We have been hearing from St Paul’s letters to the Galatians and the Ephesians at daily Mass these last several weeks. In today’s reading from his letter to the Ephesians, St Paul talks about God’s grace at work in our lives and God’s universal plan of salvation. St Paul sees his accomplishments as a missionary not as personal achievements, but rather as God’s grace working within him, allow him to serve God and God’s people. St Paul was called specifically as the evangelizer of the Gentiles, not something everyone in the early Church agreed with, as some saw salvation still be offered to just the Jews. But according to St Paul, it does not matter whether we are Gentile or Jew, God offers salvation to all. With God’s grace, we can draw ever closer to the Lord on our journey.
It is sometimes difficult to discern God’s grace, to recognize it in our lives with all the noise surrounding us in the world today. Today, we celebrate on the the Desert Fathers of the early Church who sought God in the silence of the desert, St Hilarion. Born in 291, he went into the desert after his conversion to the way of Jesus after studying in the ancient center of learning in Alexandria, Egypt. Taking only a humble set of clothing with him, he wove baskets and sold them to make a living. The cell where he lived in the desert later became a monastery, initiated by some of his followers. St Jerome wrote about St Hilarion, popularizing him with many of the Catholic faithful. The example of St Hilarion and the other desert father opened the way for monasticism in the coming centuries, which would have a great affect on the Church and on Western civilization. We live in a world with so much noise filling up space. As we commemorate St Hilarion today, may we open our minds and our hearts to God’s silence and to God’s holy word.
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