HOMILY WEEK 10 06 – Year II
Trust in God and Live in the Truth:
Memorial of St. Anthony
(1 Kg 19:16-21; Ps 16; Mt 5:33-37)
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“You are my inheritance, O Lord”
Today’s psalm and readings invite us to place our complete trust in God and to live in the truth.
In a tense game of poker, the phrase “I’m all in” is used when a player puts all his chips into a bet, holding nothing back. The risk is great: if he or she wins, they gain a huge payout. But if they lose, they are out of the game and have lost everything. By “going all in,” the player chooses to take that risk. In terms of faith and in the game of life, we are invited to roll our dice on the gospel, to place our complete trust in God, to go “all in” and hold nothing back.
We see that faith and trust in the first reading, in Elisha’s response to the call from the prophet Elijah to follow him. Elisha’s response displays radical trust in that call and in God’s providence – he goes “all in.” Elisha is presumably well off – twelve oxen is probably a sure sign of that. Throwing caution to the winds, he slaughtered the oxen and even used the wood of the equipment and leather of the harness to cook them. Then, on top of all that, he is generous and gives it all away to feed the people. Trust in God and generosity in giving to others seem to go hand in hand.
I believe anyone who joins a religious community and takes the vows of poverty, chastity and obedience experiences some of that reality of Elisha’s faith response. I still remember the feeling of handing over the keys of my fairly new Toyota Corolla to the superior of the Oblate novitiate when I arrived in Arnprior, Ontario, to begin my life as an Oblate. I was actually giving my beloved car away! Yet there was joy in knowing that break with the past was opening the door to an exciting new future lived within the possibilities of fellowship and ministry that are part and parcel of religious life. I have never regretted that decision.
In the gospel, Jesus stresses the element of truthfulness when responding to his call to follow him who is the Way, the Truth and the Life. Actually, I like to break that down this way – the Way to new Life is the Truth, and Jesus is Truth incarnate. That reality takes on a deeper meaning in the light of today’s chaos and social upheaval around fake news, theories about the causes of the pandemic, and even repercussions from the protests and looting surrounding the death of George Floyd in the States. One is left wondering what to believe in such a polarized society. Powerful forces seemed to be lined up ready to take advantage of any crisis to pursue an agenda of exercising power over any segment of any population.
More and more I am realizing that the greatest false god in our world today is not really wealth or fame – it is raw power and control. It seems some people will do whatever it takes, regardless of morality or truth or suffering on the part of others, just to get their way, what they want and get that high of exercising power and control over another person, persons or group.
This teaching of Jesus, that our “yes” mean “yes” and our “no” mean “no” is more relevant and needed than ever. The closer we are to God and to Jesus, the more we will adhere to the truth of any situation, and speak only truthful words ourselves.
Today the Church honors someone who totally trusted in God and lived in the truth of Jesus Christ, St. Anthony of Padua. Anthony was born in Lisbon, Portugal in 1195, although Padua claims him as their own. At 15, he joined the Canons Regular of Saint Augustine and studied intensely for 8 years, becoming an accomplished biblical scholar. He joined the Franciscans and was sent by Francis to teach his fellow friars in northern Italy, Bologna and then Padua. His reputation drew enormous crowds, and the power of his words converted them. Ill and exhausted, he died at age 36, so beloved and revered he was canonized within a year. His aid is invoked to help find lost objects.
The Eucharist is a prayer of faith, an act of trust in God, and an experience of the truth of the Real Presence of Jesus in both Word and Sacrament. May our celebration today strengthen our faith in Jesus as Risen Lord, and empower us to live and teach the truth of faith in him as did St. Anthony of Padua.
