feast of saint
anthony, abbot
Leviticus, Chapter 25, Verse 43
Do not lord it over them
harshly, but stand in fear of your
God.
This verse in the book of Leviticus is about how to
treat the hired help or the slaves of the rich. It was common for a poor Jew to
hire himself out as a slave for up to seven years, the year of the jubilee to pay
for his daily bread. Although a slave; God commands they will be treated with
dignity and respect for all the Jews were liberated by God from the Egyptians. This
verse also from a modern standpoint sounds a lot like servant leadership. The
focus of the servant leader as discussed by Greenleaf (2002) is primarily in serving.
To serve both the organization and the people in it; this involves the leader
having to focus on how to best serve and having concern for well-rounded work,
community and power sharing. This is the greatness of our Lord in that He
shares with us His majesty and forgives us our failings.
“It’s
all about the Benjamin’s”
Today Benjamin Franklin was born in 1706. As a
founding father of this nation; one wonders would he question if Life, Liberty,
and the Pursuit of Happiness are Still Self-Evident Rights? Whether it is
self-evident or not, it is the philosophical belief in the rights of life,
liberty, and the pursuit of happiness that helped make America both great and
good. Thomas Jefferson stated: “We hold these truths to be self-evident, that
all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain
unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of
Happiness.”
Jefferson’s argument is not that the right to life,
the right to liberty, and the right to pursue happiness originate in
government, but that these rights have a divine origin. Jefferson argued
that the job of all governments was to “secure” rights that God had already
granted. In other words, the rights to life and liberty do not come into
being with the force of government fiat; life and liberty are pre-political
rights already granted by God. Today, we have lost that concept. Almost
a quarter-millennia later, these rights are no longer considered self-evident,
and neither is a Creator. Once God and the natural law are disassociated
from rights—once the idea of justice and goodness are separated from rights—we
are left with a political environment in which anything could
be considered a right, or nothing could be considered a right.
As Pope John Paul II said in Denver, Colorado at World
Youth Day in 1993: When the Founding Fathers of this great nation enshrined
certain inalienable rights in the Constitution…they did so because they
recognized the existence of a ‘law’ – a series of rights and duties – engraved
by the Creator on each person’s heart and conscience. In much of contemporary
thinking, any reference to a ‘law’ guaranteed by the Creator is absent. There
remains only each individual’s choice of this or that objective as convenient
or useful in a given set of circumstances. No longer is anything
considered intrinsically "good" and
"universally binding". Rights are affirmed but, because they are
without any reference to an objective truth, they are deprived of any solid
basis. Vast sectors of society are confused about what is right and what is wrong
and are at the mercy of those with the power to "create" opinion and
impose it on others. Pope John Paul II saw and foresaw, once rights are viewed
as mere arbitrary constructs with no relation or reference to our Creator,
rights become a mere matter of whimsy—subject no longer to God, but to the
fickle winds of public opinion. Today, we are often told that it is not
life and liberty, but their opposites that are self-evident. We are told
that the right to abortion and euthanasia are self-evident, and that religious
liberties and liberties of conscience have no validation in law. The
founding fathers generally recognized that human laws and rights should reflect
each other, largely because they have the same origin. Just as human law
must come from divine law, so do rights ultimately come from God and from
justice. Rights flow from justice, and if a right cannot be traced to
justice, it is no right at all. Once a right, however, is traced to
justice—the right to life, for instance—it has the “solid basis” about which
Pope Saint John Paul II spoke.
Indeed, as Jefferson noted all those July 4th’s ago,
men “are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights.”
Whether it is self-evident or not, it is the philosophical belief in the rights
of life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness that helped make America both
great and good. Let’s continue to promote and defend all three.
The fear of the LORD is pure, enduring
forever; the ordinances of the LORD are true, all of them just. (Ps. 19:10)
Let the words of my
mouth and the thought of my heart find favor before you, O LORD, my rock and my
redeemer. (Ps. 19:15)
Saint Antony, called the Great, lived in Egypt between
A.D. 251 and 356. At age 18, the gospel text "If you wish to be perfect,
go and sell all that you have and then follow me" so moved him that he
left everything behind and retired to an inaccessible place in the wilderness
where he dedicated his life to God in manual work and continual prayer. In his
old age, he imparted wisdom to his disciples and encouraged them to lead a
monastic life. Because he was the first Christian to retire to a monastic life,
he is considered to be the first monk and also the father of all monks. His
feast is celebrated on January 17. Try this simple, healthy recipe in honor of Saint
Antony the hermit.
INGREDIENTS
3
tablespoons oil of choice
1
cup barley
1
carrot, finely grated
2
leeks, sliced
1
bay leaf
1/3
cup fresh parsley, minced
Salt
to taste
7
cups water
1
bouillon cube, if desired
Chopped
mushrooms, if desired
DIRECTIONS
1. Heat the oil in a soup pot and add the barley,
stirring continuously for one minute. Immediately add the carrot, leeks, bay
leaf, parsley, salt, and water.
2. Cook the soup over low to medium heat, covered, for
40 to 45 minutes, until the barley is tender. Add more water if needed. For
extra taste, add the bouillon and the mushrooms during the last 20 minutes of
simmering. Remove the bay leaf. Serve hot.
Recipe Source: From a Monastery Kitchen: The Classic
Natural Foods Cookbook by Brother Victor-Antoine d'Avila-Latourrette, Gramercy
Books, 1997
9 Days for Life is a "digital pilgrimage" of
prayer and action focused on cherishing the gift of every person's life. A
multi-faceted novena highlighting a different intention each day provides
reflections, bonus information, and suggested actions. Join to receive the
novena through the 9 Days for Life app, daily emails, or daily texts. See below
for information on how else you can get involved! #9DaysforLife #OurPrayersMatter
Day Four:
Intercession: May God’s peace
fill the hearts of all who travel upon the path of adoption.
