Earlier in the week, we commemorated the feast day of Paul the Hermit, one of the first Desert Fathers. Today, we commemorate the most celebrated of the Desert Fathers: Anthony of Egypt, who was born in the middle of the 3rd century. St Athanasius of Alexandria, Doctor of the Church and Patriarch of Alexandria, Egypt, wrote a biography about St Anthony of Egypt, which made him a very popular figure in the Early Church. Anthony sold his large inheritance at the age of 20 and moved to the solitude of the desert. The movement of the Desert Fathers exemplified the way these early Christians felt called to live out the simplicity and silence of their faith in a time when the Church was becoming a bigger part of society. It reminds all of us how important our prayer life is to our faith, how we are called to find quiet reflective moments in our prayer life where we will encounter God in a profound way.
Anthony was called to a particular way of life in his vocation as a follower of Christ. Today, we hear Jesus calling Matthew, a tax collector, to be his disciple. Jesus’ association with the tax collectors and sinners, those deemed unclean, shocked the sensibilities of those who followed the letter of Jewish law. In calling Matthew to be one of his disciples, Jesus chose one of the unlikeliest of men – a tax collector whose profession was despised by the Jewish people. When Jesus was criticized by the Pharisees for the company he kept, he explained how he sought out those in the greatest need. Jesus is like a physician. He healed people on spiritual & psychological levels, as well as on the physical level. We all need to open up ourselves to Christ’s presence and to the healing he brings to our lives.
We are here today gathered for Mass on this Saturday morning as a part of the ACTS retreat team. We are here as part of our preparation to put on the ACTS retreat in February. I am very edified by the faith I see all of you living out in your lives if faith. I am edified by the commitment you are making to be a part of the ACTS team. We have been all called to do this by God. It is important for us to feel Jesus accompanying us in the ACTS retreat in everything we do every step of the way. It is Jesus who will live in us as we do his work and service.
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