The Lord in the Gentle Breeze: Celebrating St. Antony
I Kgs 19: 9a, 11-16; Mt 5: 27- 32
The storm went thundering, the fire went blazing, but the Lord wasn't there! The Lord of surprises manifests himself in the gentle breeze and gives us the most powerful of all messages: "Be still and know that I am God" (Ps 46:10). Knowing God, experiencing God and manifesting God is not a matter of accomplishment, but a sense of simple acknowledgement. St. Antony is an ideal image of this! Known to be the most popular saint after Francis of Assisi, Antony shines in his simplicity.
Our daily life has to be a life of simple commitment to the Lord in all its sense. The tasks we undertake, the relationships we enter into, the commitments we accept on ourselves, the daily duties we perform, the normal cares on our shoulders and our minds: these are all ways to our sanctity, provided they are done with a purity of intention that befits the Lord who has called us to all these.
The Lord in the gentle breeze invites us to personal integrity, simplicity of commitment and purity of intention! May St. Antony inspire us!