,
has crowned you as Queen,
and has seated you with Him
forever on His refulgent throne.
Amen.