Prayers: Our Father, 3 Hail Marys,
Glory Be
Reflection: The
Letter to the Hebrews reminds us to “hold fast to the hope that lies before us.
This we have as an anchor of the soul, sure and firm” (Heb 6:18-19). Families
hoping to adopt children and mothers considering placing their children for
adoption often face many challenges along the way. We pray that all who are
involved in the adoption process would be filled with the hope of Christ and
“the peace of God that surpasses all understanding” (Phil 4:7). We also
remember that we too can cling fast to this anchor of hope, for we have
received “a spirit of adoption, through which we cry, ‘Abba, Father!’” (Rom
8:15). May our loving Father envelop each of us in His love today and open our
eyes of faith that we may see and rejoice in His love.
Acts of Reparation (Choose one.)
·
Do
you have a sweet tooth? Or do you prefer salty snacks? Pick your favorite kind
of treat, and give it up for the day.
·
Make
an act of faith, hope, or love (www.usccb.org/faith-hope-love).
·
Offer
some other sacrifice, prayer, or act of penance that you feel called to do for
today’s intention.
A Father’s Mission in the Family
75. Husbands and fathers, you too have an
irreplaceable mission. There is a security and stability that only you can give
your family. This will only bless your family to the extent that you fulfill
your role as provider, protector and spiritual leader.
76. As lead (if not sole) provider of the income
needed to sustain the family, you shoulder a burden that frees your wife to be
present to you and to your children, particularly when they are young.
Sacrifices of the larger home, the extra vehicle or vacation are nothing
compared to the precious gift of your children having their mother’s presence
to them in the home. Do all you can to assure this, or to move in this
direction in close dialogue with your wife. Some of you, I know, sacrifice more
than luxuries. I commend you. Pray that as your spiritual father I will match
your level of sacrifice for the children God has entrusted to me. Some of you
husbands are suffering through unemployment or job insecurity at this time.
Trust in God; seek good friendships of men who can come alongside you and take
necessary steps to provide even if outside your normal field for a time. I am
praying for you.
77. You are also the primary protector of your
family. What does this mean? It means you are the seawall against the storms
that threaten from inside and outside. While your wife’s attention is more
naturally focused on the relationships within and around the family, yours
naturally is drawn to threats. This is a gift to your family. Protect them,
Dad! These threats take various forms: of special note at this time in history,
the threat of overuse of technology and the always evil problem of pornography
come to mind. Do what you must to protect the precious time, peace, unity and
healthy imaginations of your family. Your denying a smart-phone to a teenager
is no sin—any suffering from an unpopular decision now will be repaid a
hundred-fold by a grateful adult son or daughter down the road, and even if not
then, in Heaven. Other threats, known better to you than to me, are your
responsibility as well, along with positive encouragement toward new, healthy
experiences, challenging opportunities of charity, service and work, and even
encouraging risks for personal growth. All this you deeply impact as a father.
78. I know well that the third dimension, spiritual
leadership, is often the most difficult. Yet, God will in no way fail to give
you the grace to enter this place of spiritual battle within yourself and on
behalf of your family. Your steadiness in maintaining the grace of weekly Mass
and the sacraments, your growth in disciplined prayer and your pursuit of
deeper personal conversion throughout your life provide an indelible lesson in
spiritual leadership. This indeed, along with your love for your wife and care
for your children, will be the best of fatherly gifts.
79. St. Paul twice tells fathers not to provoke
their children, but to “bring them up with the training and instruction of the
Lord.” (Eph. 6:4) He writes this immediately before he gives his most forceful
teaching to us about spiritual warfare. Your presence and encouragement build
your son or daughter in a uniquely masculine way and make a stunningly powerful
difference in their lives and faith. When you as fathers affirm your sons in
word and deed and time together, you are giving the authoritative pronouncement
of their goodness so that they can live confidently as beloved sons without
trying to find their ultimate meaning in the things of the world. When your
daughter is affirmed as good, beautiful and precious by you, the most important
man in her life, she will be confident and well-equipped to say no to the false
flattery of the world that so often fails to see her true dignity, value and
worth.
80. In your renewed determination to live your masculine mission as
provider, protector and spiritual leader of your home, you will often have
setbacks and moments of doubt. We all do! Stay the course. Lean in to St.
Joseph, the husband and foster-father who faced difficulty after difficulty in
providing for protecting and leading his holy family. Ask him to intercede for
you whenever you do not see the path ahead clearly. He is the “Protector of the
Holy Family” and the “Terror of Demons.” He knows your struggle and is a great
saint of prayer.
"Read
these counsels slowly. Pause to meditate on these thoughts. They are things
that I whisper in your ear-confiding them-as a friend, as a brother, as a
father. And they are being heard by God. I won't tell you anything new. I will
only stir your memory, so that some thought will arise and strike you; and so
you will better your life and set out along ways of prayer and of Love. And in
the end you will be a more worthy soul."
These are the ripe fruits of the mortified soul: tolerance and
understanding for the defects of others; intolerance for one's own.
Daily
Devotions
[2]http://www.catholicculture.org/culture/liturgicalyear/calendar/day.cfm?date=2017-01-17
[3]http://www.usccb.org/about/pro-life-activities/january-roe-events/nine-days-of-prayer-penance-and-pilgrimage.cfm
[4]https://family.dphx.org/wp-content/uploads/2018/12/2018-Complete-My-Joy-Apostolic-Exhortation-English.pdf
[5]http://www.escrivaworks.org/book/the_way-point-1.htm
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