Perhaps the image of St. Anthony with which we are most familiar is the one of the saint clothed in his Franciscan habit and standing with a lily in one hand and the Christ Child in the other. It’s an enduring and endearing image that speaks of St. Anthony’s purity and his single heartedness in terms of following Christ and making him the center of his life.
The image that stands before us this evening is a little different. We see the familiar habited figure but with neither the lily nor the Christ Child. Instead, he holds a book in one hand—perhaps the Scriptures, perhaps a book of theology—and what appears to be a ball of fire in the other. It is an ancient image of the saint—perhaps painted in his lifetime or shortly after his death—and it was the official image of the saint used during the 800th anniversary celebration of his birth in 1995. While it is a less familiar image, it is perhaps more appropriate because it reminds us of Anthony’s love for Scripture and theology—faith seeking understanding—and the creative energy and fire of the Holy Spirit that guided and directed his life.
Like so many of the saints, we think their lives were placidly directed by God and followed a certain path. However, that was surely not the case for Anthony. In the midst of a number of movements in the direction of his life, the one thing that was constant was the gospel call to leave everything and follow Christ. Over and over again God called him to something new in his plan and each time Anthony responded with renewed zeal and self-sacrificing to serve his Lord Jesus more completely. His journey as the servant of God began as a very young man when he decided to join the Augustinians, giving up a future of wealth and power to be a servant of God. Later, when the bodies of the first Franciscan martyrs went through the Portuguese city where he was stationed, he was again filled with an intense longing to be one of those closest to Jesus himself: those who die for the Good News.
Thus it was that Anthony entered the Franciscan Order and set out to preach to the Muslims. He was on his way to Morocco when an illness prevented him from achieving that goal. Instead, he went to Italy and was stationed in a small hermitage where he spent most of his time praying, reading the Scriptures and doing menial tasks.
The call of God came again at an ordination where no one was prepared to speak. The humble and obedient Anthony hesitantly accepted the task. The years of searching for Jesus in prayer, of reading sacred Scripture and of serving him in poverty, chastity and obedience had prepared Anthony to allow the Spirit to use his talents. Anthony’s sermon was astounding to those who expected an unprepared speech and knew not the Spirit’s power to give people words.
Recognized as a great man of prayer and a scholar of Sacred Scripture and theology, Anthony became the first friar to teach theology to the other friars commissioned for this task by no one less that St. Francis himself. Shortly after that, he was called from that post to preach to the heretics, to use his profound knowledge of Scripture and theology to convert and reassure those who had been misled.
The example and the challenge that Anthony offers each of us is to know that throughout our lives—at different stages and unexpected times—the Spirit of God calls us to be of service to God and the Kingdom in ways we never imagined for ourselves. In addition to being the one who helps us recover lost articles, Anthony should be the patron of those who find their lives completely uprooted and set in a new and unexpected direction. It is fitting then that Mark and Sharon celebrate their commitment as Secular Franciscans in the context of his feast. I suspect that a few years ago, they might never have imagined themselves standing before us, as they will do in a few moments, and promising to deepen their relationship with God through lives of simplicity, purity, and obedience within the context of the Franciscan tradition. What it was that led them to this moment only they know for sure, but you can be certain that at the root of it is a desire to draw closer to Christ and follow the prompting of His Spirit. And so it is for all of us—Franciscans or not—God calls each of us to place ourselves and our gifts at the service of his Reign in ways and at times that we don’t always expect. We may think that we have found our niche; that we are too old or too set in our ways to change the direction of our lives, but then something happens. It can be something dramatic and startling or something very natural. Whatever it is, we know that in it is the irresistible call of the Spirit that beckons us to leave all things and follow where we are being led.
This is the example and the challenge of St. Anthony. God did with Anthony as God pleased—and what God pleased was a life of spiritual power and brilliance that still attracts admiration today. He whom popular devotion has nominated as finder of lost objects found himself by losing himself totally to the providence of God. It can be no different for us.
Note: Fr. Anthony Crisitelli, TOR, is Provincial Minister for Immaculate Conception Province of the Third Order Regular and pastor of St. Bridget's Church in North Minneapolis, MN.