5/2/2014 – Friday of 2nd week of Easter - Memorial of St Athanasius – Bishop of Alexandria and Doctor of the Church – Psalm 27

      When I was looking over the readings for today, the first verse of today’s psalm was what spoke to me: “The LORD is my light and my salvation; whom should I fear?  The LORD is my life’s refuge; of whom should I be afraid?  We can speak those words and believe in them, but as human beings, we are sometimes afraid, we sometimes don’t put all our trust in God the way we should.

       The saint we celebrate today is perhaps one that is not well known to us.  He certainly isn't a household name.  St Athanasius was Bishop of Alexandria, Egypt in the fourth century for 45 years – that is a very long time.  Alexandria was one of the great centers of Christianity and of learning in the ancient world.  It was a great center of both Judaism and Christianity.  Yet, during that long time he was bishop, different emperors sent Athanasius into exile 5 different times.  More than six years of that time of exile was spent in the desert.  He also had to flee Alexandria 6 additional times when he feared for his life – interesting in the context of today’s psalm.  Athanasius is one of that select group of 35 men and women who have been named as a Doctor of the Church for their contributions to spirituality, theology, and Church doctrine.  Athanasius was active in the fight against Arianism, a belief in the Church that saw Jesus, the Son of God, as subordinate to the Father.   The writings of Athanasius were important to the way our understanding of the Trinity developed in the early Church.  One of his quotes about Jesus as God is this: “Jesus that I know as my Redeemer cannot be less than God.”

       There may be times in life when we also be faced with various challenges in living out our faith and in proclaiming God’s world, when we may truly be afraid of what is threatening us.  In our quest to live out our faith and to put our trust in God, may St Athanasius and the other saints serve as inspirations and as examples for us in our lives of discipleship in the modern world.