The Memorial of St. Anthony the Abbot Gospel: Mark 2:13-17 St. Anthony, Loving Father of All Monks
Today, the Church celebrates the memorial of St. Anthony the Abbot. St. Anthony, also known as “Anthony the Great,” was an Egyptian hermit who was later venerated as a saint. He was born around January 12, 251 AD, and died on January 17, 356 AD. Known by many other titles (such as “Anthony of Egypt,” “Anthony the Abbot,” and “Anthony of the Desert”), he is also called the “Father of All Monks” for his foundational role in the monastic tradition. His biography was written by Athanasius, Bishop of Alexandria, and translated into Latin, spreading the concept of Christian monasticism to Western Europe. Although not the first hermit, he was among the earliest, entering the wilderness for asceticism around 270 AD, and making “desert spirituality” renowned. It is said that in the Eastern desert, he resisted supernatural temptations, a theme that became a classic subject in art and literature. He is invoked as a patron against infectious diseases, particularly skin ailments, which were formerly known as “St. Anthony’s Fire.”
The Gospel reading for today’s Mass is taken from the Holy Gospel according to Mark, which tells of Jesus calling Levi (also known as Matthew), whom the Pharisees considered a public sinner, and the subsequent rebuke of Jesus by their scribes.
We often judge people based on the common habits of society, the way they approach various situations, and according to our own personal standards. In our eyes, this seems perfectly reasonable. Those who share our lifestyle and habits are our friends. As for those who do not follow our way of life, we regard them as strange, even unwilling to associate with them.
At times, we also look upon our brothers and sisters who have chosen a life of complete self-giving to God, living a consecrated life, in a similar manner. In our view, because these brothers and sisters who have given themselves entirely to God and live a consecrated life act differently within the Church, and may even seem incompatible with us in some aspects, when we interact with them, we too, like the scribes in today’s Gospel, see them as outsiders, keep our distance, and are unwilling to share communion with them.
Today, let us imitate St. Anthony the Abbot, returning to the desert of our own hearts to seek communion with God. Let us draw strength from prayer, so that our thoughts, words, and actions may increasingly resemble those of Christ, and contribute our part to healing the divisions in the world—reconciliation between people, and between humanity and nature.
St. Anthony the Abbot, Loving Father of all monks, pray for us. Amen.
Thursday of the First Week in Ordinary Time Gospel: Mark 2:1-12 The Authority of Jesus to Forgive Sins
We often encounter people of great learning in places of worship and adoration of God. When we meet them, we frequently feel inadequate due to our lack of knowledge, to the point that we dare not converse with them about matters of faith, seeking their counsel or engaging in dialogue. Gradually, on the path of faith and holiness, we come to a standstill. We remain living under the power of sin and death, causing our souls to gradually become parched from lacking all the graces bestowed by God.
Saint Mark tells us that four men carried a paralytic to the house where Jesus was. They removed the roof and lowered the paralytic, along with his mat, directly before Jesus, imploring Him for healing. On the path to holiness, there are also countless people who help us. It is precisely through them that God draws us and brings us to Jesus. The merciful Word of God, on account of the faith of those who lead us to Him, forgives our sins and heals the sickness of our souls, restoring us to freedom.
Dearly beloved in the Lord! In life, we should not be like the Pharisees, the doctors of the law, and the scribes, who pride themselves on their great learning and live in self-centered thoughts and intentions. Though they understood the will of God, they were unwilling to change their ingrained ways of thinking and thus had no share in the Kingdom of God. Instead, we must be like the paralytic healed by Jesus. After his sins were forgiven, he immediately turned away from all occasions of sin and, by his own actions, proclaimed the Gospel of the Kingdom to all creation. He sang praises to the Lord for the great wonders He had done for him and gave thanks for His infinite mercy. He did this so that the world, seeing the change in his life and hearing all that God proclaims through his mouth, might reshape its understanding of him. Thus, others would join with him to receive the one baptism in Christ, the same Holy Spirit, the one broken Bread, and the one chalice of blessing. Together, they would be united in the Body and Blood of Christ, becoming heirs of God. They would journey together to their heavenly homeland to partake in the wedding feast of the Kingdom, joining with all of creation freed from sin and death to sing praises to the Lord with one voice, forever and ever.
Thursday of the First Week in Ordinary Time Gospel: Mark 1:40-45 The Leper
In the Gospel he wrote, St. Mark narrates many instances of Jesus cleansing lepers. Leprosy, like leprosy today, is highly contagious. For this reason, in Leviticus, the Lord instructed Moses: “Whoever has a leprous disease shall wear torn clothes and let the hair of his head be disheveled; and he shall cover his upper lip and cry out, ‘Unclean, unclean!’ He shall remain unclean as long as he has the disease; he is unclean. He shall live alone; his dwelling shall be outside the camp”(cf. Lev 13:45-46). From this, we see that for the Jews of Jesus’ time, one afflicted with leprosy had to be separated from family and social ties, thus being isolated by the entire community.
When we sin against God, our souls are afflicted with a leprosy of the spirit. Sin and leprosy alike make us feel alienated—a sense of estrangement that keeps us trapped under the dominion of sin and death. Therefore, today, let us learn from that courageous man who approached Jesus seeking cleansing, and actively turn to God, asking for His healing. The merciful God will surely touch our wounds with His own hand, heal the diseases of our souls and bodies, and restore us to freedom.
Having received Christ’s help, and having drawn from the fullness of grace in Christ all the graces we urgently and with faith seek from Him, we should not continue to be self-centered. Instead, we must center ourselves on the Word of God, imitating the healed leper in today’s Gospel: boldly proclaiming God’s mercy and love to the world, and bearing witness to Christ through our actions.
Savior Jesus, have mercy on us and cleanse us. Amen.
全属于祢 
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