Memorial of St. Anthony of Padua, year A
Theme: The love of God
Today the church celebrates the memorial of St. Anthony of Padua, a priest and doctor of the church. His resolve to serve God at the young age of fifteen, made him give up his nobility and embrace the ways of God. This desire to serve God in a very intimate way, gave rise to his movement from one place to another. His love for God reflected in his words and actions. In the same way, as we celebrate his memorial today, we are all encouraged to emulate him in our service to God and humanity. Remember, what drives him, is his love for God and humanity, not personal interests or gains as seen today in our world.
In the 1st reading of today, the assertion of St. Paul in the 2nd letter to the Corinthians can be fruitful and possible when we give God a chance in our life. This is because God is our model in all that we do, and we try to continue to emulate his word and actions that are driven by love. This attitude will prompt us to be upright in our dealings with other people, be always faithful to God and stand for what is good and right. St. Paul made it very clear that “all the promises of God find their yes in him”. We are all children of God and should do all within our power to be faithful to God in all that we do, just like St. Anthony did in his lifetime.
My brothers and sisters in Christ, as we stive to give love a chance in our daily lives, we are already practicing what is expected of us as children of God. In the gospel reading of today, Jesus refers to us as followers of Christ as the light of the world and the salt of the earth. But for us to continue to be salt of the earth and the light of the world, we must continue to be faithful to God in our daily lives. This is because anything short of this will make us lose our light and lose our taste as salt of the earth. When this happens, we have deviated from the right path that will lead us to eternal life. St. Anthony of Padua whose memorial we celebrate today, remained as light to the world and salt to the earth until the end. In the same way, we are all encouraged today to continue to make an honest and sincere effort to ensure that our lights will never deem and as salt we will never lose our taste.
Dear friends in Christ, we are all capable of making this happen in our lives. Just do your best and trust on Gods grace. May the Lord bless his words in our hearts, in the name of the father and of the son and of the holy spirit. Amen. Peace be with you.